I have a 1999 Corvette Coupe that has the dreaded a/c problem (cold coming from driver side, but hot air coming from passenger side) i know my passenger side actuator is bad & I just bought a couple of actuators here to replace my broken one & to have as a backup. When I was looking up a "how to" replace actuator on the Vette, I came across a website http://vette.tnreeds.com/actuator/actuator.htm this site says that there is 2 methods to curing this problem. One being the cheapest way is to replace the bad actuator and hopefully the problem does not re-occur. The second is, more expensive way is to "A revised HVAC controller has been released with new programming that allows for a wider tolerance in the expected range of the TEMP door. Replace the controller" the problem with just replacing the bad actuator is when the battery goes out or PCM gets rebooted or battery replacement this might throw the actuator off, thus causing the same problem all over again & having to take apart the dash again & fixing the actuator again.

My question is, does "A revised HVAC controller has been released with new programming that allows for a wider tolerance in the expected range of the TEMP door. Replace the controller." this mean that buying a 2001+ a/c hvac/climate control will permanetly fix it? Any help in translating this would be great! Thanks in advance.

 

Are you sure the actuator is bad? The center vent on mine was warmer than the passenger side, and I got it working by just adding a few ounces of freon. Have you check the freon pressures?

From what I have read, the updated controller and blend door actuators allow the actuators to cycle and re-calibrate themselves if they get out of range, and the older actuators have to be manually adjusted. (by opening up and indexing the gears)

You can still have problems with the blend doors, but it is less likely they will not be able to stay in calibration.

 

Yea the actuator is bad, its topped off with freon. I made the mistake of taking it to the dealership to have it diagnosed, even though i had already looked up enough info on this forum to know it was the actuator. They told me it was full of freon and i had a bad actuator and they also wanted to replace my hvac unit for a grand total of...drum roll please...$1,981.53. LOL thats not a typo, so I gave them the finger, still had to pay 100 for the diagnostic they did.

So pretty much any newer 2001+ hvac will fix it so it does not break down in the future.

 

A friend of mine took his C5 to the dealer. They kept it a month, replaced both actuators, the control head, and charged it, and it cost over $2200. Still never actually repaired a freon leak.

You probably know this, but you can buy new and rebuilt control heads from Digital Dash Solutions on eBay. They also update the modules to fix the common dim display problem.

 

IF its a bad actuator, do you have any codes? I've been down this path, and a new head unit will not likely fix your issue if it has a bad actuator. You can do the fuse/battery pull thing and see if you can get the doors to recalibrate. While doing this , listen and see if you can hear the motors turning. If it has a broken gear, nothing is going to fix it but a new or repaired one. I would not just throw money at it and hope it magically fixes itself.

 

Yes I know, i tried every trick on this forum to try & fix it before I started just buying parts and hoping it would get fixed. Someone suggested to fill it with freon, didnt work. I tried the fuse pull, didnt work. I tried disconnecting the battery, didnt work. When i would turn the car on at idle I could like whining noise coming from the dash, it sounded like the one actuator was trying to recalibrate, but than it would just keep doing the same thing. Thats when I figured it was a broken actuator.

I recived the actuators i purchased off of a forum member yesterday & also decided to tackle the dash removal. It took me about 3.5 hours to remove the dash, remove the bad actuator, replace it with the new one, and put everything back together. I tested everything to make sure it worked and no more problems! My a/c climate control is even responding way better than it did before.

I love this forum, i would have been forced to either pay the $2,000 chevy was trying to charge me or tried to take everything apart myself which would have led to lots of broken dadh pieces. There was about to 3 different pages I used for reference. I personally like working on cars, it relaxes me, so I was not afraid to tackle on this project.

Thanks for all of the help though, i appreciate it.

 

Good for you, glad you got it done!