Our van (2009) is barely defrosting, after removing the cowl and changing it to & from recirculate I notice it does not draw air from outside. The intake under the glove box also holds a piece of paper there constantly no matter what's selected, so that tells me it's always recirculating, right? After spending the morning pulling the passenger side apart to look at it I've decided it's perhaps better to ask a stupid question...

 

Have you taken a look at the recirculate door actuator to see if it is moving when activated? http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/dr...1_024955_1.gif

 

I think the image may be of an older van, it doesn't resemble mine from any angle I could see.


I've provided a picture - this is on the passenger side behind the glove box (which is removed). The cage on the right is the air intake (for recirculate I presume), the red arrow points to the arm that controls air direction (defrost, panel etc.) and is working fine. The green arrow points to the arm I suspect controls the recirculate / fresh air function and doesn't move at all, no matter what is selected.


Does this help?

 

As it turns out, the arm is sheared off the actuator which is located on the left side of the grill in the picture (think 4 o'clock from the green arrow). A mechanic friend suggested removing the fan and pushing the door to the fresh air position. Simple fix, but no recirculate.

 

At least you know what is causing it. Not a major deal to change the actuator but then I've never worked on a 5th gen system.

 

The actuator you show in the picture is the mode door actuator. The link you show moves the face / floor door and the longer link on the rear of the same actuator is for the defrost door. The recirculation door actuator is straight behind that large white connector in the picture, up slightly. You can see the recirc door through the grates to the right of that connector. If that link is actually broken, it is not available separately, comes with the entire housing. Bad actuators are very common though.

 

Thanks for the clarification, Tizz. You're right on the money.