So I finally had the time to take my entire dash apart to get to the passenger side blend door actuator. Everything went smoothly until I noticed the air vent is directly in the way of the actuator. How the heck do I get to it? I tried getting the vent out but it looks like to do that you'd have to take literally everything out of the dash including rivets. Has anyone ever replaced this on a 2004 H2? As far as I can tell my only option is to cut the vent out, then put it back together using a repair. Can anybody please help???
(1) View from the top...


(2) View from glove box...

 

A guy on YouTube said to file down an 8mm wrench and awkwardly jam your hand in there and you can unbolt it without removing the air duct. I guess I'll be trying that unless anyone has any suggestions. I wish there was a tool specifically made for this job. How the hell did GM plan on replacing these themselves? Is there a special tool or do they remove the entire air vent? This is by far the dumbest spot for an electronic part I've seen in any car

 

I am sure they take the entire thing apart to charge the customer a ridiculous labor fee. Keep us updated, something I've been needing to do for years!

 

This was actually not too bad once I figured out to disconnect the duct going to the door vent, it just slides off, this allowed me to get my hand back there with the wrench. But you're literally doing this whole job by feeling around with your hand blind, you can't see what you're doing at all.

The wrench I used was 8mm (5/16) and I filed the outer wall thin using a rasp. Once you get the bolts out, the plug is easy to disconnect. Putting the new one in is also fairly easy, just plug the connector in first, then seat the actuator, then put the bolts back in.

I have not tested yet to see if my passenger side blows hot air now instead of cold, because I've also sent my climate control module to module repair pros to have it refurbished. The ***** were crazy when trying to change the temperature, sometimes it would make it dial backwards when going forward. Hopefully they are able to fix it. I was having that fixed while i already have the entire dash torn apart. Once I get that back and plugged in I'll test to verify the replacement actuator fixed my problem. During this whole process I've got my battery unplugged so it will do the hvac procedure when I reconnect everything. I did not test the actuator before seating it because I heard they can get aligned incorrectly or something, maybe someone can verify if that's true? I also didn't discharge the A/C before replacing it, I noticed someone commented in another thread that their dealership told them that was required? That doesn't make sense to me that that would need to be discharged just to replace an actuator. As far as I know the actuator is just a motor that makes the vents move to determine the air flow. I bought a new AC Delco replacement off eBay for $43.99. Hopefully it's legit. I didn't go with after market because I don't want to make a habit of replacing this actuator. The one that I removed says "WOORY" on it.

 

I took the original one apart and don't see any broken cogs so it must be something electronic that went bad? It has a red stamp and says 03 on the label so I think it's original. Hopefully the new one will last another 14 years.

 

I have a weird question so probably nobody will have an answer but I'll ask anyway. I replaced my passenger side actuator and at the same time had my climate control module restored (***** were being finicky). I got the module back in the mail from Module Repair Pro, but now the passenger side temperature **** is not working at all (temp will not go up or down, nothing happens, and it is not in Auto mode). That's the back story, but my question is now would the actuator have any bearing on the climate control functions at all? If the actuator I replaced was defective, could that cause the temp **** to not work? Or are they completely separate? I am pretty sure they are independent of each other so I've already mailed the module back to them to look at. But was curious is anyone knew if the actuator could affect the climate control module screen at all?

 

Not that I am aware of. I'm 99% certain of it.

It sounds like they messed up to me. When I got my H2 the drivers side **** was all jumpy making it very hard to set a temperature. I pulled it apart myself and basically flooded the encoder with contact cleaner spray and spun it what seemed like a thousand times while wet. Then let it sit and dry for a day and it has worked perfect ever since.

 

So Module Repair Pro called me today after getting my climate module in the mail again and said they tested it and it's working fine for both driver and passenger ***** to change the temperature. Now I'm completely baffled and stumped. Some how the actuator I replaced is causing a problem with the climate control module ****? All I did was unplug the old one with the battery disconnected, then plug in the new one. When I start the truck, the passenger side temperature will not change.
I think I have no choice but to put the old actuator back in and see if the passenger side temperature starts moving again... that'll be a fun nightmare. Maybe the new actuator I ordered is faulty? I've even pulled my battery to do the recalibration and it's not working.

 

Update: got my climate module back from its second trip across the country from module repair pro, plugged it in, now the passenger side **** is working.... They said they didn't find anything wrong and didn't change anything the 2nd time. I guess it will remain a mystery.

Now... I have no heat on either side with both temps set to 90°, passenger or drivers. Am I still looking at an actuator problem? I'm going to try pulling the battery again for 30 mins to do the recalibration tomorrow. Am I missing something?

 

So idk what module repair pro did the 2nd time they had my climate module but my passenger side temperature works now. I took my new actuator back out and looked at it, it looks fine. Put it back in, unplugged the battery for 30 minutes, plugged it back in, started the truck and recorded the actuator with my phone, I saw it move all the way from left to right during the calibration. So I know for a fact my new actuator is working. Still getting no heat out of either side. I checked my reservoir and it has hardly any coolant in it. So I had a series of weird things happen, been driving me crazy. I think module repair pro messed up my climate module the first time, after getting it back the 2nd time its now working even tho they said they didn't do anything different and saw no problems. I had indeed installed the actuator correctly the first time and as far as I know the actuator and the temperature **** are independent of each other, so the temp **** not working was not related to replacing the actuator. My heat not working is due to low coolant. Originally the heat was working on the drivers side but not the passengers side, that added to a lot of my confusion. I just had my radiator and hoses replaced a few months ago so I took it back to them to look over, if it was a bubble or it's leaking again. This thread has now gotten way off topic! But I'm trying to keep it thorough and updated in case anyone runs into these same problems.