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Heat and A/C actuator

40K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  ArmadaGreg 
#1 · (Edited)
Ok guys here's another one to look/listen for.
Monday morning I had no heat AGAIN while taking my son to school. When I got back home I said that's it! I AM going to fix this once and for all.
So after taking my center dash and glove box area completly off I found the problem.
If you hear one slight click when you turn from full cold to any heat setting, you may have this problem also. If you don't have this problem yet, eventially you will, sorry :( .



Referencing the picture above. The green dots form a vertical line. That's where the actuator STOP should be. Mine is actually bent back into a 45* angle, the red dots. This makes it form a ramp so that when you turn the dial all the way to the left the actuator arm contacts it with the little tab that has the yellow dot on it. It rides up and causes the arm to become disengaged from the actual heat and ac vent door arms.

When you turn the dial to the right, the click you hear is the arms re-engaging. Some times it doesn't re-engage properly and you get NO HEAT until you play with the temp. dial for awhile.

The saving grace is there is a mounting pillar similar to the one with the brown dot on it that the actual actuator mounts to that comes into contact with the part of the actuator arm with the purple dot on it because the STOP is bent back and allowing it to do so. Because of that pillar it will not 'over travel' any farther than that, thank God.

What I did, using automotive silicone I glued a thick piece of rubber (you have to trim it to get the correct thickness) to the mounting pillar that stops the arm in the position it would've been in if the STOP was still in a vertical position.

It's working like a champ :cool: .

I took LOTS of detailed pictures but wouldn't you know it, only the ONE posted came out good, sorry :( .

This fix works. A guy on TT did a similar fix but he replaced the bent back STOP with a very small piece of "L" shaped aluminium.
I did mine this way because my fix contacts the actual arm, not just the little tab with the yellow dot on it.

I wish I could've explained it more clearly for the people that have no clue what goes on behind the dash. *No offence* lol.
 
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#2 ·
The good thing is using a flash light you can check to see if your STOP is bent back without having to remove anything more than the glove box assembly, six screws.
Then turn the temp dial to about the mid way point and look in there. If it's bent and your under warranty hopefully the dealership will fix it for you.

I find it hard to believe that they expected that thin piece of plastic STOP to hold up for any amount of time.

*NOTE* This whole thread applies to non-auto climate control models.
 
#4 ·
I'm coming down to see you when mine stops working :)
 
#7 · (Edited)
I took the center bezel off again just to take some more pictures to show what I did. It's so easy and simple especially when compared to the alternative. "Removing the entire dash and replacing to heat and cooling assembly!"
All I used was a piece of silicone rubber and a dab of silicone glue/sealant, THAT'S IT!.
These pictures show the small piece of silicone rubber that I glued to one of the actuator mounting posts. This now acts as the over travel 'stop' for the actuator cam. The part of the cam with the purple dot on it in the images above comes into contact with the silicone which stops it from over traveling. Problem fixed!!!!!!

 
#11 ·
Its the VBC, part #27151-ZT00A
The fan will either be blowing on high no matter what setting or none at all up front.
I just replaced mine, easy to change.

This thread from titantalk.com is a great DIY:

VBC-Blower Fix
 
#14 ·
Defrost Door Actuator Replacement

Apologies to the site Mods if this post is in the wrong thread.

2006 Armada LE w/ auto A/C controls, adjustable pedals, and Bose stereo

Defroster Door Motor making noise

Symptoms are clicking/ratcheting noise from drivers side dash near gas pedal area when changing from defrost to floor vents or after key off.

There is a mode actuator located just below the defroster actuator, be certain which one is defective by changing from defrost to floor vents and observing where the noise is coming from. The defrost door actuator is located up higher in the dash and is the one which normally goes out.

Part # for the defrost door actuator is 27743-ZP00A about $40.00

Just some general tips

The accelerator pedal must be be moved out of the way in order to remove the stereo amp, it is not necessary to unplug any of its connectors, just remove the cable which runs over to the brake pedal, then unbolt the pedal and move it to the side.

The stereo amp (located behind the body control module) has 2 connectors, the black one is easy to remove, the white one has the release tab located on the firewall side and is hard to get to. I unbolted the amp, disconnected the black connector then manipulated the amp and turned it around to access the white connector.

The new actuator splines may not line up, just insert a wide flat bladed knife or screwdriver and turn the defroster door mechanism to match as close as possible the posistion of the new actuator splines. As you are installing the new actuator turn it back and forth as needed to line it up.

Good luck and feel good about saving a ton of money by doing it yourself
 
#15 ·
I had a bad driver side blend (hot/cold) door actuator in a 2011 Armada SL. It made that dreaded woodpecker sound. I decided to replace it before total failure. The only way I could get to it was to remove the entire dash board. It was tedious job but I took my time and documented the whole process. I swapped it out for about $40 (OEM)... and some scraped up knuckles. That plastic in the dash is sharp.

I have alot more pictures if anyone would like them for reference.
 

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#17 ·
I watched your video several times before starting. It was very helpful. However, after hours of trying it appeared to me the guts of your Titan and the guts of my Armada are not identical. There was duct directly in the way I could not get around. The actuator was touching the firewall and I couldn't get to it. So I resigned myself to removing the dash. With the dash removed I swapped the fresh air actuator and removed the plastic ducts and gave them a good cleaning. They were dusty.

Glad it worked out for both of us.
 
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