GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Okay, who here with a service manual can help me out?The motor on my Recirc vent control apparently lost one of it's limits. Whenever I have recirc OFF, the plate moves to the 'fresh air' position and continues to move, making an annoying clicking sound.I don't know if there are external limit switches that determine when the plate is in the 'Fresh' or 'recirc' spots, but i'm pretty sure I stripped the gear on the motor trying to mess with it.If you find out what the part # for the motor is (it's on the driver side of the AC filter box in the dash) or see any 'limit' switches in the assembly, please let me know?

88970277 is the motor, the limit switches are built-in. I'm showing it to be on the passenger side, but the print of the AC Box is AWFUL.Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »Okay, who here with a service manual can help me out?The motor on my Recirc vent control apparently lost one of it's limits. Whenever I have recirc OFF, the plate moves to the 'fresh air' position and continues to move, making an annoying clicking sound.I don't know if there are external limit switches that determine when the plate is in the 'Fresh' or 'recirc' spots, but i'm pretty sure I stripped the gear on the motor trying to mess with it.If you find out what the part # for the motor is (it's on the driver side of the AC filter box in the dash) or see any 'limit' switches in the assembly, please let me know?

Not bad! $25 at GM Parts Direct. I'll have to order it tomorrow when I get my paycheck.Thanks!

Jahn, did you have any notes regarding replacement of the motor? Did you have to pull the upper dash? Sounds exactly like what is now happening in mine (as of this morning). There is a clicking at about 100 times per minute that is about as loud as someone talking, same audible level inside and out. Initiated when I switched from defroster to front/foot vents.

I wouldn't think that it's the same thing unless you also switched the recirc on or off. Does the ticking vary with fan speed?

No...it's rather consistent...I'll have to tear apart the glove box and dash to figure it out. Whether the car is sped up or slowed down, whether the thermostat is open or closed, whether the fan is changing speed or constant, it sounds like a constant beating sound. But it sounds like it is right behind the passenger air bag underneath the dash...

I have confirmed it is the motor on the recirc vent control...anyone else have any difficulty pulling the wiring harness out of the stereo or am I just being an idiot?

of absolutely no help to this thread, but FYI, the service manual provides no part numbers for things, except for maybe GM special tools.

Well, replacing the actuator is no big deal, but it involves removing the upper dash. I took some photos and even some video of the recirc damper flapping repeatedly. As reported before, the internal limit switches were screwed up. Follow the maintenance manual for how to remove the top dash portion. You'll need a 5.5 mm open-ended wrench for removing the actuator.This job was super-simple, but did take about 3 hrs to complete thanks to the difficulty of having to remove everything. It may be easier to just remove the passenger air bag, and work from there, but I decided it would be nice to have some space to work.All in all, I'd say difficulty is 2 out of 5...

Here's some photos:This photo shows the location of the recirc damper. It is a panel that is approximately 8" x 6" and has a styrofoam seal.Here is a photo of the dash gone. Sorry that there is a sunspot on the photo, but it was the best I could do.Here is another view of the recirc damper and actuator. The actuator is the plastic piece just to the left of the damper. Mine was black with a white portion keyed to hold the damper shaft. The actuator is held in place with 5.5 mm bolts, which are still not the easiest to get to with the dash removed.I also promised video, but in the end it didn't turn out. Sorry.Interesting to note was that I called a couple of dealerships looking for the parts. Toyota didn't have any in stock but two different Pontiac dealerships did have them in stock. What's more is that one dealership wanted $64 for the actuator, the other wanted $43. I took in the actual part to verify that the part was the correct one. I would've liked to have ordered this one online, but didn't want to wait a few days to put it back together.Total cost: $43 + taxTotal time: 3 hrs

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thanks tnpartsguy for the part number, that was the part that I needed, Thanks engineertwin2 for the 5.5 mm socket tip, the pics, and the refer to this thread thanks to vibeowner for the write up on dash removal. I thought I'd out smart the beast, and try to replace the part without taking off the dash. my hand will be sore for a few days yet I think. Between pissing around tryinig that and then taking the dash off, replacing the part and reassembly, took me about 2 hours. Now I can get some fresh air into the car

Well, I finally got around to replacing my servo motor. It can be done with out removing the top of the dash! And I had serious neck surgery a couple months ago! Here is my story...I removed the glove box door. Unplugged the servo and the white connector to the left and hung it out of my way up near the round tubular support. The lower screw can be removed with a 1/4 inch drive ratchet and 7/32 short socket. The upper screw can be felt and even get socket on it but good luck turning it. I thought about it and removed my radio. You can see the top screw between the defrost plastic and the vent plastic. with about 12-15" of 1/4 inch drive extensions and a univesal at the short socket you can reach your right hand up through the glove box hole and put socket on the screw and hold it there while the left hand is in the radio hole working the ratchet. Remove old servo, making sure the shaft is turned the same way, or clcok the new motor and turn into place. It only sits in there one way. start upper screw by hand and then do the left hand in radio hole and right hand in glove box and tighten the screw. reinstall the lower the same way you removed it. Remember to plug everything back in when you are putting the radio and bezel back in as well as the white connestor and servo plug. Turn key on and push max button and watch that new servo go! Put glove box back on and you should be set! In the picture, you can see the glod color top screw at about center of picture. Attachment: 060608_1342a.jpg (123832 bytes, downloaded 1 time)

here ya go, sorry the other attachment didn't work above.

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Engineertwin2, or anyone for that matter, do you happen to know the Toyota part number, or part name? I called a dealer but they couldn't identify the part, so I couldn't get a price.Thanks in advance.

i tried this on the weekend but couldnt get a socket on the top screw!how in the hell did u do it??got the bottom one out no problem,,radio out no problem,,last screw is impossible,,u using a special tool or something?

I also found the radio-removal-only method impossible. I finally just went with removing the whole dashboard. It was really straight forward and quick, I recommend going that route.Here is an EXCELLENT tutorial on removing the dashboard:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=9977Then follow the instructions in this thread, it really is quite easy.Good luck.

FWIW, I have discovered that the Matrix has a differently designed ventilation door system, so there is no common part.

I described how I did it above. No tricks, just hand placement and patients. Like I said... I had neck surgery not long before I did mine.. I have large hands too... The part number should be posted. I got it off the Genvibe forums and I thought I posted again. Don't buy from the dealer and if you are real cheap you can take the assembly apart and turn gear 180 degrees and re use it! I'll look for the number and where I got in on line.

I knew there was a whole thread about this with part numbers and more great pictures. Let me know if this link doesn't work.Generation Vibe Discussion Forums: Recirculate door motor stripped

try a copy and paste with this one...http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=4456

I just did this repair today, following your advice (not removing the top of the dash) and I got done in a couple of hours.I think I inferred somehow that there were two screws holding the motor assembly in place, but on my car, there was only one. Is this correct?I also followed the advice of rotating the white gear 180 degrees instead of buying a new motor assembly, and it works like a champ!!Total investment - just my time, a LOT of sweat (it's upper 90's here today) and purchase of 1/4-inch socket extensions and u-joint.I can't thank the GenVibers here enough!!!

Thats great Earl! I'm glad to provide any "better mouse trap" I can. I think there were 2 screws, one accessable thru glove box and the other thru radio hole.. been a while since I did that repair. Either way.. end results were a bunch of cash saved.. a broken part now works.. and you are a happy camper!

I did the 180 fix a few years back and it has failed again, so my 'free' option has been used. Time to make a purchase. Thanks for the part number! I wonder if the part has any improvements made to it from the original design?

Did it today, took about an hour. I took some advice from this forum or another to wrap duct tape around a 5.5 mm socket (for more grip) and just twist the screw by hand. That way I only had to undo the glove box. It was tight but I was able to do it. Took me installing it twice to get the 180 degree gear turn right. Otherwise could have had it done sooner.

Probably worth a try to do it this way before taking the dash apart. (although without the pictures with the dash off I would not have known where the screws were, so thanks for that view).