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Anyone willing to guide me to pull out the actuators and replace them on my C5? I have the dashboard out and am now in over my head (as my wife predicted).
859-221-9763.
Thanks!
PS-
I don’t understand this post below.
I remember there being 3 screws holding the actuators to the heater box. Once everything is apart they are really easy to get to. As I recall, they weren't metric like everything else was.
Actually just two screws on each actuator—although there are 3 holes.
The new actuators were set at a horizontal position (“3 o’clock “) but the path of the shaft is only 10, 12 and 2. Now what? Don’t know if it’s smart to open the new ones and move the gears? Surely someone has seen this before?
I figured out how to move the defroster vacuum in that photo above. There’s a clip in the bs k to wards the windshield that you can’t see. But unless you remove the airbag, the vacuum won’t move over far enough to the right to give you room for the actuator removal. However, I was about to wriggle it out with needle nose pliers. Did not want to remove the airbag.
QUOTE=johnson-rod;1601305241]I remember there being 3 screws holding the actuators to the heater box. Once everything is apart they are really easy to get to. As I recall, they weren't metric like everything else was.[/QUOTE]
Correct— the screws that hold the actuators to the heater box are 7/32.
QUOTE=johnson-rod;1601305241]I remember there being 3 screws holding the actuators to the heater box. Once everything is apart they are really easy to get to. As I recall, they weren't metric like everything else was.[/QUOTE]
Been a while since I've done it, but I don't remember there being any tricky parts after the dash is off. You just unscrew them, and pop the new ones on.
You’re right. It should be pretty easy. I think the new actuators were set out of range. Didn’t want to mess with the gears.
Ordered another set.
Also replacing the DIC with LEDs while I’m in there. Put the ribbon cable back in the instrument cluster to test the DIC and now my door panel lights aren’t coming on. No light from the LEDs in the DIC either. Checked polarity but can’t figure out the issue.
Originally Posted by jrp1588
Been a while since I've done it, but I don't remember there being any tricky parts after the dash is off. You just unscrew them, and pop the new ones on.
You’re right. It should be pretty easy. I think the new actuators were set out of range. Didn’t want to mess with the gears.
Ordered another set.
Also replacing the DIC with LEDs while I’m in there. Put the ribbon cable back in the instrument cluster to test the DIC and now my door panel lights aren’t coming on. No light from the LEDs in the DIC either. Checked polarity but can’t figure out the issue.
Been forever, but I think the casing had markings on it. 3 maybe? I want to say mine came clocked to the middle position. I think I just manually moved the blend doors till they matched the actuator, then bolted down.
True. 3 markings, 10, noon and 3. I tried moving the shaft manually but they don’t go far enough to hit the shape of the actuators which is 9 and 3.
Will try gain after work.
Originally Posted by jrp1588
Been forever, but I think the casing had markings on it. 3 maybe? I want to say mine came clocked to the middle position. I think I just manually moved the blend doors till they matched the actuator, then bolted down.
True. 3 markings, 10, noon and 3. I tried moving the shaft manually but they don’t go far enough to hit the shape of the actuators which is 9 and 3.
Will try gain after work.
I also took apart my bad actuator even I did it. The gear assembly is actually very simple, and would be easy enough to reclock if need be. No idea what that would do to the calibration though. Like, I'm not sure if it would correctly know where it's stops are now, or if it senses the stops by the increase in current when it hits them.
I picked a mid range choice. I know someone happy with this brand. Went through Rock Auto.
IMPORTANT: Mine are for the DUAL control HVAC for my C5. Be sure to see their other selection of you don’t have a passenger control ****. Here’s mine. I’m seeing additional photos on here but not sure why. These are not the actuators. But here’s my order:
Originally Posted by Mickeyrx70
OP, where did you get your actuators?
Last edited by JimHarris4; Apr 17, 2020 at 10:03 AM.
Reason: Additional mystery photos added to my photo
That’s my fear. I don’t want to jack up the stops and screw up the system. I read somewhere you can only take the gear a click or two more.
But I’m the one DIY-er who knows his limits!
I don’t want to play mechanical engineer and have the actuators break in a month after I put the dash and console and waterfall back.
QUOTE=jrp1588;1601340764]I also took apart my bad actuator even I did it. The gear assembly is actually very simple, and would be easy enough to reclock if need be. No idea what that would do to the calibration though. Like, I'm not sure if it would correctly know where it's stops are now, or if it senses the stops by the increase in current when it hits them.[/QUOTE]
Could not get new Actuators to seat on the airbox shafts. Read everything I could, everywhere I could. Nothing worked.
The actuator sleeves were almost perpendicular and cannot be turned.
After considering giving up and going to the mechanic, I decided to check my codes. There were seven HVAC codes from everything I unplugged.
Had to delete them several times and then the actuators which I connected to the electrical harnesses, actually spun and aligned. If you get into trouble, this is your answer.
Glad I could help you. I saw nowhere across the Internet to help me when the actuators were almost perpendicular to the heater box shafts. I researched morning and night for a week and found nothing.
Now that I know to check the codes to realign the actuators, I could do this job in 1/25 the time. I was born with a strong back and weak mind, so it wasn’t hard to get underneath the dash to put the driver side actuator in. And that’s three years after my five way bypass. Others may pull the driver seat to make it easier.
I also did not pull out the passenger airbag and figured out to flip up the defroster vacuum pump next to the passenger airbag. I was able to hold it up with a paint stir stick which allowed me plenty of room to get in to the actuator.
Originally Posted by Mickeyrx70
^^^^
Glad you got it to work and THANKS for the update. I’m facing the same job.
Could not get new Actuators to seat on the airbox shafts. Read everything I could, everywhere I could. Nothing worked.
The actuator sleeves were almost perpendicular and cannot be turned.
After considering giving up and going to the mechanic, I decided to check my codes. There were seven HVAC codes from everything I unplugged.
Had to delete them several times and then the actuators which I connected to the electrical harnesses, actually spun and aligned. If you get into trouble, this is your answer.
Hmm, weird. I definitely didn't have to do this. Wonder if yours somehow got assembled 90 degrees out or something, and resetting the codes told the computer to re-calibrate them. There must be an electrical contact in there that tells it where home is.
Sending an SOS—Help needed-Actuators
