Went to take a look at the air mix motor on our TL.....sprayed some WD40 on the cable in the engine compartment first, then tried to move it a little and felt a BUMP and then the cable moved a lot easier.

So yeah, you guessed it, something broke. The motor itself seems fine....it moves when it should while connected in the car. What broke is the small "pivot" piece on the white plastic output of the motor. Of course, that piece is not sold separately....interesting enough, though, all the Honda air mix motors look similar, the only difference being the white plastic output piece.

Does anyone have a busted motor hanging around? Im hoping I can gut a bad motor and just get the output piece that I need.

If not no biggie, just didnt want to be FORCED to buy a new motor just for the small piece.

Thanks in advance.

-Chris

 

try pickandpull auto parts--auto dismanting and recycling (junkyards)
plenty of wrecked hondas to choose from!
and those guys know interchange of parts from model to model
Oh you need a....here is a whole motor for 20 bucks = DONE!

 

Thanks for the lead! Going to try and contact them tomorrow.

I was able to fix it (temporarily, but maybe permanently since it seems pretty solid) by substituting a 10-32 nylon screw cut to length and a hex nut rounded off. The nut fits right in the nook where the post used to be, the screw comes in from underneath and tightens the nut into that nook....like a captured setup. Total cost: $1.19 in parts from Lowes...sure beats 50+ for a motor!!

Reinstalled, motor seems to move without issues. Lets see if it fixes the real problem of having to cut it all the way to full heat so the blower doesnt come on until the air is warm.

 

What you Broke is the White ARM in this Pic?:


Then you Will be Forced to Buy the whole Assembly in a junkyard.
Futhermore if you ever hear a Click coming from your Air Mix Motor here´s my DIY: https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tl-1999-2003-98/diy-c-air-mix-motor-repair-848488/

Hope that Helps Bud!

 

Yeah, unfortunately that. Not the actual arm, just one of the pin-looking things on the end. I guess I gorilla-d the cable from inside the engine compartment and it snapped the pin right off.

For now the nylon screw trick should work. I went back and forth from heat to A/C a few times and it seemed to be working fine. That arm pops right off, BTW....dont even need to open up the case. I DID open the case after I saw your DIY to check the gears and they were all OK so I dont know if I really fixed the issue or not but time will tell.

Still going to try and hunt down a motor. I dont actually need the motor as you can see, just that dumb arm....was hoping someone around here bought a new motor and kept the old one so I could just steal the arm!

You know how hard it is to ask for an air mix motor at a junkyard? Most seem to have zero clue.

 

hahahaha Well I bet Honda did use that Motor in alot of other Cars not just the TL or CL, Perhaps the Accord use it? I dunno, I dont rely on junkyards anymore since here in SD there dont seem to be alot of people crashing TLs I have ZERO Luck finding some in Junkyards

Well I think the main Reason for the Gear to Strip is that the Heather Cooling Line ARM becomes too Tight for the little gear to move, So when you pulled it and broke the pin I think it was for the better! The Pin gave out before the Gear XD! So if you didnt Strip it you only need that little arm that IMO its going to be a PITA to find..

 

The motor itself is everywhere. Even the next generation Accord (after the 2nd gen TL years) seem to be using it.

The problem is that they all have a different white plastic arm. So I would need one off an Acura, and not taking a chance on the 99 since so much seemed to be different about those....so Id need it from a 2000 to 2003.

As I mentioned above, my fix seems to be OK. And the hardest part about searching for it is what to tell someone it is. I almost need to buy a whole heater assembly because its attached to it.

 

They dont let you go and See the Car and pinpoint the part you want???

 

Havent found any decent junkyards local to me. Been looking on car-part.com, etc. Ashame I just need that one small part but cant seem to find it anywhere.

 

That little bugger is $130 new. Definitely find one used if it doesn't hold up. Kind of surprising you snapped that off... You must have really muscled it out.

Also, the 99 TL part number is the exact same.

 

Me strong like bull!!! Or dumb as rock. Or both.

The fact that it didnt seem to be working correctly previously makes me wonder if something was on its way out already anyway. The gears did look OK though, so I dont know what the real issue was. Only thing I can think of is if there is a dead spot in the copper contacts, which we'll find out soon if it still exhibits the problem.

In that case the only real fix is a new motor (I wouldnt get a junkyard part in that case because who knows how much time Id get out of one....its the wifes car so no heat or A/C would result in doghouse time for me!)