AC blend door actuator follies

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thatmemphisvibe
Posts: 25
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 4:11 pm

AC blend door actuator follies

Post by thatmemphisvibe »

We all can use a good laugh every day. Glad to oblige.
So, I've had the problem of not being able to run the AC in recirculate mode in my 2008. I haven't heard the telltale clicking noise of the actuator trying to move the door. We've having scorching temps here lately, and the AC just never catches up. After looking at a couple of youtube videos and reading up on this site, I decided I could tackle this job.
Rock Auto had a new actuator for $12 (probably my first mistake). Cheapskate that I am, I ordered it. Tried to install it last night, but the motor wasn't working consistently. I thought I could swap the RA gear into my original actuator and be OK that way, but it's apparently a bit too big and I couldn't close the case back up. Then I got the idea to swap my 2008 motor into the RA actuator and have a complete new set of gears inside. After a lot of cutting and fitting, the case went together fairly well, but didn't turn when I hooked it back up.
I was at my you pull it auto yard at 8 this morning and pulled three actuators from wrecked Vibes. (One did have a complete set of alloy wheels. Tempting) I opened each of them, and the damage inside got progressively more extensive. So I went back to the RA unit with the GM motor, and it was working pretty well this morning. I tinkered with the fit a bit more, and it seemed to be OK.
My question is this: Is the motor supposed to reverse direction (which seems logical to me) when it changes modes? When I install the actuator, the door is in the recirculate position. When I hit the button on the dash to change to the open position, the door moves back just fine. When I hit the recirculate button again, the door doesn't move. If the motor doesn't reverse -- at least mine doesn't -- how does it move the door in the other direction?
I went ahead and put the actuator in with the door in recirc mode, which is what I want now anyway. In the winter, I can open the door to get defrost. Next summer, I guess I'll be back into the dash to reset the recirc door. That process worked out pretty well. I didn't have to move anything to get access to the two screws. Even got both of them back in. The rubber band around the socket is brilliant advice. That's all I used.
If anyone can shed some light on why my door moves only one way, I would be grateful.
zbyers
Posts: 1767
Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2014 6:12 pm
Location: Sheffield, Pennsylvania

Re: AC blend door actuator follies

Post by zbyers »

I believe that is the way it is designed. Basically that the only way the motor stops is to stall or something. It's a horribly funky GM setup. The Matrix does not have this issue.
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