10-9-12 Heater "blend door" actuator SUCKS! (It's been dead since I got the truck - no heat!!!)
This is the worst servo in the history of the universe.... If GM was smart, they would have just used a futaba servo in there....
Actually, it's called a "blend door actuator" that controls the temperature from hot to cold in the computer climate controls....
This one was stuck in the "cold" position.... bad for cool / winter months...
I was told that I needed to tear the whole dash out to get to it.... HAHAH! notta chance.... go right through the glove compartment opening,
one screw driver, and a little pry and off it came.... too easy....
(Now I can make a little servo type arm and clinch onto the original stub that this actuator sat on and just use a manual push/pull cable, such
as the old choke levers for the old style cars..... )
I have heat now... and good heat too! Wooohoooo!!!!! who needs computer controls.....
In the pics below is the innards of the actuator.... basically a servo, and even has a potentiometer on the small gear to the right of the
output gear...
Actually, it's called a "blend door actuator" that controls the temperature from hot to cold in the computer climate controls....
This one was stuck in the "cold" position.... bad for cool / winter months...
I was told that I needed to tear the whole dash out to get to it.... HAHAH! notta chance.... go right through the glove compartment opening,
one screw driver, and a little pry and off it came.... too easy....
(Now I can make a little servo type arm and clinch onto the original stub that this actuator sat on and just use a manual push/pull cable, such
as the old choke levers for the old style cars..... )
I have heat now... and good heat too! Wooohoooo!!!!! who needs computer controls.....
In the pics below is the innards of the actuator.... basically a servo, and even has a potentiometer on the small gear to the right of the
output gear...
as you can see in the last picture above... there isn't any way in hell that I'm going to actually purchase
a new one of these... yes, I have the totally automatic control system too..... $138.99 my butt!
I'll come up with a great idea in a day or so...... have a few already, but mentally sorting them out now.....
a new one of these... yes, I have the totally automatic control system too..... $138.99 my butt!
I'll come up with a great idea in a day or so...... have a few already, but mentally sorting them out now.....
10-11-12 After a little thinking, this is the push-pull control I came up with.....
Adhering to the "KISS" scenario... "Keeping It Sweetly Simple"
I took the center drive, cast aluminum part out of the last broken plastic gear of the servo...
Now the rest of the actuator/servo is junk! It's out of the picture completely....
I found a piece of 1/4" aluminum rod, and forged the end flat with a hammer and anvil....
drilled a hole in the flat end for a coat hanger with a "z" bend to fit into it.....
I then took the aluminum drive piece that fits on the blend door stub, and drilled a
1/4" hole through the top of it, and slide the forged piece through...
then pinned the 1/4" rod inside with a little piece of coat hanger so it can't slide out or move......
I then filled the area were the rod and pin is with a little epoxy just to make sure the pin won't
ever come out.... making sure not to get any epoxy into the part that slides onto the blend door stub......
I found a simple route for the coat hanger to go between the heater control box and
stereo in the dash... plenty of room for this.... easy! I just drilled a little hole for the
coat hanger to come through the dash facing and then bent a little "L" loop on the coat
hanger that sticks out of the dash.....
All the way in against the dash for cold.... pull out as much as you want for as much
heat as you need...... all the way out is super warm.... very nice!
You can see a couple pics highlighting the routing of the coat hanger and setup below.....
also has the completed pics... basically back to normal, and I didn't have to take the dash out....
Way too sweet!!!!!!!!!! HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I took the center drive, cast aluminum part out of the last broken plastic gear of the servo...
Now the rest of the actuator/servo is junk! It's out of the picture completely....
I found a piece of 1/4" aluminum rod, and forged the end flat with a hammer and anvil....
drilled a hole in the flat end for a coat hanger with a "z" bend to fit into it.....
I then took the aluminum drive piece that fits on the blend door stub, and drilled a
1/4" hole through the top of it, and slide the forged piece through...
then pinned the 1/4" rod inside with a little piece of coat hanger so it can't slide out or move......
I then filled the area were the rod and pin is with a little epoxy just to make sure the pin won't
ever come out.... making sure not to get any epoxy into the part that slides onto the blend door stub......
I found a simple route for the coat hanger to go between the heater control box and
stereo in the dash... plenty of room for this.... easy! I just drilled a little hole for the
coat hanger to come through the dash facing and then bent a little "L" loop on the coat
hanger that sticks out of the dash.....
All the way in against the dash for cold.... pull out as much as you want for as much
heat as you need...... all the way out is super warm.... very nice!
You can see a couple pics highlighting the routing of the coat hanger and setup below.....
also has the completed pics... basically back to normal, and I didn't have to take the dash out....
Way too sweet!!!!!!!!!! HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!