Air blowing at feet even when the face setting is selected

I feel so fortunate I only had one HVAC problem in 26 years of TJ ownership and that was on my previous '97 TJ. A wire cable had come off its actuator connection so it was easy to repair. I think I'd have to live with the problem if something happened to my 2004's HVAC system. Or fly Andy to Florida to help me figure it out lol.

Hey Jerry, I don't know why, but I thought you were in SoCal
 
Anyone with an 05/06 experience airflow in footwell vents when footwell is not selected? I get some airflow in the footwell regardless of the setting. I am tempted to just block off the footwell vents for now.


Did some more investigating into this with mityvac and an Amazon endoscope camera. I don't seem to have a vacuum leak. Testing each actuator revealed that they all hold vacuum. Test at the actuators, at the back of the dash switch, under the hood where the vacuum hose feeds into the firewall and at the intake manifold. All checks out and holds vacuum.

Endoscope camera shows the blend door for the dash vents and footwell opening and closing as it should. I do notice some twisting of the door when it's closing. It doesn't seem the door closes as tight as it should. I didn't see anything blocking but I need to do some investigating. Electronic temp blend door is working as it should as well. Can feel and hear it moving

This is proving a bit frustrating.
VideoCapture_20220718-223514.jpg
 
Anyone with an 05/06 experience airflow in footwell vents when footwell is not selected? I get some airflow in the footwell regardless of the setting. I am tempted to just block off the footwell vents for now.


Did some more investigating into this with mityvac and an Amazon endoscope camera. I don't seem to have a vacuum leak. Testing each actuator revealed that they all hold vacuum. Test at the actuators, at the back of the dash switch, under the hood where the vacuum hose feeds into the firewall and at the intake manifold. All checks out and holds vacuum.

Endoscope camera shows the blend door for the dash vents and footwell opening and closing as it should. I do notice some twisting of the door when it's closing. It doesn't seem the door closes as tight as it should. I didn't see anything blocking but I need to do some investigating. Electronic temp blend door is working as it should as well. Can feel and hear it moving

This is proving a bit frustrating.
View attachment 344145

Yes, I get some air at the floor even when only dash is selected. Not as much as when in a mode that is supposed to include the floor, but it's definitely noticeable, especially since I wear flip flops every day.

I don't have any other signs of vacuum loss so I suspect mine is the same situation as yours. I was thinking of pulling the floor duct and looking in there are the door but I like the borescope idea a lot better. I was hoping to find something obvious like leaves or pine needles holding the door a little open.
 
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Yes, I get some air at the floor even when only dash is selected. Not as much as when in a mode that is supposed to include the floor, but it's definitely noticeable, especially since I wear flip flops every day.

I don't have any other signs of vacuum loss so I suspect mine is the same situation as yours. I was thinking of pulling the floor duct and looking in there are the door but I like the borescope idea a lot better. I was hoping to find something obvious like leaves or pine needles holding the door a little open.

It was cheap, maybe 20 bucks on Amazon. It works pretty good but definitely takes some finess. My wife is a nurse and uses them at work but they are much nicer and remote control. I was unable to borrow one to check my old jeep vents 🤣
 
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It was cheap, maybe 20 bucks on Amazon. It works pretty good but definitely takes some finess. My wife is a nurse and uses them at work but they are much nicer and remote control. I was unable to borrow one to check my old jeep vents 🤣

If she's a nurse in a GI office, she did you a favor 🤣

I've used one at work before to inspect the inside of a heat exchanger....but it was 12 years ago, cost $400 and the quality was disappointing. I'm sure they've gotten better since then.
 
If she's a nurse in a GI office, she did you a favor 🤣

I've used one at work before to inspect the inside of a heat exchanger....but it was 12 years ago, cost $400 and the quality was disappointing. I'm sure they've gotten better since then.

The kids thought it was really cool but the end gets really hot from the led. Hopefully that's not what they use in a GI office😳


Going up from the floor vents you will run into the defrost door first so make sure defrost isn't selected or you won't be able to see anything.



I think I may have something lodged in there possibly. I can seal off the floor vent manually with my hand closing the floor vent lever but it takes more force than it should to make that happen. I am twisting that door into place it seems.
 
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Removed the floor vent duct as it's pretty easy to remove. Snapped this picture with the endoscope. It seems the box has a stop to keep the dash vent and floor vent door from closing completely. The door won't lift up over this tab. Maybe it's designed not to seal completely to prevent issues. I couldn't find anything in the box blocking the door other than this little tab built into the box.

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So my question is does the later model box allow some constant small air flow for the floor vents? Or perhaps there was much more foam tape for sealing when new vs now?
 
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Removed the floor vent duct as it's pretty easy to remove. Snapped this picture with the endoscope. It seems the box has a stop to keep the dash vent and floor vent door from closing completely. The door won't lift up over this tab. Maybe it's designed not to seal completely to prevent issues. I could find anything in the box blocking the door other than this little tab built into the box.

View attachment 344385

View attachment 344386
So my question is does the later model box allow some constant small air flow for the floor vents? Or perhaps there was much more foam tape for sealing when new vs now?

That is very interesting. That would have to be a ton of foam to close that up, but I can't think of a good reason to keep the door from closing completely.
 
I am beginning to think the floor vents were never designed to be completely closed. At least on the 05-06 models.

What I may be feeling as increased temps may be the lack of bedbug insulation over that center hump and in general.

It gets very warm on that center hump. I don't know how you no carpet guys deal with it. I may look into an acc carpet kit for this thing at some point as ac and vents seem to all check out.
 
I am beginning to think the floor vents were never designed to be completely closed. At least on the 05-06 models.

What I may be feeling as increased temps may be the lack of bedbug insulation over that center hump and in general.

It gets very warm on that center hump. I don't know how you no carpet guys deal with it. I may look into an acc carpet kit for this thing at some point as ac and vents seem to all check out.

you're probably right. The air coming into my footwell isn't hot, but it's definitely not cold like what comes out of the dash. That floor duct passes right over the tunnel and probably picks up some heat there. It's matte black so it's going to absorb everything that hits it and it's flattened out where the widest surface is directly facing the hottest stuff. Might be interesting to try insulating that duct and/or some foil wrap.
 
you're probably right. The air coming into my footwell isn't hot, but it's definitely not cold like what comes out of the dash. That floor duct passes right over the tunnel and probably picks up some heat there. It's matte black so it's going to absorb everything that hits it and it's flattened out where the widest surface is directly facing the hottest stuff. Might be interesting to try insulating that duct and/or some foil wrap.

I think I might try this!
 
I am beginning to think the floor vents were never designed to be completely closed. At least on the 05-06 models.

What I may be feeling as increased temps may be the lack of bedbug insulation over that center hump and in general.

It gets very warm on that center hump. I don't know how you no carpet guys deal with it. I may look into an acc carpet kit for this thing at some point as ac and vents seem to all check out.

It was designed to do this because of the amount of heat that comes from the firewall and transmission tunnel. You could probably open up the box and cut that spacer away, but it would probably more trouble than it’s worth.

My 2000, 2002, and 2005 have all done it.
 
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That small duct is easy to remove as well
It was designed to do this because of the amount of heat that comes from the firewall and transmission tunnel. You could probably open up the box and cut that spacer away, but it would probably more trouble than it’s worth.

My 2000, 2002, and 2005 have all done it.

Thanks for the conformation!

you're probably right. The air coming into my footwell isn't hot, but it's definitely not cold like what comes out of the dash. That floor duct passes right over the tunnel and probably picks up some heat there. It's matte black so it's going to absorb everything that hits it and it's flattened out where the widest surface is directly facing the hottest stuff. Might be interesting to try insulating that duct and/or some foil wrap.
I think my factory carpet covered this area so it was less noticeable perhaps. Bed rug in for a while now and you can certainly feel that trans tunnel heat.

I had to get rid of my factory carpet m due to mold issues as the p/o left it outside with a leaking rear hard top window.
 
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