I have a 2003 Wrangler and I think it has a leak b/c air only blowing out of defrost. Not only that, but I now have to kick the wires beneath my feet to get it to even blow on the highest setting and I am noticing a sporadic shorting out of my temp gauge and compass on rearview. Also some control panel interior lights are sporadic. Is this all connected? And can a novice like me fix herself or should I spend $$ to bring it somewhere? Thanks!
Even the most experienced Jeepers would be stumped by your issues. Possibly a grounding issue but it's complex due to too many components affected. Air vents issue could be from a faulty vacuum actuator behind the dash. I would take it to a shop that deals with Jeeps.
Yeah I would let the pros do this one unless you have lots of time, a decent knowledge of wiring/electricity, and a jeep wiring schematic. Look for a real jeep place and not a regular mechanic or dealership. They will either not know the problem or will charge tons to try and find it.
Before you take it in, you might just want to grab a flashlight and take a look at the area that you kick to make things work. Maybe it's just a wiring connector that's become partially separated
I work on cars for a living and will see if I can start you off and maybe help. Ok first your ac only working on defrost is most likely a vacuum line under the hood that has broken. Look for a small plastic tube (about 1/8" or so) coming out of the firewall near where your heater hoses or ac lines go into the firewall. And chase it back towards the intake manifold. Look for cracks in the tubing but mainly where it turns into rubber. Usually the rubber degrades and breaks. Problem 2) check for loose connectors under the pass side of the dash. This is where the blower resistors are. Over time a bad connection here or at the blower switch (another bad spot on early tj's) will build up heat and melt the plastic at these connectors. I would turn the switch on and blower on and wiggle all the wiring and connectors you can get to down there but mainly the resistors. That should be a four or five wire plug in going into the heater box. Usually 2 bigger wires and 3 small.
Problem 3/4. Your temp and compass screen is probably going bad unless you have noticed this problem only when you turn on or off your lights. On your interior lighting. I'm assuming dash lights. If its all the lights on the dash and ac controls and radio (if factory) then your problem is probably your dimmer switch or at it. That's part of the headlight switch. If its only some of the light like in the cluster or possibly like half the cluster or so that could be as simple as a bad connection or bulb in the dash. The instrument cluster has a few screws that hold it in and just pushes on two fixed connectors behind it in the dash. I have seen problems where the two connect before. Hope this helps. If nothing else go in to a place with this remembered and talk to them it may be enough for them to realize you know what your talking about and hopefully not rip you off. I hate that there are some bad technicians out there that give all of us a bad name.
You guys are awesome. Seriously. JeepFixer1, I am printing out your post and using it as a tutorial. Hardermods, thanks so much, I'll check it out! Again, it's so nice that you guys and others from this forum are so willing to take the time to help each other out
Hi! Ok so I just successfully located the leak causing my air to blow thru the defrost. Yay, one problem solved! Now my question is...it is a tiny little tube with a tiny little crack. I taped it up with a little bit of black duct tape. Problem solved! BUT, is it safe to have done this??
I keep rolls of it in my toolbox for my bikes. It chemically bonds to itself and will withstand crazy psi. Wrap some around the crack really tight and it should hold. It's heat/electric/water resistant. I've used it for many applications and never have been let down.
It is absolutely safe to drive it like that but that duct tape will likely eventually loosen up from engine heat enough that it may slide off & the vacuum tube will start leaking again. Depending on the size of crack, maybe a little glue for plastics might make a more permanent fix until the plastic vacuum tube can be replaced. Just make sure that if you do the glue thing to let the glue set/dry before you start the engine again!!
That's cool you took care of this on your own, nice job!
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