Heat working on passenger side but not on the driver side.

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Liam Gracey

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Hey there everyone,

I have a 2013 ram 1500 reg cab and I had an issue last year and again this year with my heat not working on the driver side of the truck, it blows like warm air. I have flushed the heater core and changed the thermostat in the truck as well as new coolant. Both lines going to the heater core are hot (inlet and outlet) which makes me think it’s a blend door issue. I don’t have duel climate control but I have been reading up on these trucks more and I’m hearing it’s possible I have a blend door on the backside of the box that I’m missing? Is there a way to fix this without taking the heater box completely out? Or any solutions to fix it for just the winter ?

Thanks for the help!
Cheers
 

Ricks Ram

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Hey there everyone,

I have a 2013 ram 1500 reg cab and I had an issue last year and again this year with my heat not working on the driver side of the truck, it blows like warm air. I have flushed the heater core and changed the thermostat in the truck as well as new coolant. Both lines going to the heater core are hot (inlet and outlet) which makes me think it’s a blend door issue. I don’t have duel climate control but I have been reading up on these trucks more and I’m hearing it’s possible I have a blend door on the backside of the box that I’m missing? Is there a way to fix this without taking the heater box completely out? Or any solutions to fix it for just the winter ?

Thanks for the help!
Cheers
If you don't have the Dual Zone there is not a blend door on the back of the unit. The only blend door that controls the temp on a single stone is the one directly behind the glove box.

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Liam Gracey

Liam Gracey

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If you don't have the Dual Zone there is not a blend door on the back of the unit. The only blend door that controls the temp on a single stone is the one directly behind the glove box.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Oh okay thanks that saves me some time taking the dash apart, but still stumped when it comes to what may be wrong with the system.
 

Ricks Ram

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Oh okay thanks that saves me some time taking the dash apart, but still stumped when it comes to what may be wrong with the system.
I'm not sure why the passenger side would be different. I haven't had a regular cab apart but I can't see them being any different that the Crew Cab and Quad Cab and I have had both of them apart and the the single zone only has the one door for heat. There are actually two different air channels for driver and passenger that are controlled by one door that pivots between the two. I'm thinking it may be possible that the actual blend door broke and the passenger side is not moving with the driver's side. I actually removed mine to install Dual Zone so I still have my old Single Zone unit. I will see if I can dig it out and send you some pics of the actual door so you can see what I'm talking about.

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Ricks Ram

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Oh okay thanks that saves me some time taking the dash apart, but still stumped when it comes to what may be wrong with the system.
Ok this is s pic of the actual blend door. As you can see one door controls both sides in the Single Zone application. The Dual Zone looks identical but the door is not one piece and pivots in the middle and the side of the door that controls the passenger side is the one I'm touching. On the Dual Zone that blend door motor is the one mounted to the back of the HVAC box to control that side but the Si gle Zone like this one just has the blend door motor in the front. I checked the door and it definitely had some flex but seems like it would be unlikely it would break at the pivot it the middle but it's possible. Another idea is that possibly something is blocking some of the air flow in the actual blend door or surrounding area. Possibly some type of nest or other issue. 59c7e647115ec8c4569739c4e5495b02.jpga01de2c4b807e4692fe3d10f80b88742.jpg

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Liam Gracey

Liam Gracey

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Ok this is s pic of the actual blend door. As you can see one door controls both sides in the Single Zone application. The Dual Zone looks identical but the door is not one piece and pivots in the middle and the side of the door that controls the passenger side is the one I'm touching. On the Dual Zone that blend door motor is the one mounted to the back of the HVAC box to control that side but the Si gle Zone like this one just has the blend door motor in the front. I checked the door and it definitely had some flex but seems like it would be unlikely it would break at the pivot it the middle but it's possible. Another idea is that possibly something is blocking some of the air flow in the actual blend door or surrounding area. Possibly some type of nest or other issue. 59c7e647115ec8c4569739c4e5495b02.jpga01de2c4b807e4692fe3d10f80b88742.jpg

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


Awesome I’m going to investigate the issue in the morning and I will get back to you, very helpful!
Cheers!
 
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Liam Gracey

Liam Gracey

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I do believe that both the reg cab and the other variants are the same as this, only difference I could see would be the back seat airways but other than that it should be the same. Hopfully it’s an easy fix! once again thanks for the help.
 
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Liam Gracey

Liam Gracey

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Ok this is s pic of the actual blend door. As you can see one door controls both sides in the Single Zone application. The Dual Zone looks identical but the door is not one piece and pivots in the middle and the side of the door that controls the passenger side is the one I'm touching. On the Dual Zone that blend door motor is the one mounted to the back of the HVAC box to control that side but the Si gle Zone like this one just has the blend door motor in the front. I checked the door and it definitely had some flex but seems like it would be unlikely it would break at the pivot it the middle but it's possible. Another idea is that possibly something is blocking some of the air flow in the actual blend door or surrounding area. Possibly some type of nest or other issue. 59c7e647115ec8c4569739c4e5495b02.jpga01de2c4b807e4692fe3d10f80b88742.jpg

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

so I opened up part of the dash and I tested all the actuators and they seem to be in good working order, I got a look inside and there isn’t anything blocking it that I can see without ripping the whole dash out of my truck, I’m seriously stumped on this one.
 

Ricks Ram

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so I opened up part of the dash and I tested all the actuators and they seem to be in good working order, I got a look inside and there isn’t anything blocking it that I can see without ripping the whole dash out of my truck, I’m seriously stumped on this one.
That is definitely a strange one. There really isn't anything I can think of that could cause it if there is no impedance in airflow both sides should be the same temp. Are both sides blowing the same and is the temperature difference there even when you turn it to the dash vents?

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thaddeous

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I've been following this issue for a while and I have the same truck. Our heater cores are known to buildup sludge in the bottom of the core, and the bottom feeds heat to the driver side, and the top to the passenger. If you've got a noticeable difference in heat this may be the issue.
Ill be tearing mine apart this month, (Canadian winter starting to kick in,) and can update you on what I come up with.
 
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Liam Gracey

Liam Gracey

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That is definitely a strange one. There really isn't anything I can think of that could cause it if there is no impedance in airflow both sides should be the same temp. Are both sides blowing the same and is the temperature difference there even when you turn it to the dash vents?

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

the vents seem to be blowing the same amount of air out of them, with taking into account of the air pressure loss from one side to the other. But yes it’s very strange.
 
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Liam Gracey

Liam Gracey

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I've been following this issue for a while and I have the same truck. Our heater cores are known to buildup sludge in the bottom of the core, and the bottom feeds heat to the driver side, and the top to the passenger. If you've got a noticeable difference in heat this may be the issue.
Ill be tearing mine apart this month, (Canadian winter starting to kick in,) and can update you on what I come up with.

yeah if you figure something out that maybe I’m over looking or just missing all together please feel free to update me. I did a flush on the heater core not too long ago and didn’t really get anything out of it. Not any lose in pressure and the water came out clear which I thought was strange since if there is stuff in it the cleaner should bring some of it up. Thought about hooking the lines in revers to see if it improves over some drive time.
 

Gary2

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A friend had same issue a few years back and it was the heater core.Todays heater cores are tiny compared to what the used to be so it don't take much to cause a problem . Took about 15 minutes to change one on my last Bronco in 88 but these are a time consuming job so do the evaporator also. As far as the doors go each one has a different name they are not all blend doors.
 
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Liam Gracey

Liam Gracey

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Update, after investigating everything I could think of and replacing the temp gauge and flushing the system I was stumped but then I decided to reverse the hoses going into my heater core and it had mad a big difference in temp, before the heater was blowing at 115 and now it blows at around 140 on the driver side with the passenger side getting 150 plus so with the factor of the 20% from right to left it’s almost back to normal. Hopefully this may help some people with the same issue.
cheers!
 

TigreST

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Sh’s into her menopause and is having hot flashes! You’ll also notice the window goes up and down with out your help !

T.
 
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