Give me air? (AC)

[daves87rs]

Strange, but my car refuses to blow on me (with cold/hot air) at all.....very odd...

My Cobalt recently got a new starter after 12 years. Seems to have fixed some of the odd issues, but likes to add another.....

The first day or so the car would make a "pop" sound at the center of the dash/hood) after the car started. Nothing else happened, and it went away after a day or so. But now when I turn the AC on, the car still gets hot/cold, but does not blow out the front vents (though at top speed it blows very weak by the vent by the steering wheel. It will even still works on the windshield, and you can feel the temp change in the car. Not sure what to think (maybe blocked?)

-still blows, and cold (not blower motor)

-maybe the blower relay fuse(but AC still works)


I'm not a guy who normally uses the AC a bunch anyways, but with all the rain lately, would be nice to stay cool when it is hot and pouring outside. And this is the first time I've had an AC problem that stumped me......so looking for some ideas here...

 

[dishdude]

Sounds like you have a bad actuator for the blend door, they're designed to fail so you have defrost as a fail safe.

 

[Chris142]

Mode door motor? How is the cabin filter?

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Mode door motor? How is the cabin filter?


Filter is almost new.....

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
Sounds like you have a bad actuator for the blend door, they're designed to fail so you have defrost as a fail safe.


Looking up, and judging by the location of that pop noise, you might be right.

But would the cause the lack of airflow?

 

[JC1]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
Sounds like you have a bad actuator for the blend door, they're designed to fail so you have defrost as a fail safe.


+1 on the bad actuator motor.

On my caravan it resets every time you restart the van. I hate the design.

Check youtube for fixes.

 

[TurboTravis]

Assuming the battery was disconnected for the starter replacement, it could just be that the HVAC system needs to be 'reset'. It is accomplished on my Silverado by removing a couple fuses or disconnecting the battery for a few min. Unsure if you can do it with just fuses-try disconnecting the battery for a few min, reconnecting it, start the car and DO NOT touch the HVAC controls for a few min. Assuming this car has automatic climate control?

I agree that the problem is with the actuator but it's odd that it would fail at the same time.

EDIT-I can't tell if this started only after the starter was replaced, but try the reset regardless.

 

[daves87rs]

Yeah, might give the reset a try. And it has good old fashioned AC/heat-not automatic.

Strange I still get cold/heat-just nit through those vents.....

 

[TurboTravis]

Like others said, the actuator will default to defrost. If you don't want to change it out but can gain access to the recirc/fresh air door, you can physically move it to recirc and disconnect the plug if you like. I recently did this on my 2005 Silverado..long story short I thought the actuator was bad, so I changed it...no dice...there is a TSB to reprogram the HVAC computer to fix this issue..moved it by hand for now.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: TurboTravis
Like others said, the actuator will default to defrost. If you don't want to change it out but can gain access to the recirc/fresh air door, you can physically move it to recirc and disconnect the plug if you like. I recently did this on my 2005 Silverado..long story short I thought the actuator was bad, so I changed it...no dice...there is a TSB to reprogram the HVAC computer to fix this issue..moved it by hand for now.


Maybe.

Would have no problem replacing it if I didn't have to rip the dash apart....