Thread: Blend Door Actuator Replacement

Originally Posted by TEK310

my passenger side actuator had a cracked gear, replaced it but im having trouble getting them to close the doors completely. plus im back to air blowing through all vents, its very frustrating, and module does not switch from recirc to outside and vice versa. all vac lines are right, no leaks. im about to sell this damn car.

if anyone would, take a picture of the blend door actuator open so i can see the inside gears, so i can manually calibrate mine, ive messed mine up and need to see where the position sensor gear is relative to the drive gear.

There is a YouTube vid of this.

A helpful tip when pulling out that drivers side actuator (97-03). After removing the carpeted board above the pedals and the plastic panel below the steering wheel, pull off the black metal bracket the aforementioned plastic piece was attached to (four bolts and a couple screws). This gives you a straight shot to the LH blend actuator (I'm 6'5" with big hands and was able to get in there with little issue). Use a 7/32" deep socket to remove the three small bolts from the actuator and unplug (no extension or ratchet required). Once panels are out, should only take a couple minutes to pull the actuator! Hope this helps...

Whoever decided to repost this THANK YOU!!! I have to do this soon, now does anyone know the part # for 1997 Grand prix GT with the regular heat not control?

Thanks again

Originally Posted by 1996pontiac

Would this be my problem. I have dual digital control, and when i go from defrost to floor it doesnt move. it stays on defrost.

Mine does Something similar, on Full blast, the air alway blows partly out of the defrost instead of vents (very weak at vents). Actually, it seems Almost like the blend door actuator for the defrost is stuck in a halfway position. Can't seem to locate the actuator that controls it, is it a vacuum control? Does 1 vacuum unit control all of the blend doors?

Also, I had the passenger side vent blow hot with the A/C on a few times the other day, after turning off/on and cycling the vents, etc it seemed to fix it but I am wondering if the head unit (temp/vent/heat/AC selector with LCD) might be going bad? Do these "go bad" and/or need replacing often?

Anyone else ever encounter these issues and have a solution? Aggrevating Auto Climate B.S....wish I had the manual (simpler) version.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume this write-up isn't for 97-03... because following the steps listed would still require my arm to slither like a snake with a screw driver the size of a baby spoon to remove the driver's side actuator...

Well... that was ****ing awful. I'm 6'6" and there are few things in my life that have been more awkward to accomplish physically.

Word to the wise; raise rear of your driver's seat and lower the front, then drop the back all the way down; try to make it like a plank for your body. Then roll up a pillow or something just in front of the seat on the floor for extra back support. Go at the operation with your head at the pedals looking directly up at the actuator.

It took things from impossible to merely miserable. And I even got both screws back in.

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

lol. im also 6'6, i did the whole job on my knees out side the car door, i peeked in at the actuator from the edge of the dash with a flash light, then mushed my 3x wearing gloves hands up in there lol

x2 except I'm not as tall as Scotty lol

that is a good write up except you need to tell people that the pad is removed with 7mm socket and those 4 bigger bolts on the metal part under the steer wheel is a 10mm socket ; plus they are recessed so you need a extension on your driver with a wobble end because they are not directly aligned with those 2 holes ; the other thing is that the 2 little screw type bolts that hold that actuator in place are 7/32 socket and if you do not have a palm drive it is near impossible to get them out ; after removing the pad and plastic panel plus that metal support under the steering wheel on the left side or drivers side its very difficult to get at that actuator because of the harness that runs in front of it ; it is a very tight spot and you need to get your hand up to reach it laying near horizontal on your back or on your knees from just outside of the drivers door ; trust me if you do not have a metric socket set with extensions and a palm drive to get those 2 small bolts out you'll be cursing at pontiac engineering ; these forums are nice but lets start telling folks what kind of sockets you need for various bolts ; most on i';d say 2001 and up pontiacs are a mixture of metric and standard ; those 2 actuator ones I Tried a 6 mm but it was too big ;5mm was too small so next I got on a 1/4 " drive 7/32 " and it fit perfectly ; so the other thing here is on all above sockets make sure you are using ones meant for a 1/4 " drive as the 3/8" drive ones are too big ; thank you appinboy ;

also it helps to have a palm drive ratchet with 1/4 drive deep 7/32 socket ; and make sure you are getting a better quality blend door actuator ; those cheap knock offs from china do not have any stops on the motor at each end of lets say cold and hot so if you motor signal screws up it will keep driving that door flap till it warps or the plastic drive snaps on it ; just beware ; then you will be into some major repairs ;on the back of your actuator the part side that sits against the housing make sure on that drive it has a stop on each end of its travel ;yes the cheap ones do work but if they fail you will wish you had bought that more expensive part

also which way should your temp switch be in in hot or cold when installing the actuator motor ; i know that actuator only goes on one way on that post of the door but manually you can put the door in hot or cold with the actuator not installed to see if this is your problem ;thank you