Hey guys,

When it rains it pours.. First the melted terminal with the rear defroster wiring problem presently giving me fits and now my driver's side temperature is stuck on cold.

I broke the cardinal rules of diagnosis and jumped the gun and went ahead and ordered a blend door actuator for the left side of the car ($25 shipped from Rock Auto) and it didn't fix the problem. (after reading how common they were to go bad.) The mode will work hot and cold after I do the HVAC calibration but once the calibration is over the heat on the passenger side stays stuck on cold (not good in Michigan for defrosting this time of year...)

I tried a buddy's spare HVAC control and it stays cool with his too. I think the left-side blend door itself may be sticking inside the plenum case. When I had both blend door actuators off for testing the right side door moved a lot easier than the left. I really had to try hard to get the door to move (the white plastic shaft) on the driver's side.

When I used to work at a Lincoln Mercury dealer a while back Ford had a TSB to replace the blend door on Taurus's for 2000-2004 models I think for sticking doors. I'm afraid this is happening on my Monte as well. It has close to 150K miles on it to boot.

I'm wondering if anyone has attempted to modify either of the blend doors/gaskets without having to pull the the instrument panel out and drain the coolant/recover the A/C, etc. I looked for TSB's and all I could find were ones for replacing the left or right blend door actuators. I wonder if it's possible to just pull the instrument panel back to access the A/C plenum to try to "loosen-up the door: so it moves easier.

Any ideas?

 

just had ur problem with my 04, no heat drivers side.took it to a stealer and they diagnosed the problem and told me left side acuatior was inop.(duh)! 253.50 to fix and now it's guaranteed.

 

Mr. Smarty Pants, why didn't you replace it then?




FYI: Us dealer techs take great offense to the term stealer or stealership.

 

same excact issue on my 04 impala

 

Actually I used to work at a Linc/Merc. dealer for a long time and stealership is kind of funny!!

Wow, I got access to GM's web site and there must be 200 steps to just get to the heater plenum case. My hope is that once I pull the steering wheel, dash, etc. I can actually get at that door to hog it out a bit or do something to make sure it swings more freely so as not to hang up anymore. I may need a whole new heater/ A/C case (I guess they warp according to G/M??) or just the driver's side door.

What a dumb-*** design to begin with... I think BMW or someone had his/hers heat/A-C way back then Lincoln got it then GM then who knows... 90% of the time I drive alone so who cares about the passenger temperature anyways?? On the Lincoln LS there was a water valve that would screw up too causing uneven heating/cooling and that would cost around $500 to fix after the warranty was up. Funny, people didn't bitch about it when Ford was paying for it under the warranty!!

 

Hello, I have almost everything I can get out of the way without disabling the drivability because I still need to drive the car, my Gorilla size hands (wedding ring finger is size 16) and I can see the actuator fine, see the bolts holding it in, both.. I just can't get these MITTS in there to get them out ...lol... I have been trying to use 1/4" socket sets with wobbles and extensions, but need to get a tad bit closer... Almost funny it's so close to getting to...but might as well be on Kyrpton for all that matters...lol..I'm at it again in the am.. Wish me luck !... Thanks..mjc...

 

Long extension and wobble 5.5mm socket is how I get them out.

 

Lol... Figures why I couldn't get my 5 mm socket on it... I just thought I couldn't get it on.. ONLY size I don't have ! Gonna go get a 5.5 tonight at Harbor Fright for this 1 n done socket... Thanks a ton, hope I can get this done.. Mjc....

 

Just blown away with HOW I fixed this issue.......dont know HOW or WHY it worked... but it did.... First off, FINALLY got my hands in and used about 16" of extensions with my 1/4 " socket set, took off the 2 tiny screws that hold the blend door actuator on, removed it from the shaft... NOW comes the strange part... BEFORE I DID ANYTHING else, I took a Silver Sharpy out and marked the actuator to its current location, so I could make sure that I could set "the new one" If needed the same way, (you can spin the new or old one with a 9 volt battery with test wires, thats what I did to check the actuator to see if it was any good before I bought a new one) Well, the actuator runs perfect, both ways (just hook up the wires flipped to the opposite terminal and it will spin the other way) , So, the motor works, NP.... Then I reinstall it AFTER i checked to make sure the blend door wasn't stuck..... After putting it all back together, STILL NO HEAT drivers side ONLY... Hmmmmmm.. then I took it apart AGAIN... left the wire terminals on, turned the key, actuator spins as it should trying to calibrate itself, warmed up the car, turned the blend door by hand, worked great, HEAT on both sides...Hmmmm AGAIN !....took apart the rest of the dash to get the HVAC out and check it with another one from another car, Still didn't work on its own... So The door is not stuck, the actuator works, the HVAC is good, STILL NO HEAT on the driver's side..... then an Idea POPPED out my tiny head... let the actuator spin 180 degrees and put it back on and see Whit happens.. No and behoild... it works PERFECT !!!!!... Not sure why, but it does... shut the car off, re- test... works great, blows hot when it should, cold when it should.. again, all i did was let the actuator spin 180 degrees, then re-installed the actuator and it works... (after testing everything to do with the heat, blend doors etc.....My question is WHY did it work because I let the motor spin to the 180 degrees??? the motor (actuator) spun perfectly out as well as in the car..... Puzzled but very HAPPY !!!!

 

All I can say is wow!! I will try this on my car! I was all set to ruin this weekend by pulling the dash out to access the HVAC too! I put a new driver's side blend door actuator in and still had it act up. (stuck cold) The only thing with mine I'm worried about is that when I pull both actuators off of the HVAC assembly, the driver's side blend door shaft is much harder to turn by hand when it's either full hot or cold. I think it is hanging-up when everything is put together, calibrated, etc.

I will definitely try the "180 degrees around" trick before I pull the seats, center console, steering column-wheel, etc. to access the HVAC. If the 180 trick doesn't work than I want to try to access the driver's blend door without having to evac. the A/C and disconnect the heater hoses (leave the plenum hooked-up to the fire wall) According to GM's info you have to pull the whole HVAC to access the blend doors so we'll see.

How long did it take you to pull your HVAC unit out?

DH