What is confusing me here is that looking at the design.. this thing puts a lot of air in the middle.. however, it appears that a few folks have reported getting air on the sides. Is there something in that center plenum that is supposed to be directing air to the sides? Something seems a bit amiss here.
Bronco has air vent issues of their own. This is the vent all models have for rear passengers. It’s located under the front seats.
What's the alleged issue with that design?Bronco has air vent issues of their own.
This is the vent all models have for rear passengers. It’s located under the front seats.
The vents are ONLY on the floor, unlike the wrangler which has two conveniently placed air vents in the center console for your passengers convenience.
Nothing if you only want air to blow in your toes. And I believe it’s only under one seat so the othe passengers gets nada. There are no moving louvers to direct the flow.
It is when the context-impaired leave us hanging.
Just actually found this thread. I for sure don’t get the “working as intended” Schpeel from dealers. If you screw up a design and that screw up is consistent on every vehicle it does not mean it’s “ok as is”. I guarantee you the group that designed this at Jeep did not intend for it to work this way. It’s not believable that the Test Team did not find this. I’m betting there are internal emails and test reports that highlight the issue but were stamped with “use as is” by Management. I also found it interesting that @JeepCares was very involved in the early posts but seemed to fade away as time and frustration grew. As I read through the pages and pages of posts, I was sure it was going to eventually say that the problem was corrected somewhere along the way between 2018 and today by an in-line design change. Nope. It’s like driving my 73 VW Super Beatle with the air cooled engine in the back with a “defrost” that just blew un-heated/moist air at the windshield. Different problem but you get the point. Clearly, Jeep has no shame.
I DM'd some of the folks that had this repaired, and also took a look at the design when I was in the dash working with wiring anyway. The issue folks seemed to be having was air flow was obstructed and not blowing as hard as it should in the center.
Thanks for tagging us here, KJKWillys. If you need assistance while at your dealer or want to discuss your concerns further, we are in private message.
Better watermark those Dave......don't want anyone stealing it.I was under the impression this issue was long understood and it was concluded that it was a design issue, not a manufacturing defect or any other defect. It was just designed terribly.
The small number of people who claim they get air at the ends indeed do get air at the ends, it’s just that the air flow at the ends is less than 5% of the center. Once again, this isn’t a manufacturing defect. It’s just a terrible, inefficient design. This is why the dealers say that it works as intended because it was designed that way. They can’t “fix” something that “works” according to Jeep’s standards.
I drew these diagrams really quick on my phone but you can get the idea of what’s going on.
This is most likely the design of the JL windshield vent:
Air, like all other fluids, and like electricity, will take the shortest and most efficient path possible. Because the vent from the blower widens up to the entire width of the windshield, it is only physically logical that most of the air will blow from the center, where the air exists the blower vent. There is absolutely no way the air will change direction to the far left/right unless a physical object forces the air to change direction. Because of the fact that 80-90 percent of the air blows out from the center area, it leads me to believe that the above diagram is pretty much how the JL windshield vent was designed.
The unfortunate thing is that it would have been very easy for Jeep to design the vent properly, like it is in pretty much every other vehicle on the road. Here are two very simple designs that would have been easy to implement and that would work well, at least much better than it does currently:
Hell, even the DIY method that many people are implementing would be much better than the inefficient design they chose to go with:
I think we violently agree for the most part. The design is crappy (not a manufacturing defect) and they all operate the same with a majority of the air flowing right up the middle. I just find it hard to believe they “intended” it to work that way. Im sure the top level design requirement was to provide air to the entire windshield in order to defrost it more efficiently. If they intended it to just blow on the middle then why extend the ducts all the way on both sides? I also agree that any of your three options would be superior to the current design! Has this forum kinda decided on who’s workaround is the best option? I obviously need one.I was under the impression this issue was long understood and it was concluded that it was a design issue, not a manufacturing defect or any other defect. It was just designed terribly.
The small number of people who claim they get air at the ends indeed do get air at the ends, it’s just that the air flow at the ends is less than 5% of the center. Once again, this isn’t a manufacturing defect. It’s just a terrible, inefficient design. This is why the dealers say that it works as intended because it was designed that way. They can’t “fix” something that “works” according to Jeep’s standards.
I drew these diagrams really quick on my phone but you can get the idea of what’s going on.
This is most likely the design of the JL windshield vent:
Air, like all other fluids, and like electricity, will take the shortest and most efficient path possible. Because the vent from the blower widens up to the entire width of the windshield, it is only physically logical that most of the air will blow from the center, where the air exists the blower vent. There is absolutely no way the air will change direction to the far left/right unless a physical object forces the air to change direction. Because of the fact that 80-90 percent of the air blows out from the center area, it leads me to believe that the above diagram is pretty much how the JL windshield vent was designed.
The unfortunate thing is that it would have been very easy for Jeep to design the vent properly, like it is in pretty much every other vehicle on the road. Here are two very simple designs that would have been easy to implement and that would work well, at least much better than it does currently:
Hell, even the DIY method that many people are implementing would be much better than the inefficient design they chose to go with:
