No heat from driver side
The vent actuator door may have gone bad and needs to be replaced. The common problem is not the motor but the actuator gears crack and break, but try to reset the actuator buy disconnecting the battery and reconnecting it first, but make sure the radio is turned off before you do that. If the actuator lost it's position, this procedure will reset the actuator's position if it's lost and don't know where to turn the vent doors.
This is how to replace drivers side or the passenger
side actuator. Passenger side difference is noted at end of this
letter. My 2000-2005 Chevy Impala driver side climate control was stuck on
cold, no matter where I switched it to. The light on the panel was also
out. Resetting by disconnecting the battery did not work. I had to buy
and replace the drivers side actuator (Part Number 15844096 - $38.46 at
Chevy dealer). The passenger side actuator is also the exact same part
number. They are both located under the dash, about equal height as the
climate control knobs. Make sure you disconnect the positive cable on
the battery before removing the switch. Drivers side actuator is
accessed by removing the bottom dash cover on the drivers side. Two
easy clips to disconnect the dash cover, remove the floor courtesy
light by twisting, and the cover comes right out. The drivers side
actuator is harder to work on than the passenger side, due to room. But
I replaced my actuator with only having to take off the bottom dash
cover. There are two screws holding the actuator on. I used a 1/4 hand
driver with a 3" extension, a 1/4 universal joint for the 1/4 socket
(and the universal is needed), and a 7/32" socket. These were the only
tools I needed. After unscrewing the two screws, I pulled the actuator
off of a small arm it is connected to which switches the flap for the
climate control system between hot or cold. I then was able to let it
hang down, and disconnected the wire running to the actuator. Room was
an issue, and I did some of this by feel. Now comes the tricky part.
The new actuator has to slide back on the small arm, but it is flat on
two sides, with rounded ends. The new actuator has to match the flat
ends to the same position as the old actuator. I hooked the wire onto
the new actuator, and let it hang down. I held the old actuator up by
it, and had my wife hold the battery connector to the battery to get
power. The new actuator will rotate when the connection is made, and
stopped rotating when I had my wife pull the connector from the
battery. It took a couple tries, but I finally got it to stop at the
same position as the old actuator. I then lined up the new switch, and
got it on the control arm. This took a few minutes and tries, as I had
to do it by feel. I then put the two screws back in and tightened them
down. Again, tricky due to room. Once done, I put the cover back on,
reconnected battery, and warmed up the car. Was very happy to find that
I now had heat on the drivers side, as Canadian weather is cold this
time of year.
The whole job took me about an 1 1/2 hour to do.
Also, note if you have to replace the passenger side actuator, you need
to remove the passenger side bottom cover on the dash. You then remove
the glove compartment door by removing the five screws on the bottom of
the door. Slide the whole glove compartment door out of the car. You
will be happy to know you have much more room to replace the passenger
side actuator, so it should be much easier and quicker than the drivers
side.
Good luck and you may want to inspect the passenger side actuator also.
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