2004 jeep liberty blend door actuator location

Surprised this hasn't been covered before but had to do this a couple weeks back in my 02 limited and thought I'd add a brief description of what I did. I'd recommend getting the FSM for your respective year but I only followed the first few parts for the disassembly.

My symptom was absolutely no heat. Direction dial (vacuum actuated) and fan and speed settings were fine. Coolant was fine, heater lines showing proper temps. Just no heat. AC was great all summer but it started getting a bit cool here this fall. I distinctly remember hearing a faint buzz when the temperature was changed prior to my loss of heat. I could no longer hear this so suspected the doors were stuck or the motor had quit. I had read somewhere that the default position for the actuator motor is to set the blend doors to full cold. I noticed partial heat one day when fiddling with the temp switch but when I restarted the vehicle it had gone back to full cold. Assuming the motor doesn't hold position and goes to cold when the vehicle is shut off. Upon restarting it must re-establish the temp as set on the dial. Mine could not do this upon failure. This is an assumption from my symptoms.

I'll try to remember all the bits and pieces that I removed but basically you start as if you are removing the entire dash but really only need it loose to pivot for access. No need to remove the steering wheel or column.

The actuator motor sits atop the HVAC unit behind the passenger side airbag and glovebox. Can only be accessed from the top so dash must pivot. Borrowed the following image from spedyp (http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f202/heating-problems-52959/index2.html) Here it is:

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This is a really nice image of a complete dash removal but shows exactly where the motor is.

So what I did was:
Important!!! remove negative battery cable and isolate. Let sit a few minutes so airbags are inactivated and any capacitance has discharged.

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Many many small Phillips head screws holding all sorts of things in place. Think I chose to use an 8mm driver for almost all of them.
Remove the A pillar/grab handle moldings
Glovebox (can see wires and a white connector to actuator behind glovebox)

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Center console
All trim pieces on the dash (under and in front)
Radio and associated bezel (HVAC control area-one screw behind ashtray and pry out)
Side and kickpanel pieces in foot wells of both sides
Top cowl near the windshield (pry up)
Four bolts across top of dash mounting it to firewall (15mm I believe)
Center brace below bezel near front of where the console was in front of shifter (bolts on studs)
Panel under steering column (pull out and up) and column surround (2- T20 Torx)

Then there are 8 or 10 (I believe) bolts with attached washers (12 or 13 mm) scattered across the front that connect the dash to the firewall structure or the HVAC assembly. They are quite easily seen when all the molding and panels are removed. There are four that are beneath the steering column and attach the dash to the column brace. two straight in on each side of the column and two back underneath that go up through the bracket.

Last, remove the dash lock bolts and pivot bolts on both sides on the footwells near the floor. They are 15mm I believe and only at this point should you be able to move the dash gently. Now go back to the passenger side and look in where the glovebox was. Unplug the heater resistor, and the vacuum line going to the vent direction actuator. I'd pull the tube off the vac reservoir mounted to the dash and toward the passenger side door. There is another connector down there that I never did id that must be disconnected. Nothing really appeared hidden. I would also unplug the dash speaker or at least remove the attachment point of the wires to give some play. I should say that I removed the cover over the passenger side airbag out of curiosity. It is not necessary to remove it to perform this procedure.

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Now the hardest part. Move the dash straight out on the passenger side only. Slowly so you can tell if anything is binding or still attached. I could pivot mine out far enough to see the actuator and remove the electrical connector on the drivers side of the motor but removal and installation was relatively blind. The motor is right on top as shown above and attached to the HVAC unit with three small bolts. I removed mine and took a picture of the position of the gear to compare with the new one which I hadn't received at that time.

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I then waited 1 week before I received my new motor (05066519AA). I immediately realized the new motor's gear was in the identical position as the failed one. Again, I believe it defaults to the full cold setting upon shutting off vehicle and mine failed there. This made me feel very good about being able to reinstall the new one in the proper orientation to the doors. With a few attempts and a few choice words I was able to seat the new motor. A few extensions and a 1/4 in drive 8 or 9 mm socket and I was able to attach the three bolts. Then I had to remember what went where but fortunately almost all the screws were the same size and there really weren't many different size bolts either. I tried to keep all fasteners with the panel or grouped by location. Assembly was the opposite of the tear down. I immediately fired my KJ up and almost immediately had heat. Just like the old days.

This is sort of a rough draft and I will try to edit this with a few pictures as soon as I can. I am not a mechanic or even a very good DIYer but I'm not afraid to break things to try to save a bunch of money. The take home lesson is stay organized along the way.