slickshoes

My climate control doesn't switch between warm and cool. Mostly just blows cold. Now, if I pop the hood, and push on the valve at the firewall after I have cranked over the temp to 90, the valve will go ahead and switch, and blow warm. At this point I don't know if it is the actual valve that is sticking (bought the car from Florida where the previous owner probably never used the heat) or it is the metal wire that comes from the firewall to push the valve. I have sprayed the valve with WD40 and it will work for about a week properly then stop again. I have tried looking at parts diagrams and can't seem to get a part number for the valve by the firewall...please help a brother out....thanks!

slikz

Your icon is very pretty.

slickshoes

Hey thank ya....now back on topic...

slickshoes

Anybody, pretty please???

SatinSilverTypS

iTrader: (1)

i will tell you where to go if you tell us who is in your avatar

i went to http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org/ to look for your parts. just enter in the year and trim level, etc. scroll down to "heater" and look in "heater unit". at

first glance i am a little confused. normally i would say your 'blend door' is malfunctioning. i am used to it being vacuum solenoid operated, but it seems in the TLs case it is motor operated (per the parts directory anyhow).

the cable attaches to the motor assembly:

P/N # Pic # Qty Description List Price Their Price
59772 006 1 MOTOR ASSY., AIR MIX 117.57 99.93

what you will need to actually do is see if the cable moves on it's own when someone operated the climate control. if not then the mechanism attached to the climate control is suspect.

let us know what happens.

SSTS

slickshoes

Yeah, I will do that when I get home tonight and let you guys know....oh and btw, the girl in my avatar is an ancient chinese secret....

slickshoes

Oh and, in that diagram on the acura parts site....i don't see the valve that the cable (#8) attaches to. The valve is supposed to open up via the cable to allow the coolant to pass into the blower......so that is what i have to see...if the cable operates freely 20 times straight, then it is this valve...but I don't see that part in the diagram!

SatinSilverTypS

iTrader: (1)

wow, i guess we forgot about carmen. ok, if the cable moves, then it's the valve/blend-door. makes sense to me.

as far as the coolant goes, i always understood that the heater core always had full flow, but by moving the blend door you would change the amount of air that blows over the core, thereby limiting heat exchange. now i know that's the way my ford worked, but i could be completely wrong on the acura setup. i will look some more and see what i can dig up, but the heater core is a separate part, which i was looking at yesterday, and i don't recall any limiting valve.

we shall see.

SSTS

slickshoes

Thanks for the help SSTS, I was wrapped up in other junk around the house yesterday and couldn't get to the Acura...today for sure, I'll check the cable operation....

SatinSilverTypS

iTrader: (1)

dude, i think i found what you're talking about. and it looks as if the motor moves the blend door, which is attached to one end of the cable to the valve. go back to the place i told you and scroll down to the part actually called 'water valve' (who knew how easy it was )

Product Illust ReqQty. Description List Price Our Price
60178 001 1 VALVE ASSY., WATER 37.99 32.29

this should show you what you're looking for. by that notion the heater core definitely does NOT have full flow as i thought before. it all makes sense now...

if the wire moves, your blend door motor is probably good, but the valve may just be jammed internally. if the cable DOES'NT move, then i would say the blend door motor would be the first thing to check. maybe you can find the plug and check it's electrical resistance to see if the motor is bad.

thanks for helping ME learn something new.

SSTS

slickshoes

Yep, that is most likely the part!!! Like we've been talking about, if the cable operates consistantly disconnected from the valve, then I am good to go with the valve for $30!! Although, its gonna be a pain....pulling that valve, all the coolant is gonna flow out...gotta catch it and put it back in, so it shouldn't be too bad....thanks again Bro'...I'll keep you posted!

SatinSilverTypS

iTrader: (1)

i gots a little trick for you....

when you're removing coolant lines, wrap a towel around it and clamp it tight with vice grips. you will only spill a little coolant that way. good luck!

SSTS

slickshoes

Well here is the lowdown...when i unclipped the cable from the valve, the valve moves perfectly free, no resistance, so it looks like the valve is a-ok

While disconnected, going from cold to hot, it worked the first couple times, then it stopped working. My buddy was under the hood, and when I switched it to hot, he tried pulling the cable out a bit to "help it" but to no avail that cable was going nowhere....

So now, back at square one....its gotta be a week motor under the dash or the cable is sticking or there is an electronic problem somewhere that isn't telling the cable to move....

SatinSilverTypS

iTrader: (1)

hmm, well you have said that when you spray the cable down it works for a week. i would try using some grease or silicon spray or something on it.

is the cable sheathed or bare? if it's sheathed then i would try injecting some grease in the sheath. i will have to look at mine when i get home.

i'm not sure where the plug is, but you could always try the connection to the blend-door motor and check it with a voltmeter. that might involve removing the blend-door actuator to get to the plug, which may not be worth it.

here's a thought, turn the key to the 'on' position so the climate control comes on, but leave the engine off to limit the noise. start adjusting the climate control and see if you can hear the blend door moving. if you can hear it then the motor is *probably* good and the wire is sticking. this may involve removing the glove box to hear it better. just an idea.

i'm just throwing thoughts out here. let me know what you do next.

SSTS

slickshoes

Man Silver, you are all over this thread and I really appreciate it!!!

So, the cable is enclosed in a plastic sheath...definately not bare. I did have the key in the on position during most of the testing. When it is on 60, the fans are running, compressor all that, blowing cold. Switch it to 90, fans cut off, compressor cuts out, the air in the cabin pretty much stops for a few seconds, and yes I believe the blend door motor is moving....but I will definately listen really closely behind the glovebox when I get back home and report back....thanks again my man.

SatinSilverTypS

iTrader: (1)

any time man. i've had *occasional* problems where my hot air will turn tepid on my drive to work. kind of odd. kinda sucked on the mornings when it was -10 degrees here this winter.

i'm wondering myself if i could get in there and troubleshoot it now, although the weather is getting nice and warm here now, so i will most likely wait until the fall.

seriously though, let me know how it turns out. i'm dying to hear.

SSTS

slickshoes

Okay, spent some more time yesterday afternoon on this thing...again the valve is operating properly, not sticking at all. And again, the cable operation would be sparatic, sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't....

I found the control mechanism underneath the dash behind the console area....there are some interesting white "plates" I guess you can say. When you move the climate control knob, these operate and I'm thinking this is what pulls and pushes the cable under the hood.

Now, there are two of these white thingys under there, the one behind is attached to a long metal rod that connects to what looks like a motor directly behind the console, this one seems to be operating fine. This plastic white plate is then conjoined to a second white plate, again by metal rod, and this one is the one that is sticking, it is the one in front and is smaller. I believe this one is the one that is connected to the cable under the hood and it is sticking. Which makes total sense, this car came from Florida where the dude probably NEVER used the heat. These two plastic discs or plates are conjoined via each other plastic leg from the one behind....and i just think they are rubbing and sticking against each other....I squirted some WD40, seemed to help a little, but who knows...it may just be the motor directly behind the console is weak or something.

This is probably confusing as hell, and I can take pictures later, if you want to see what the heck I'm talking about....

SatinSilverTypS

iTrader: (1)

um yes.... pictures would be good. as soon as i get out of the office and get home i will try to take a look myself. it sounds like we may have isolated the problem then.

SSTS

georgy_d28

I was actually just wondering if our cars have the climate control diagnostic feature like my mom did on her 00 accord ex v-6....where you hold the auto and off button while changing the temp from 60-90 or something like that and it shows problems with each part of the number on the temp...indicating a problem if that makes any sense