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beaubeau's avatar
beaubeau
Explorer
Jan 18, 2022

Windshield defroster not blowing

Hi everyone.
We have a 2008 Allegro QBD on the Freightliner front engine diesel chassis.
Last weekend the windshield defroster stopped working. Nothing blows from the ducts under the windshield, where the dashboard and windshield meet.
I’ve ran an endoscope thru as much ductwork as I could, nothing. I suspect a mouse has built a nest in there somewhere….the last time we used the coach furnace, bits of mouse nest were blown out of those coach furnace ducts.

The fan runs, and it will blow warm air from the A/C vents, just nothing up top.

As a backup I’m going to use the anti-fog stuff from Rain-X and I have tiny 12v ‘heater’.

Do any of y’all have suggestions?

Thanks a lot.
  • Chip,

    I do not know Alegro/Freightliner, but most cab HVAC systems fall into three categories:
    Vacuum - not common with diesel because there is no vacuum.
    Electric - not popular due to cost
    Cable - Not easy to build due to cable routing problems.

    I would vote that yours is electric. So, there is an operator at every diverter or control door. Every one of those has a connector that is now 15 years old. I would suggest that you crawl around under the dash and see how many you can find to dis/reconnect and hope one of them gets you.

    In the case that it is a cable system, look for a cable that has slipped out of its holder. The holders can usually be crunched a little tighter and the cable pushed back in.

    If they did add a vacuum pump to run that and a few other things, I can almost bet that there is one of those stupid little nylon lines that is kinked, or cracked or the rubber connector have gotten cracked.

    What ever, you are going to have to find what it is and I can promise that this will not be the last time you have to do this.

    Matt
  • Thanks for this very detailed help!

    Matt_Colie wrote:
    Chip,

    I do not know Alegro/Freightliner, but most cab HVAC systems fall into three categories:
    Vacuum - not common with diesel because there is no vacuum.
    Electric - not popular due to cost
    Cable - Not easy to build due to cable routing problems.

    I would vote that yours is electric. So, there is an operator at every diverter or control door. Every one of those has a connector that is now 15 years old. I would suggest that you crawl around under the dash and see how many you can find to dis/reconnect and hope one of them gets you.

    In the case that it is a cable system, look for a cable that has slipped out of its holder. The holders can usually be crunched a little tighter and the cable pushed back in.

    If they did add a vacuum pump to run that and a few other things, I can almost bet that there is one of those stupid little nylon lines that is kinked, or cracked or the rubber connector have gotten cracked.

    What ever, you are going to have to find what it is and I can promise that this will not be the last time you have to do this.

    Matt
  • Don't know about front engine diesel's but many DP's have a small vacuum pump behind the dash that supplies vacuum to operate heater related options. Could be your situation is caused by broken or loose hoses. Check with Tiffin or ask your question on Tiffin forum. Good luck.