How do you fix a heater duct recirculation flapper door in a 2006 Dodge Ram?

Answer 1

I had a problem with my 2006 Dodge Ram 3500 SLT QUAD CAB where the recirculation flapper door was broken and no air would come out of the dash vents. At first, I thought the fan was going out since it was making noise so I pulled the fan from under the glove box and discovered the problem.

The actuator motor had apparently turned too much and broke the flapper door pivot shaft, and a small piece of plastic was flying around inside the fan. Once I removed the plastic, the noise went away and the fan was working fine. I then used a piece of stiff wire to hold the door closed as a temporary solution since I needed my AC as it was right in the heat of the summer.

I called the dealer several months later explaining the problem and they immediately knew which part needed to be replaced as they had seen the same thing many times before. They sold me a new duct assembly piece for about $60 that included a new actuator motor and flapper door. I didn't even bother to ask how much they would charge me to replace it. I questioned them a bit about what it took to replace and they made it sound pretty easy, except for the part about removing the dash. I just figured it couldn't be too tough, and I refuse to pay several hundred $ to have someone else do something I can do myself So, I brought the part home and started to research when I found a post regarding removal of the dash.

After reading the post, I nervously started to tackle the project of removing the dash to get at the duct assembly which sits right behind the glove box. About 2 hours into the job of removing the dash, I got to thinking that there must be a simpler way to fix this and I didn't really like the idea of tearing the whole truck apart to replace the entire assembly when I knew the problem was just the broken flapper door.

So, I looked closely at the new part and figured out how to remove the actuator and flapper door from the duct assembly. I knew that if this could be done from below the dash through the hole where the fan mounts, I could just replace the flapper and avoid removing the whole dash and duct assembly.

During this process, I discovered the factory defect. As I was testing the actuator to make sure I didn't install it in the wrong position and break the new flapper, I noticed that it appears to rotate a lot more than the 90 degrees it takes to actuate the flapper. The old duct assembly has a single plastic stop on the outside that limits the actuator movement and stops the motor while preventing stress on the flapper door when moved to the closed (non-recirculating) position

The new duct assembly has 2 limit stops, 90 degrees apart which stops the actuator motor at both open and closed positions and prevents any stress on the door. Therefore, because the original part only had a single stop on one side, the door became over-stressed in time and broke when the truck was about 3 years old.

Well, I decided that even though the 2nd stop doesn't exist on the old duct assembly, I could replace the flapper door and hope that it doesn't break again, at least not for a few more years. I figured I could always buy another $60 assembly and take on the dash removal/replacement project another time. I was careful to make sure the actuator motor was in the open (recirculating) position and then installed the door at that position. About 30 minutes later, I was back in business and replaced the parts I had removed attempting to remove the entire dash.

The whole process is pretty simple following these steps:

Remove glove box. Unplug and remove fan assembly under glove box by removing 3 torx head screws.

Reach up into the duct and extract the broken flapper door. Next, turn on the ignition and turn the heater control to recirculate position, making sure the actuator rotates clockwise until it stops.

Then, unplug the actuator connector and 2 Phillips head screws to remove actuator. Remove the white plastic adapter (which plugs into the door pivot shaft and rotates the flapper) from the duct assembly (this is the trickiest part since you have to use 2 hands and a screwdriver to remove the connector which snaps into place).

Slide the new flapper door into the duct and re-install the adapter making sure the door is in the open position and the stop tab is 90 degrees clockwise from the plastic limit stop on the duct.

Check flapper and adapter stop position by rotating the door counter-clockwise to the closed (non-recirc) position, making sure the stop doesn't prevent the door from closing all the way.

Finally, replace the actuator and 2 screws and plug in the electrical connector. Replace the glove box and fan and away you go.

This entire fix could probably be done in less than an hour, know that I know how easy it is. Next time it breaks, I may just do the same thing (buy the $60 assembly and steal the new flapper door instead of removing the entire dash to replace the actuator duct assembly, which is what the dealer would do and will likely charge hundreds for labor. Too bad they won't just sell the flapper door, which is really the only broken part.

Obviously, Dodge knows this is a factory defect since the new duct assembly has been improved, and it may even be covered by the factory warranty. But if it usually doesn't break for the first three years, most owners will have to pay the dealer to fix it. I seriously doubt they would ever recall this part, since it isn't a safety issue.