Priced a blend door actuator at my local Dodge dealer today - $152.86 plus $12.61 tax for a total of $165.47. I can't afford that right now so I'm thinking of installing a ball valve in the heater hose to shut off the hot coolant, at least for the summer. The only thing that concerns me is there won't be any coolant going to the heat exchanger for the tranny. In hot weather that shouldn't be a problem. Has anyone used one of these ball valves in this type of application? I checked Home Depot but they don't carry 5/8ths ball valves - just 1/2" and 3/4". I guess I will have to order it on line.

 

I haven't used a ball valve, but I did use an 8" piece of 5/8" tubing to bypass the heater core. Cost all of a couple of bucks with the hose clamps, and now the AC is ICE COLD. My issue is a leaking heater core though, so that will have to be replaced before winter...

 

No such thing as 5/8" valves, fittings, etc.
You're going to have to use 1/2 or 3/4.
My bet is 1/2 barbed fittings on a 1/2" valve will work.

 

Thanks Bill for enlightening me about the lack of a 5/8ths" size valve. I will give the 1/2" size a try.

 

Any Auto Parts has 5/8" Valves for heater hose with a hand shutoff. They are universal application. Ask them to look in any A/C supply book. They should be under 10 bucks. If they can't find that they will have one for a cable control that will also work.

The blend door actuator can be had from a Ram 1500 from any yard. Easy to find! A few bucks at a U pull yard.

 

Take a look at these..

http://www.bouchillonperformance.com/BPEheaterValve.asp

And while you are at it, this replaces the plastic armature on the door that breaks..

http://heatertreater.net/

 

Theirs tons of those sizes! Its in every refrigeration supply houses, Coming from a retired refrigeration fitter and Steamfitter.

 

Thanks for the references. I found these and a few others. There is a good write up on another web site concerning the addition of a heater control valve and a bypass and a source for the parts.

 

Checked with O'Reilly's - the cheapest heater control valve they had in stock or could order was $22.00 according to the assistant mgr. It was cable operated but had a manual control feature as well.

That is an excellent idea - I will have to wait until the weather chills first. It's too hot and too humid to be messing around in a wrecking yard.