I have a strange issue with our 200. For some reason, the car will not learn the travel of the recirculation door actuator. From what I've learned over the years about this car, you cannot force the car to learn the travel of the actuators, as it does it on it's own. I have tried to remove the recommended fuses and what not to trick it into doing it, and it still doesn't work. There is nothing wrong with the actuator itself, but every time I turn the air on, the car pushes it past its limit and it clicks for several seconds before it figures it out. It also does it at random when the car is off and locked, but I am sure this has to do with modern cars just doing stuff when they're off. Has anyone had this issue and/or found a solution? Thank you!

 

The clicking indicates the recirculation door actuator has failed (stripped gears in the actuator) and needs to be replaced. The HVAC controller times out the operation after about 20 seconds which is why the clicking stops. The recirc door is designed to close after all the car doors are closed which is why the clicking is heard after the car is off and locked. Pressing the recirc button on the HVAC control will likely cause the clicking.

The recirc door actuator is located behind the glove box, upper right. Kind of a pita to get at but you would be able to feel the clicking when pressing the recirc button.

I suggest getting a OE/Mopar replacement. Cost a bit more but I had to replace a second time after 4 months using an after-market one. Bonus is the Mopar one comes with 2 screws which comes in handy should a screw fall behind the carpet. There are a number of actuators (3-4 depending on single or dual zone control) that are identical but could be called mode door/blend door/recirc door actuator.

 

I appreciate the assistance. I just have a hard time believing it is bad. It actually moves its full travel either direction, it just clicks when the HVAC control module keeps trying to push it past the stop for the door. I have replaced the actuator with the exact same result. I guess I can try a Mopar part, but it seems it's a fault of the system and not the motor.

 

Need to determine which actuator is clicking. Where is the clicking coming from? The mode door actuator is on the left side of the HVAC box, right of the the gas pedal. There are 2 actuators on the right side of the HVAC box (3 if you have dual-zone temp control), over behind the glove box. The upper right one is for the recirc door. The one at the left of the glove box is for the blend door. I would suggest feeling the 2 actuators behind the glove box to determine if the click is coming from either of them.

The travel limit is determined by the HVAC control. When an actuator gets to the end of its range of motion there is an increase in the current draw that is detected by the HVAC control. If the actuator does not get to the end of its range, which would occur if its gears are stripped, the HVAC will continue to send power to the actuator and eventually time-out.

The reason the recirc actuator most often clicks/fails is there is no partial open/close of the door, it will always go through its full range and push up against the end of travel. The other actuators will do partial moves and rely on timed movements to adjust the temperature (blend door) or move the air flow from defrost, to the dash outlets and to the floor (mode door).

I have have had after-market actuators fail after a couple of months and suggest OE/Mopar only.

 

It is definitely the recirculation actuator. This car does not have dual zone control also.

When I take the actuator out and change it to inside air, for example, the actuator will move the full travel and never clicks. It only does it when it is installed. I can just bite the bullet and try the Mopar unit and see.

 

Is it possible the recirc door is stuck or something is preventing it from moving properly? You can see the recirc door by pulling out the cabin air filter and with a telescoping swivel mirror look down and view the operation.