Hi all - 95 XJ no A/C - having an issue with the climate control "blower" - here's a synopsis:

Intermittent loss of fan / blowing when either "defrost" or "heat" (directs to the floor) is selected. However, I still get good flow in "vent" or "bi-level". In bi-level, some of the flow is directed to the floor and this works (so the floor vent door is operating).

This issue seems to come and go a bit in heat mode - it will work, then stop working, then start working again without me touching anything. It actually sounds like the fan / blower shuts off when I select "defrost" and sometimes "heat" (I know this doesn't make sense).

The really strange thing is that when I operate the climate control without the car running (essentially creating a no-vacuum situation), flow DOES blow through the defrost - as you would expect in a no-vacuum situation.

I've read through a lot of posts on similar symptoms, but my actuators appear to be functioning well (witnessed visually + flow works w/ car not running). I took a quick look at the vacuum lines and didn't see anything amiss there either. My heat still gets hot, I have multiple speeds of fan, I just have no defrost most of the time.

Any thoughts on what may be going on or what to check next?

 

UPDATE: After a bit more digging (internet and in the jeep) I think I may have stumbled upon the root cause - the climate control switch. There seemed to be the start of some insulation melting on one of the 4 female connectors in the pigtail connection to the controls (the one on the right that comes out the back of the controls at an angle) and the male connection looked a bit torched. I cleaned all the connections up a bit for the time being while I seek out a replacement connection or control switch. It tested well, but I didn't run it long enough to know it if will last.