When working on removing the blend door motor make sure the temp control is in the centered position or it will loose its indexing. This is a site I found a while ago with a cure for broke blend door. It has good info also. They say that you can open up the motor and recalibrate/reindex it if it has rotated out of spec they will include info on how to do it in the directions of the parts to fix the door. http://www.heatertreater.net/Dodge%20Ram%2095-02.htm

right on I've seen that before but never bothered to click favorites...

I saw a few heater blend door issues on only 2 pages so I figured it would help out. People say if you call him he will tell you how to reindex the motor without a purchase, but it is not posted anywhere I could find.

Thanks for this tip. I'm sure glad I've not paid someone to pull the friggin dash out again!Russ

Hi All,I have the "Heater Treater" kit. It's a simple enough coupling in Stainless Steel instead of (reportedly plastic) OEM that can fail. The Heater Treater is marked to fit Dodge Ram 95-02 & Jeep Grand Cherokee (93-98). The instruction also mention Explorer so there is likely a kit for Ford too. I located the unit over the passenger's foot well. I freed up the carpet & folded it back. Removal of the "Blend Door actuator motor" requires removal of just 2 phillips mounting screws. I have the front screw out fine but the rear screw is just not accessible. I have not removed or cut the thick rubber rug cushion. There's some give to it... Any ideas, guys? I'll post re-indexing & reassembly when I get to it.Russ

if its not torqued to much...i've used a phillips bit (the kind you chuck into a drill) and some pliers to turn screws not accessible.could you post a picture?

Hi All, I have the "Heater Treater" kit. It's a simple enough coupling in Stainless Steel instead of (reportedly plastic) OEM that can fail. The Heater Treater is marked to fit Dodge Ram 95-02 & Jeep Grand Cherokee (93-98). The instruction also mention Explorer so there is likely a kit for Ford too. I located the unit over the passenger's foot well. I freed up the carpet & folded it back. Removal of the "Blend Door actuator motor" requires removal of just 2 phillips mounting screws. I have the front screw out fine but the rear screw is just not accessible. I have not removed or cut the thick rubber rug cushion. There's some give to it... Any ideas, guys? I'll post re-indexing & reassembly when I get to it. Russ

When I worked at a truck shop and did these regularly I used a short 90 degree screw driver to get on the back screw. Here is what I use. http://www.craftsman.com/shc/s/p_10155_12602_00947477000P?vName=Tools+%26+Equipment&cName=Hand+Tools&sName=Mechanic+Tools

When I worked at a truck shop and did these regularly I used a short 90 degree screw driver to get on the back screw. Here is what I use. http://www.craftsman.com/shc/s/p_10155_12602_00947477000P?vName=Tools+%26+Equipment&cName=Hand+Tools&sName=Mechanic+Tools

whoa! i didn't know someone made those! but the idea is the same as i mentioned.

Yes, I concluded this was the type of tool I need... any tool I don't have is one I need! LOL! I can't get a picture in place... If I could see it, I could get it out. I'll be tool shopping today! Russ

Hi,I bought the Craftsman tool but still had trouble until I used a pair of surgical sissors to cut the stiff rubber under-rug piece some more. Then I got the screw out. I found my OEM plastic link was NOT broken but the door was definately stuck. I worked the OEM connector back & forth & freed the door up. I found the door to drag the bottom of the duct except when I applied gentle pressure up on the shaft. The blend door motor appears fine. I'm going to reuse the OEM plastic connector because it's easier... I'm keeping the repair parts just in case & with the mat cut (won't show with the rug down) I can quickly replace it now. I've added an O ring as a spacer to lift the shaft slightly, hopefully cutting the drag. The kit includes a pcture of the index mark... have to open the motor gear case to see it... center the door. center the motor. reassemble. I'm replacing both those nasty phillips screws with hex so the next mechanic can see the exposed one to get the right socket. Chris at Heater Treater has helpfully answered my e-mails providing guidance beyond everything on his web site & instructions.

I might have to change those screws out when I pull my HVAC out to do my A/C Evaporator...

OK, having bought the Heater Treater kit... Finally getting the blend door actuator motor out... the BDAM is fine & the connector is fine. HOWEVER, you will need to open the gear case on the BDAM to reindex the gears. I STONGLY suggest that you do so with the protruding drive down so that the motor not drop out of the case. The motor can go in either way but one drives the doors the opposite direction making it impossible to stop the heat even with the control set to "off". While the case is open, I marked the top side of that little motor with magic marker.Having now corrected the orientation of that pesky motor, I have the BDAM back into the truck in record time. I do not want to be expert at this ever again. I did replace the mounting screws with hex/phillps combo but still had to use the phillips to do the back one. I had a lot of trouble getting the back screw started again until I used a spot of dumdum to hold it in there. However interesting this project has been, I have concluded it was a blind! NOT the problem with my truck. I've got the heat/air stuck on defrost. This control seems to be VACUME CONTROLLED as was originally suggested. Since diesels don't make "vacume" there is a vacume pump on the side of the motor. Since the vacume actuated front axle disconnect functions, I believe the vacume pump is working. I have been tracing all visible lines under the hood as far as I can... not going to be that easy! There is a line that goes through the lifting eye & disappears down the back of the engine which I've not been able to fully examine. There's a line that goes under the driver's side battery that I haven't been able to inspect. I've not tried the cruise control lately but think the latter line is to the cruise... according to reports battery fumes can cause problems with this. I'll have to pull this battery to be sure.

If you screw up & put that little motor into the case reversed... the truck will blow hot air, no matter what you do. Take that little sucker out (you should be getting good at it by now). Say a few choice words !#$%^&*()+*&^%$@! reverse the motor & put it back in. Reinstall. Better to have heat or A/C on the windshield than full heat you can not shut off!Been there, done that, got the T shirt!Russ

I have a question about indexing. Or loosing index. My system was working fine. When I changed out my injectors I broke the vacuum line running along the fire wall. Of course the system defaulted to Defrost mode. I repaired the line but since then If I ran the fan above the second position it would go to defrost???? Now again it's reverted to the defrost only mode. So wold you think this is an indexing problem? If so how do you re-index??

From what I am painfully learning... the Blend Door, controled by the BDAM above the passenger's footwell controls the inside air recirt / outside air. This is the one which must be indexed.There is another door... vacume controlled... that directs the air output as you choose. I've not seen it yet on my truck... but If it goes to defrost, then that is this second vacume controlled door. I've been searching internet about this issue but not found anything definative yet. IMHO, This is not an index issue. Defrost is the default setting. A loss or reduced vacume or maybe something disrupting the vent airflow... since it seems to react to blower speed... Let us know what you find.Russ

Does anyone have pics of this indexing mode? I'm having issues with my repair, and I'm trying to track down the indexing directions, but it seems I can't get a number for Heater treater. Thanks

http://www.heatertreater.net/ Be careful not to lose the orientation of the motor as it will drop out & is not marked. Wipe the grease off the gears, The bottom gear has a casting nub, which you align with the edge of the gear above. If you have the motor in right, the computer will relearn the travel limits. Be sure the connector link is not cracked between the blend door motor assembly & the shaft.

Well, looks like I won't be relearning my actuator... I was in a hurry, and not thinking, so when I went to check my motor out again tonight, to make sure it was working properly, I forgot to pull the motor when I applied power to it-and promptly fried the IC chip inside the actuator module. I'm looking to find another used actuator now, hopefully this one I've got a line on works out. Once I do that, I need to verify my wiring is good, and then put the new one in, and hope it works right.

http://www.heatertreater.net/ Be careful not to lose the orientation of the motor as it will drop out & is not marked. Wipe the grease off the gears, The bottom gear has a casting nub, which you align with the edge of the gear above. If you have the motor in right, the computer will relearn the travel limits. Be sure the connector link is not cracked between the blend door motor assembly & the shaft.

I was pretty sure I had my temp knob centered, but when I got it back together I had the same issue - either full cold or full hot, with no in-between. I'm gonna try your reindexing suggestion, and hopefully it'll work. It's finally about to start getting cold down here. :D

Bumping an old thread here.. but in this video the guy says that it will re-calibrate itself, so not to worry about the orientation when you remove it (he says it at 3:44): http://www.heatertreater.net/videos.html#ram Can anyone who has done this procedure confirm one way or the other?

I bought the Heater Treater part & instructions. I will not re-orientate if you lose the orientation & put the motor in backwards. The instructions from the say to find the nub on the bottom gear & position it at the edge of the gear over it. Then install the coupler & the assembly. The chip will learn the rest from there. When I removed the assembly, I should have taken it to a bench to disassemble as the motor can fall right out, losing the orientation. The motor will fit reversed but not work correctly as I found out first hand. Since there is no mark on the little stepper motor, I would be smart... smarter than I was... to carefull open it on the bench & use a marker to differentate the motor.