no vent air?

Hi all,
ever since I've had my 96 Caravan (over a year now) I've noticed that when I shutoff the blower motor and set the temp to cool I don't get any vent air. Meaning I don't seem to be getting any outside air even if I put the fan on low. All I feel is warm air. Now when I put the A/C on of course it gets very cool. Am I missing something? Is there something else I have to do to make my vent open? Is there a motor for this? I can't find no info about this in the manual. I have a 96 Caravan 3.3L.

any help/suggestion/advise would be greatly apreaciated

Thanks
-JG

Make sure the recirculate switch is not being left in the on position. When it is on, there is no outside air entering the vehicle. Or the outside door could be stuck in the closed position.

C.B.

the switch isn't on when I try to get the outside air.. where would I check to see if the door is stuck or not? is it easily accessible?
thxs

Sorry it wasn't something simple. I don't know how to access the door to see if it's stuck. However, I believe all the blend doors in your model year were vacuum operated so you might try tracing any vacuum lines you can see that may lead to the A/C controls and see if there is a problem there.

C.B.

When you shut of the Blower (fan) you should hear a quiet thump that sounds like a door closing. The door that allows outside air into the heating system is closed when the fan is off. This is a normal operation.

hmm.. I never hear a "thump" when the fan is on or switched off.. I've had this van for just over a year now and never heard that.. or actually noticed any outside air before.. I'm guessing the door is jammed then somehow.. is this something I need to take 3/4 of my dash apart to get too? :(

where would I find the vent door? or the vacuum line?

Thanks :)