Vent issues. 1997 Deville

[rockfangd]

Ok so I decided to stop by my local yard today and picked up a actuator. 

I ended up disconnecting the battery for a few minutes, hooked it back up, turned the key on for 3 minutes and let it do its thing.

It made a  full sweep to hot, then a full sweep back to cold.

I am not exactly sure as to when it is supposed to move but I will have to give it some time. AC was ice cold so I know that works.

Noted the large gear was cracked on the old one. Apparently a common issue. Since replaced with nylon gear.

A actuator setup  I am used to will move the actuator in increments  varying on where the temp control lever, or knob is set.

But It seems on our Cadillacs it is set automatically by the system via whatever it feels it needs (basically if it is 40 and you want it to be 80 the door likely opens all the way)(but if you are warming or cooling slightly it only opens or closes a little)

Also I did not see any ACM Data. Only codes and clear codes.

 

[BodybyFisher]

Glad you got it fixed, yes, that is what happens the gears strip

[rockfangd]

Fixed (I hope) lol

[rockfangd]

Well Back at the climate control issues again.

May be same or similar problem. 

Just took the car out of storage last week. Heat has been working good. 

today I tried the AC. 

With the temp set to 60 and the dual zone off

The driver side was blowing heat. (not really hot but no cool)

The passenger side was blowing ice cold..

Was no help to me as I was the only one riding in it.

bummer. I am assuming it has to do with that same actuator.

I was relieved to see that the AC works nicely though as I have yet to replace the lines to the compressor

[KHE]

It is probably an actuator issue considering the past history but you should verify the A/C:

If the A/C lines to the evaporator are roughly the same temperature when the A/C is on, the system has a full charge.  If the outlet line is warmer than the inlet line, the system is low on charge.  Just a quick way to rule out a low refrigerant charge since a low refrigerant charge (that is not low enough to turn on the low refrigerant message) will exhibit warm air on one side and cool air on the other side.

[rockfangd]

does it matter that it occurs with AC off also?

Temp set to 60 with ac off blows cool on the right side and warm on the left

[KHE]

3 hours ago, rockfangd said:

does it matter that it occurs with AC off also?

Temp set to 60 with ac off blows cool on the right side and warm on the left

That indicates an actuator issue to me.

[rockfangd]

So I pulled the actuator out again and it is inop all the time. 

Was stuck about halfway, I even tried disconnecting the battery.

I then tried another actuator I had and it stripped. No good.

Guess I am going to have to get a new one and try again.

Again passenger side works perfectly fine. 

Driver side nothing

[rockfangd]

Some good news.

The AC blows ice cold on both sides. 

I have the actuator unplugged and am manually moving it until I can get to replacing it.

I just left it unplugged.

It was pretty warm today and it felt very nice to have cold air on both sides

[Cadillac Jim]

I don't have enough information to give you a part number, but Rock Auto probably has your actuator at a nice price.

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/cadillac,1997,deville,4.6l+v8,1025345,heat+&+air+conditioning

[rockfangd]

Just purchased it last night.

I bought the 4 seasons one.

I dont trust Dorman

[Cadillac Jim]

There are some parts that I would trust Dorman about, but something that can be very persnickety for fit or function should be AC/Delco or OEM, and this seems to be one of them.  I would worry about the vents not having the same temperature on both sides if I bought a generic part, even if it fit and the wire colors matched up.

I'm interested in reading that it's all fixed and buttoned up.

[rockfangd]

me too.

I should have gone oem. I thought hard about it but not hard enough I guess

[Cadillac Jim]

Is Four Seasons OEM?  You can usually tell when you see the part.

[rockfangd]

Update.

No luck with the new actuator. 

I did it like the FSM said.

It stated to replace the actuator, turn the key on and set temp to 90*f  then dont touch anything for 3 minutes.

If I put the rod into the clip and attempt to turn down the temp it gets so far then just binds as the mix door is closed before the actuator finishes its sweep.

If I set the temp to go and put the rod onto the clip and turn up the temperature  from  60 to say 90 it will rip the rod out of the clip once it gets to a point.

just disgusted. Have tried unhooking the battery. I did exactly what the FSM did and nothing works. I would hate to take it to the dealer and waste my time and money. to have them calibrate it.

At this point I think I may have to try another used one. 

 

[Cadillac Jim]

I would start over and follow the instructions in the video.  At some point, you will find either what you missed or that your new part isn't the right part.

[rockfangd]

Update 6/3/17

Apparently OEM is the only way to go. I went to my local salvage yard today and bought a used oem one and installed it. I then unhooked the battery for 1 minute, hooked it back up, turned the key on for 3 minutes without touching anything. It works perfectly now.

I watched it calibrate normally and had no weird rod issues, no fitment issues. 

All is back to normal

[Cadillac Jim]

Not at all surprised.  The behavior of the new replacement part made it look like it didn't work like an OEM part.