I was on my way to work this morning and there was all kinds of cold air pouring in behind my glove compartment. I have done some reading here this evening and looked behind the glove compartment to find my recirculating door laying on top of my blower motor. Which from what I have read is not uncommon for the '06s to have. My question is, does the recirculating door when working properly seal the hole in the firewall off preventing the air from coming into the cab? I pulled the cowl panel up and found a piece of silver tape with what appears to be butyl on the back covering the majority of the hole. Is this supposed to be there or has someone cobbed this up? I really don't have the extra $500.00 to get this fixed at this time so could I just cover the rest of the hole so it would stop the cold air from coming in until I do get the money? Also it appears that the previous owner has been in there before because the glove compartment was not reinstalled correctly. I have also read of people taking the recirc door completely out and just not having the recirc option when using their a/c but I am still confused as to how I would keep the cold air out if there is no recirc door to cover the hole. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am very confusd as to what to do.

 

Well it does sound like a cobb job was done in the past. From what I've read removing the recirc door makes the air box always pull from the outside air. I wouldn't think that just because that one piece is missing would cause all the outside air to come directly into the cab. It sounds like maybe a piece of duct work is also missing that would direct the outside air into the air box and then thru the blend doors and all that stuff.
If the cold air was coming into the cab from the wind of you driving and even if you had the fan speed selector in the off position, I'd say there are a few more pieces missing.

 

Well the recirc door was definitely broken. I got under there this afternoon and found the door lying on top of the blower motor. I went ahead and took the blower motor off and reached up through the hole and removed the broken door. It was exactly like the pictures of broken ones I have looked at here lately, with the end broken off where it attaches to the motor. I checked into the pricing and found that the dealer doesn't offer just the door itself anymore. They are selling a replacement unit consisting of the palstic case that the recirc dooor is mounted in, the recirc door, and a new actuator for $48.00. Heatertreater. com also offers just the replacement door (metal not the flimsy plastic) for $119.00. Oh yeah, the stealership wants $400.00 to put the part in too.