Hey guys,

Is it normal for the enclosure box surrounding the blower motor to disintegrate? I know you may need to actually cut through the box to service certain parts (if they go bad) but my box is literally falling apart. When I was replacing the intake gaskets, I laid the AC compressor over near the enclosure and the slightest touching or pressure on the enclosure caused chunks of it to fall off. It's really brittle. I can break pieces off of it with hardly any effort at all. Obviously, it's plastic and its 11 years old, but is it normal for this enclosure to fall apart? And if so, what are the ramifications (if any) of having the box disintegrate? It certainly doesn't look like this would be an easily replaceable part as it surrounds the AC as well. Please share your thoughts or experiences.

I have no current problems or issues will air flow inside the cab. All vents blow out with fairly good volume.

 

Is this the surrounding cover or the HVAC box itself? If it is the box itself, then you have a problem. The problem is that this will allow the HVAC system to pull in air from the engine compartment. This may result in exhaust fumes or burnt oil fumes, etc being pulled into the passenger compartment which isn't good.

But to answer your question, no, I don't think it is all that common. It's possible that they changed the materials along the way to make it better, but it is also possible that someone put something on to 'clean' it that actually damaged the plastic...

 

Kyle,

It's the outer cover box over the HVAC system. The plastic cover box is literally failing apart. Its held together with metal pressure clips, but pieces have broken off, the areas around the clips have stress cracks everywhere, etc. It's possible that the box has been weakened by some cleaning product before I got the vehicle (almost 5 years ago...man, time flies) but there was no indication that this vehicle was ever cleaned under the hood before I got it (if you get my drift). It just seems that the plastic is old, fatigued and its failing. Everything works fine internally and there is no evidence of exhaust or air infilitration into the passenger compartment. The box is actually so brittle that I can't even affix anything to it to try to help hold it together. The slightest pressure or touching just breaks more pieces off. I was thinking I could use a metallic tape to bridge the parts where there are holes but I can't apply any pressure to the existing surfaces. I guess I have to just leave it alone and live with it. Oh well......

 

Mine doesn't have any 'clips' to it. I don't know whether yours is made like mine or not, but perhaps you could go to a junkyard, find a blazer,and follow the cut through lines on the cover to remove it for your truck? I can't remember if the Haynes manual says to reseal it with RTV or weatherstripping sealant.

 

If you have some time, remove the inner fender and really get a good look at it (and maybe take some pictures). I'm trying to remember from the '95-'97 trucks I've worked on, but things seem to blur... LOL

 

i have the same problem. its litteraly dry rotted that its so brittle i can poke my finger through it. i was concerned at first too, but i figured it would be better to just take all the pieces out than have one fall apart while i was going down the road. my a/c system doesnt work anymore anyway, and im an open the windows guy so i just dont care.

 

LMAO! Mine is doing exactly the same thing. Must be something that just dies, seeing as our trucks (jpap's too) were made the same year. My AC also died a while ago, although the recent 100+ degree weather made rolling the windows down futile. I plan to get the AC serviced this spring. I'll tell them to totally rip out what's left of the housing, while they're at it.