trackfactory
New member
Hello everyone,
I have combed through this forum to see if anyone has had similar issues that I am having with my LS. I found several posts that does not seem to be the issue I am having, but at this point, I'm not sure.
I apologize in advance for the long post, but I've been going back and forth with this issue for the last 3 months with no clue of what the problem might be yet.
The car belongs to my step-son and he attends college in Pennsylvania. When the weather changed, he started to complain that he wasn't getting any heat from the car no matter how hot he set the climate control. I had him check to see if cold air was blowing from ALL vents and he confirmed.
We took the car to our personal mechanic since he had replaced the engine 6 months earlier and since the engine was still under warranty, we thought it was related to something he (forgot) to do. To make this story a bit shorter, he tried everything he could think of (heater control valve, DCCV, pump, blend door. He checked the radiator, the thermostat, overflow bottle, confirmed all hoses were hot). Finally after scratching his head enough, he asked us for permission to take it to the dealer for diagnosis ($150). We said yes, and they came back with the "Cold Air Door Actuator" (See attached). Good news, just a $30 part. Bad news, the dash board had to be removed, at $800. Obviously we said no. The mechanic was good enough to leave the part in the car when we went to pick it up. That's when I started to do some research.
Armed with installation procedures, I decided I was going to tackle the job myself. While disassembling, I realized the mechanic must have attempted the same procedure because all the screws I removed were either already loose, or already removed. Got down to the part and removed it. But wait! The part the mechanic left in the car was not exactly the same. The new part had an arm on the motor, while the one that came out of the car had none. The post on the original motor was a "D" shaped shaft that came out of a "D" shaped hole in a console beneath the dash. Since the new part had a 2" arm on its motor shaft, it obviously was not going to fit. I even tried removing the arm from the new motor, since there was a small screw at the end, but that didn't work, and besides, the shaft, as compared to the old part, was not the same size or shape.
I started to head to the dealership with both parts in hand, but thought it might be a good idea to plug the old motor back into the connector without screwing it back in place and turning the heat on to see if the motor spun. Sure enough it did! Now my though was that the arm mechanism must be inside that housing that the original part came out of. Which led me to believe that maybe the entire dash DOES have to come out??
I saw a post entitled "Blend-Door-Actuator-Removal-and-Repair" (can't post the link since I don't have at least 5 posts) but I'm not sure if this addresses my problem. If it does, GOD help me! The procedure looks a bit intimidating to me and it certainly looks like the dash and a bunch of other things has to be removed
That is certainly not going to happen in sub 25 degree weather, so that would have to wait until spring.
I've tried to attach pictures to show the difference between the two parts I just realized I have to have 5 or more posts before I can do that...oh well
Thanks in advance,
I have combed through this forum to see if anyone has had similar issues that I am having with my LS. I found several posts that does not seem to be the issue I am having, but at this point, I'm not sure.
I apologize in advance for the long post, but I've been going back and forth with this issue for the last 3 months with no clue of what the problem might be yet.
The car belongs to my step-son and he attends college in Pennsylvania. When the weather changed, he started to complain that he wasn't getting any heat from the car no matter how hot he set the climate control. I had him check to see if cold air was blowing from ALL vents and he confirmed.
We took the car to our personal mechanic since he had replaced the engine 6 months earlier and since the engine was still under warranty, we thought it was related to something he (forgot) to do. To make this story a bit shorter, he tried everything he could think of (heater control valve, DCCV, pump, blend door. He checked the radiator, the thermostat, overflow bottle, confirmed all hoses were hot). Finally after scratching his head enough, he asked us for permission to take it to the dealer for diagnosis ($150). We said yes, and they came back with the "Cold Air Door Actuator" (See attached). Good news, just a $30 part. Bad news, the dash board had to be removed, at $800. Obviously we said no. The mechanic was good enough to leave the part in the car when we went to pick it up. That's when I started to do some research.
Armed with installation procedures, I decided I was going to tackle the job myself. While disassembling, I realized the mechanic must have attempted the same procedure because all the screws I removed were either already loose, or already removed. Got down to the part and removed it. But wait! The part the mechanic left in the car was not exactly the same. The new part had an arm on the motor, while the one that came out of the car had none. The post on the original motor was a "D" shaped shaft that came out of a "D" shaped hole in a console beneath the dash. Since the new part had a 2" arm on its motor shaft, it obviously was not going to fit. I even tried removing the arm from the new motor, since there was a small screw at the end, but that didn't work, and besides, the shaft, as compared to the old part, was not the same size or shape.
I started to head to the dealership with both parts in hand, but thought it might be a good idea to plug the old motor back into the connector without screwing it back in place and turning the heat on to see if the motor spun. Sure enough it did! Now my though was that the arm mechanism must be inside that housing that the original part came out of. Which led me to believe that maybe the entire dash DOES have to come out??
I saw a post entitled "Blend-Door-Actuator-Removal-and-Repair" (can't post the link since I don't have at least 5 posts) but I'm not sure if this addresses my problem. If it does, GOD help me! The procedure looks a bit intimidating to me and it certainly looks like the dash and a bunch of other things has to be removed
That is certainly not going to happen in sub 25 degree weather, so that would have to wait until spring.I've tried to attach pictures to show the difference between the two parts I just realized I have to have 5 or more posts before I can do that...oh well
Thanks in advance,
