07 actuator problem

Going to start a different thread about the 07 I just bought with a problem with the actuators. As discussed in the other thread the climate selector will not switch the air flow to any direction but the defrost. I pulled the glove box and the recirculation vent is fully closed and will not allow me to manually twist it open so I think the actuators are actually in position, not just broken.

The other thing which I think is key is I hear a vacuum leak from the area behind the glove box by the or behind the backflow valve and splitter. This leak can be heard at all times, even when the climate selector is turned fully off. I pulled the line off and the vacuum pressure is far less than I find on my 02 so I really think there is a leak somewhere back there but I have followed the lines the best I can through the glove box and I couldn't find anything.

Other than, "the actuators are broke, pull the dash", does anyone have any ideas? The fact we hear the vacuum line even when the system is turned off to me says it is something other than the actuators.

Background - just picked up this nearly new 07 Sport with only 34,500 miles on it. Appears it was garaged nearly all the time.

The actuators that direct air to defrost, feet, body etc. are completely dependant on the vacuum pipe coming into the cabin....from the intake manifold for the gassers and from the vacuum pump on the CRDs.

After a service at the Dealers for my 2002 CRD, as I drove off I noticed that air was only coming out of the demister vents. I turned around and went straight back to the Dealers. They opened the hood and re-connected the vacuum pipe that they had knocked off.

So you definitely need to trace your vacuum leak...vacuum also feeds the brake master servo!

I'd check the vacuum lines at the selector first. Just pull the radio bezel to get to the switch panel. There is a weird plug consisting of vacuum lines instead of wires going into the back of the selector "switch". Also you can see two direction actuators behind the glove box and one if you remove the knee panel under the steering column. Make sure they have the vacuum lines attached and that they move when the selector is switched. If you have a little hand held vac pump you can pull the line off and try to actuate the actuator. Which actuator controls what direction is listed in the FSM.

No need to pull the dash yet!

Billwill said:

The actuators that direct air to defrost, feet, body etc. are completely dependant on the vacuum pipe coming into the cabin....from the intake manifold for the gassers and from the vacuum pump on the CRDs.

After a service at the Dealers for my 2002 CRD, as I drove off I noticed that air was only coming out of the demister vents. I turned around and went straight back to the Dealers. They opened the hood and re-connected the vacuum pipe that they had knocked off.

So you definitely need to trace your vacuum leak...vacuum also feeds the brake master servo!

Click to expand...

If disconnected under the hood I would not hear air or vacuum behind the glove box. That said though it does sound like I'm going to have to have "somebody" do a vacuum leak test on that line since I can't physically feel any cuts in it.

What are the odds of finding a "shop" that can do this and know what they are doing vs. having to use the Dealership? $125 diag charge from dealer and it's so hard to trust them since the second you mention actuators on a Liberty they want to tear out the dash.

ltd02 said:

I'd check the vacuum lines at the selector first. Just pull the radio bezel to get to the switch panel. There is a weird plug consisting of vacuum lines instead of wires going into the back of the selector "switch". Also you can see two direction actuators behind the glove box and one if you remove the knee panel under the steering column. Make sure they have the vacuum lines attached and that they move when the selector is switched. If you have a little hand held vac pump you can pull the line off and try to actuate the actuator. Which actuator controls what direction is listed in the FSM.

No need to pull the dash yet!

Click to expand...

Yeah we pulled the dash bezel first, everything solid and the hissing sound was not from that area. The vacuum hiss appears to be after the T connector/one way valve behind the glove box. Somewhere between that valve and the firewall although wiggling my hand back in there did not yield any change in hissing sound or my feeling of any air movement.

Again I will note that the hissing occurs even when the climate selector is set to fully off.

do you have a hand vacuum pump? sounds like next step would be to disconnect in engine bay where vacuum line comes through with heater core hoses and try to apply vacuum, that will tell you for sure if the leak is inside dash area.

Is the connection to the vacuum reservoir intact?

ltd02 said:

Is the connection to the vacuum reservoir intact?

Click to expand...

Location and what am I looking for?

Not sure about the later models but IIRC my 02 had some sort of a vacuum reservoir tucked near the lower right hand corner of the dash. You could see a hose go over to it (or from it) from the HVAC system if you removed the glovebox. I think I unplugged the hose when I moved my dash out to replace the blend door actuator motor.

So there is a clear vacuum leak somewhere behind the glove box. Even with the climate control system set to full off you can hear the vacuum air hiss sound. Pulled the glove box, couldn't find a thing, even after I pulled the glove box out of 02 and compared line and hose, one for one, all looks the same, nothing disconnected that I can find.

Probably the hose itself is not bad but the nipple used to connect the hose is cracked somewhere or the leak is internally in the system

Maybe you can try a soapy water mix all over the system and pump some air gently down the pipe and look for bubbles?

When I worked on old Computer Reel To Reel tape drives that had plenty of rubber pipes around this is what we had to do.