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Interior fan doesn't seem to do much even on high, the vents seem out of whack and aren't blowing in the right places. Also the AC button blinks 5-6 times and then shuts off.
I have B0367 (motor 2 feedback open), B0441 (LH mix motor out of range), B0446 (RH mix motor out of range) and B0361 pops up intermittently. I've seen a bunch of posts on B0637 with B0441, but none with all 4 of my codes.
Battery acid ate through nylon hvac wires, but I was able to fix them by putting a slightly larger vacuum line over the original lines to jump the lines. Code still happens after clearing with my tech2. After I clear the codes, I can hear some weird clicking in the dash, sounds like the vent doors are trying to open or close but it doesn't sound good, maybe trying to reset?
I'd really appreciate some suggestions before I start ripping my dash apart. '98 Coupe M6
A/C blinking may be low refrigerant level, preventing compressor from engaging. I don't think the actuator motor codes would cause a blinking light. I'd get a set of refrigerant gauges on the system to see what's in there.
I haven't done much with the actuators in the C5 but with a history of battery acid leakage I'd definitely be checking that wire harness really carefully before tearing the dash apart.
Hey VetteMed, I believe you're right that the A/C problem could be unrelated. Likely that the A/C refrigerant level is low, I'll have to check this out. At the moment I'm more concerned about the ventilation problems and CEL codes.
For the ventilation problems, I made the following video to show the progress I made:
So I believe the battery acid problem has been neutralized, however I still have those codes listed above even after clearing the codes. They come right back I have read that if the ventilation system keeps on moving around inside the dash, the potentiometer inside the actuators may be bad and don't know where they are, so they just keep running.
I'm hoping there are some tests I can run without having to take the dash apart. If not I will probably have to just suck it up and buy new actuators and get in the dash. Thanks for your help
. They aren't that good, they're loud and it seems like they can't quite find the right stopping place (they search for the right place to stop) but hey not bad for $30.
I should also mention that this was only possible with the help if my tech2 scanner. In order to activate the motors and get them to the right place, you have to activate the actuators by either clearing the HVAC codes with the tech2 or just entering the current dtc codes menu.
it seems that entering this menu activates the motors for a couple minutes, allowing the tech2 to inspect the motors functionality and travel distance. By activating the motors, I was able to get them to the right spot (fully open, or rotated towards the front of the car) and then turn off the car, leaving the motors in the right spot. Then I reinstalled the motors and they were happy again. It took some fiddling but the tech2 saved the day again.
For all those interested, I replaced the actuators and the codes are gone. Hopefully they don't come back. These are the ones I bought from amazon. They aren't that good, they're loud and it seems like they can't quite find the right stopping place (they search for the right place to stop) but hey not bad for $30.
Early actuators had no built in stops ('97-'00?), which the later actuators have. I don't know how many actuators you got, whether they were all for $30.00, or $30.00 each. Either way, thats way too cheap for the quality made later style. They're likely the old style for that price. But I wish you well. I'm guessing you are on the younger side, and us older guys like to fix something that we don't have to fix again. Sure, I wish the really good actuators were $5.00 each!! But they're not. The good ones (read: later style) are usually at least $80.00 each. As I said, I wish you the best of luck with them. Thank you for posting the video info, too!!
Agreed yeah if I was keeping the car forever I would definitely have gone with the OEM $120/each actuators, looks like rock auto has them. As they say fix it right or fix it twice, so for your beloved vette these would be the correct units to get. The amazon actuators work for my purposes of clearing the HVAC codes and making the vents work again. If you're like me and want a quick fix this will do, otherwise I would spring for the OEM ones. But I can live with the slightly more noisy units until I move on to my next project, especially because by exhaust is removed on my C5 and you won't be able to hear it over the sound.
By the way, removing the dashboard really wasn't that bad. A lot of guys talk about how hard it is, but I was underwhelmed at the project, probably took 45 minutes. I followed this tutorial here with one modification, I did the hazard light last after the dash was loose and I could get in there much easier. So don't be afraid of removing your dash it's not so bad. Especially if your "younger" and your back still works lol
Thought I would share a few photos of my broken right hand actuator ("mix") motor. The big gear was cracked, making the motor run indefinitely since it never reached resistance. I also included some photos of the actuator interior for those of you who may be interested. So if you're hearing a weird squeak or grinding under the dash along with some HVAC codes listed above this may be your problem.
Also here is a video on the HVAC doors opening and closing correctly, along with (what I believe to be) the tech2 diagnostic testing of the door functioning.
HVAC codes, battery acid damage, can't clear codes
