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Air vent problems.

2K views 11 replies 3 participants last post by  shortfur7 
#1 ·
I have noticed that since it has gotten cold outside that when i turn my heat on high and manually turn the fan all the way up and have it set on just the vents at eye level that the two driver side ones are significantly lower temperature then the passenger side. Its to a point where i close the ones on my side and open the other two towards me because it gets really cold. Its like the warm air isnt getting to my side for some reason.
 
#2 ·
It's the mix actuator for your side. I had the same exact problem a few weeks ago, and it's still not totally fixed. If you pull the lower dash panel off under the steering wheel, and the black plastic panel that continues forward to the firewall, you will have access to the actuator. I think there are two visible from the driver's side, and one of them is for the rear seat controls. Just lay under there and move the rear control temperature and mode switches to identify which is which. You may be able to simply start by moving the temp knob on your side from 60 to 90 and look for the one trying to move. If it's like mine, it will be completely jammed. I had to pry out on the arm pretty hard, heard a "pop", and it suddenly started working. Unfortunately, although I now have hot and cold, I have no intermediate adjustment. At about 81 degrees, it will shift from completely cold to completely hot. Good luck.
 
#4 ·
I'm willing to bet it's still related to the actuator. Are you sure it has a full range of movement? Do you have ANY perceptible change in temperature when going from 60 to 90 while in manual fan speed mode? I mention manual fan speed because (I believe) the threshold for the actuator is dynamic when in auto mode, where in manual it should always allow a full range of motion.
 
#5 ·
Im not sure what the heck is going on with it. Like yesterday it was only the vent to the right of the steering wheel that had cold air. the others were hot. Then after about an hour of driving i turned it to 80 and it had warm air coming out again. but then this morning it was back to both on the left not blowing hot air. But yes the actuators are moving freely and completely.
 
#6 ·
Ok so an update on this. Hopefully someone on here can help me out with what to try next.

I got under the dash after taking everything off and the actuator moves completely freely to all three positions and is connected properly. But just for S&G i went ahead and bought a new one to see if something weird was going on. (BTW it is a PITA to change) So low and behold the new one didnt fix the problem.

So basically the whole drivers side of the car in the front doesn't get hot. That is including the windshield defrost, dash, and floor vents. The right side all works correctly and the back works properly.

So can anyone here help me out with what might be the issue that i can resolve it?

Thank You. (Yes i took it to the dealer and all they said was that it needed the actuator changed which i already did with no fix)
 
#7 ·
shortfur7 said:
Ok so an update on this. Hopefully someone on here can help me out with what to try next.

I got under the dash after taking everything off and the actuator moves completely freely to all three positions and is connected properly. But just for S&G i went ahead and bought a new one to see if something weird was going on. (BTW it is a PITA to change) So low and behold the new one didnt fix the problem.

So basically the whole drivers side of the car in the front doesn't get hot. That is including the windshield defrost, dash, and floor vents. The right side all works correctly and the back works properly.

So can anyone here help me out with what might be the issue that i can resolve it?

Thank You. (Yes i took it to the dealer and all they said was that it needed the actuator changed which i already did with no fix)
Are you sure you changed the RIGHT one?
 
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