On my 2001 SLT there is no heat coming from the floor vents and moving the control has no effect,,,,,I think it is the MODE door actuator and need to know where it is and how to get at it.. The Dodge factory manual sucks in plain english Poor descriptions and no illustrations, Any help greatly appreciated,,,That dash gets HOT!!!!!

 

Sounds just like MY 2000 3.9 SLT.
Friend who I bought it from ran it every year at Norwalk Chrysler Classic Gamblers race Friday and Saturday nights. Get this gang, I spoke to 3 other owners with SAME problem.
At the line when last yellow blinked on he tagged it HARD. Very consistant 010 to 024 lights every time. Now for the bad news.
When he mashed down HARD on it a couple times his foot would slip UP the gas pedal and his toe HIT the floor blend door vacuum actuator, hanging RIGHT THERE.
Broken loose from its mount. Yep poor floor heat delivery unless you hold it in place.
Another owner with a 2001 said he never raced his but got stuck once in our snow and while rocking it his floor heat all but QUIT. we looked at HIS Yesterday and guess what? His vacuum pot is broken off its mount too.
Now how to fix it? Working on THAT. Film at 11.....
Check this on YOURS.......... Dead give away is you will hear fan blower speed up when its on floor only. putting out but cant get through. Door is only partially open.
Terry

 

I'll give it a look see and post back..have been busy so haven;t been messing with it....

 

Well, I got some time and barrowed a Torpedo Heater, aimed at me and the cab and got down on the cold (it was 22 out here today) driveway and snaked my way under there.
LO AND BEHOLD with a good size toe scuff mark on its lower surface I think Fred may have tagged this Vacuum pot for the floor heat door quite a few times. The 2 - 8mm screws that secure it had come LOOSE. Not that easy to get at without removing that 90 degree floor heat nozzle/deflector over top of it but I did. ALL FIXED for air delivery. No stripped threads either. COOL!
Called Mike with the 2001 and his was just real loose too. Both screws were so far backed out it looked like the bracket could be broken as mine appeared to be.

Now for the passenger's side? Guess when I vacuumed the carpets and floor mats, the day I bought it, I musta threw the RT mat in without looking. It was up in OVER TOP of the RT floor outlet. AARRRGGGG !
I now have excellant air delivery both sides.
Next problem? That air ain't very HOT........
After warming up the engine and turning on the heat full HOT and with 100% floor delivery, I just could not agree with the temp gauge at 190 degrees AND the just WARM air coming out. After resecuring the 2 vacuum pot mounting screws I pulled the full dash bezel and removed the heater control assy to make sure all was operating like I set it. Full temp all the way HOT. It was.
With the engine running and the heat on full temp, I felt the hoses under the hood and the inlet was HOT to the touch but the outlet was actually COLD???
Plugged or restricted heater core maybe?
I have read many issues here with heater cores leaking in normal situations or popping a leak after some cooling system repairs, worse seems to be when the heater hoses are removed from the engine and compressed air is blown in to backflush any crap build up or blockage.
My attempt to reverse flush out MY core is going to be removing both hoses and connecting my Super Sears Shop Vac to the INLET hose.
Its been a long cold day so far so I'm going to try THIS tomorrow.
Later gang,
Terry

 

One more item to look at: That lower exposed vacuum elbow (looks like IT TOO can get toed) that just slips on the pot is the one that activated floor heat.
Check if it got kicked (or toed) off?
Later
Terry

 

As I have posted on here before. You can cut both heater hoses at a place easy to get to. Parts house have some plastic couplings to put them back together. Put a short piece of 5/8 garden hose on one hose going to the heater core, put your garden hose on the other. turn on the water and flush the core. Swap the two hoses and flush it back the other way. do this several times. I put the loose end of the hose in a bucket so I could see how much trash came out. I was very surprised to see how much crap came out of mine.

 

Haven;t had much time to check the doors but did the other night,,, Read that discononnecting battery for a minute or so will cause the mode door to recalibrate itself... Tried that NO HELP./ I did however witness it moving through the various spots it was supposed to be... It appears that the Mode Door has done stripped its engagement to the actuator so one or the other will need replacement.. Will find out later,,Being under the dash dinged my back up good so it's R&R for a bit Now to find a good used cause I bet a dealer will want an arm,leg and a lot of money ,,,, Anyone ever purchase one new>?

 

Old Dodge Dealer buddy of mine stopped by the other night.
Switched my heater hoses at the firewall. Drove around for about 15 minutes. All is well. Heat is back 100%.
He said leave them that way, because there is NO water valve in the system.
Simple fix.
Terry

 

So I have a Stupid question...

Did you flush the system first before reversing the the hoses?
And if no and the problem was something coming the the inlet side was clogged, you just pushed it back into your water pump to get clogged some where else?

That's my thoughts, is it still working ok?

 

Sorry for taking soooo long with my answer, but I did NOT.
Coolant was very clean with no rust or crud residue at cap or in purge tank.
History of this truck was a coolant leak in the Rad Core way back a year or so ago.
PO ran some powered sealer through it that bought him some time (to save up) before the repalcement of the Rad AND Water Pump. Had it done at the Dodge Dealer where he bought it and THEY CHARGED HIM FOR A COMPLETE COOLANT SYSTEM FLUSH. Additional $50.
Now at a hair under 200K miles this low heat issue started with me as new owner back in Nov. 2010.
There was still no residue in the 2 places I looked when we switched the hoses. Note that there HAD to be a few UFO's (and powdered sealer?) in there because the heat coming out the vents wasn't immediate but began to rise as we drove the truck for about 10 miles on the E-way after the hose switch. Hope them Gremlins are lying in the bottom of the block forever........
It is STILL the case that the heater is working GREAT now........
Thanks for everybodies help and input.
Terry