Only the defroster works!

TerryMason

Administrator
Staff member
I noticed on my way home the other day, that only my defroster works. I can put the setting to floor, face, AC, no AC, and the air only come out of the defroster. I'm guessing there is a door somewhere that directs the airflow. Any idea how to access this, or where it is?

2005 TJ with air and auto
 

Similar problem but oppisate...

I have a similar problem that i've been waiting on fixing, my defrost is the only one that does not work (makes for a fun cold morning) on my 1997 TJ. Any suggestions?
 
there is a vaccumn accumalater that controls everything other then the defroster.. on xj its under the front bumper on the passenger side.. if that has a hole in it or is gone all you get is air out the defroster.. on my jeep it a black ball a little smaller then a volley ball with 2 or 3 vaccumn line comeing out of it.. mine got ripped off by a rock havent got around to fixing it yet..
 
I was getting ready to tear the dash apart chasing an electric problem - thanks blown XJ.

Just to elaborate on my problem, whatever selector I put my vents on, the air comes out of the defroster. The fan speed works fine, and the AC will come on and make the air cold or hot, but no matter where I put the vent selector, I just get air from the defrost.

I'm going to go out to my Jeep during lunch and look for this vacuum accumulator
 

yea that the same thing that is happening to me. and i starting happing as soon as i last that black accumiator.. my friends xj was wrecked and it didnt come with one on it and he has the same problem as you and i are having
 
There is a vacuum motor that opens/closes the door in the air box. It could be bad, or the vacuum accumulator could be bad as described, or the switch could be bad. Could just be a hose popped off.
 
thanks for the tips... i'm on a search for a black vaccume ball and following the vaccume lines to see whats going on. I did notice today that if i leave the fan speed on low it will still allow air to come out of the defroster but the second i turn the fan speed up i can hear a little door shut. Sounds like i probaly have a vaccume leak not keeping that door open during defrost.

thanks again
 
the vaccumn accumalater on a TJ should be behind the golve box IIRC.



also if you only have one fan speed, blower motor resistor switch, I know it was not the issue, but throwing it out there.
 
Wrangler Defroster problem fixed

OK, so I"ve fixed my defroster problem. It turns out that the air selectors in Wranglers are powered by engine vacum, and one of my tubes had popped off. I've found it, reconnected, and everything works.

Now I have a new problem. I drive on the highway, then pull to a stoplight and my engine idle jumps between 600 and 1200rpm. Ususally it is just once, but sometimes it just sits and surges, causing the Jeep to buck. It has been doing this for about 3 days now, since I fixed the defroster. The computer is not throwing any codes.
 

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Just an update - it appears that the computer just needed time to process everything. It's been almost a week, and the problem has pretty much gone away.
 
even computers are slow to "get it" sometimes.....lol Glad you got it straightened out. those little annoyances will drive a feller nuts!
 
FYI. One of the most common cause for the Blower to only work on defrost on later model TJs and some Yjs is a Vacuum leak on the vac. reservoir located on the passenger side under the battery tray. its accesible from the bottom. the plastic line usually gets eaten up by the battery acid from prior corrosions that was cleaned up and washed down under the tray. i hope this helps someone :)--
 
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