So, Ive been ignoring this issue for like a year now, and I'm finally tired of it, mostly because I had to replace my blower fan today and it just kind of rekindled my want to fix this, but I need some help. This seems to be a semi-common issue, with what should be a fairly straight forward repair, but Id like to hear from someone that has fixed this issue already..

Backstory, bought my 02 Durango @ 80K in Texas, lots of highway driving, @ about 130K I moved to Ohio and do lots of highway driving. Some time before I moved to Ohio my AC/CC started to only blow from the defroster vent. Not a big deal.

Anyhoo, With no tear down having been done, I've pretty much found that this is generally a vacuum leak in one of the CC lines, which should be mostly accessible from under the dash or across the engine.. I just wanna know what im getting into and how long it should take a semi-noob to do it.



1)
By my guess, im gonna have to remove the dash.. After reading up on it, it says the dash is 9 clips, and thats it.. is it really that easy? Just rip the dash off? I see it in the manual but I just dont believe it.. It looks like some of the lower panels have screws, but are not required to be removed to take the dash off. Only big note is to remove neg battery term to disengage the airbag, which Is a big derrrrr..

2)
How many lines should I be looking for? If possible I would like to replace ALL of the tubes with new ones as the temps this truck has been thru has eaten most all other PVC lines and bushings.. Anyone know what size tube I should be using so I can snag some before I start? Any specific tube that would cause this so I can see if maybe its just kinked up somewhere?

3)
If not the lines themselves causing the issue, and its actually the CC, is there any hope in repairing it? A friend of mine wants to buy my truck later this year, and im trying to make sure everything works, I just dont want to spend a lot of money on it because that cuts into the saving up for a new car.


Any tips/tricks/general advice would be good..
Pics and laymans terms are my friend, lol.. I'm not incredibly mechanically inclined, but ive always managed to fix whatever Ive needed to.. Did Valve Cover Gaskets over the weekend and I kinda wanna kick myself for not getting this started then while I had a lot of stuff out of the way.

And then there is stuff like this that throws me off:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1947531-post9.html

 

in 2002 the systems are electronically actuated, no vacuum lines for the hvac system (cc)

you probably have a bad actuator in the dash, you may be able to get to it by looking in the footwell on the drivers side, it will be up above the trans/driveshaft tunnel.

check page 2038
http://www.mediafire.com/?2cg2hgim2zz

(2002 MY Factory service manual, i suggest keeping it handy)

 

+1 That year has electronic actuators. Just replace it.

 

Thank for the linkage..
The manual I have seems to be slightly different.

After reading thru that section and checking out the picture, which actuator should I be looking at, 9?

Alternately, Occasioanlly I get the mildewy smell from the AC.. Anything I can do/check while im in there?

 

yup #9 mode door actuator

 

So, I know this is kind of a thread Resurrection, but Id like to let people Know that I finally fixed my damned AC today, and wanted to pass on what I learned. Ive been putting it off as in the last 6 months I found out we are having out first kid this year, buying a house, trying to get thru school, quit smoking, and started a diet so fixing my AC has kinda been the least of my worries.

1) The dash was exactly as easy as it sounded. Removed 2 screws from the Cluster hood, and just had to pry it loose from the clips. The dash pulls forward from the top, and then up. Once its loose you have to disconnect the light switch and your AC cables but thats it.
(Note, You have to put on the parking brake, drop it into 1st, and lower your steering wheel as far as it will go to get the dash off, and it still just BARELY squeezes out)

2) as was pointed out, my D uses electrical actuators, in which there are 4.. However, the guide doesnt tell you anything about the wheel that the actuator sits on/plugs into.

The #9 actuator is plugged into a wheel (which is keyed to only go on one way) has 3 plastic bars. When you engage the AC dial the actuator spins the wheel and the plastic bars engage the proper doors.. I unplugged my actuator and ran it and it seemed to run forward and backwards fine. After manually moving the doors a few times to loosen them up I moved each one by moving the bars, and then I moved the wheel and found it only turned about 1/4 of the way it was supposed to.

Come to find out, I'm not the first one under the dash. At some point the previous owner had been under the dash for some reason or another and knocked one of the bar outta place or something, decided to try and reseat it and did a **** poor job. the Bars that hold into the wheel dislodged over time causing the wheel to revert to the default position of defrost when it got stuck, while the actuator was left to just able to move about 1/2".. All I had to do was maneuver the bars back to that would be defrost only, let the actuator roll back to the position of defrost, and then reassemble.. If these things fall out of their timing they will eventually work themselves loose.

I did not have to replace any parts, I just had to set them back to the correct positions.

But, Thank you Shrpshtr and Hydra for the info.