racerock

Strange things happening, pretty sure things were fine before - last winter and this summer...

Drivers - Air only comes out the vent - will not change to Heat or Defrost - changes temperature though.

Passenger- Only blows cold - does not blow warm, and does not seem to fully turn off the vent when going to defrost or heat

I do know about the cable/valve issue in the engine compartment, but the drivers does change temp.

SO, I pulled DTC's - no codes stored

So, I pulled the Sensor Inputs. Most all seemed right on the money, a couple odd ones:

- Solar Radiaton - 1 (Is this a little brigher than dark (00) I was in the garage...

Drivers Air Mix Opening - 95 (I'll go out and adjust to see if this changes...)
Passenger Air Mix Opening - 32, 33 (moved between samples

Vent Temp Out - 99 Deg C = 204 F - it was not that hot! it was about 55 F.

So, any suggestions? I appreciate the feedback/guidance - I'm considering:

Removing and/or Testing the Mode Control Motor and Air Mix Motors

Two things to consider - The windshield was broken before by a truck... Glass everywhere, cleaned it out really well, but some did go in the defroster, but sees to have been blown out...

I also removed the front panel to get the radio code - took that time to blow/vacuum things out as good as I could without removing the air handler box. (yep, I bought this with the existing damage) Acura has voided the warranty.

racerock

Nobody? How about if I add that I have a small scratch on my rim?

nfnsquared

What kind of existing damage? I assume the windshield was broken after you bought the car?

So, this is what I'm getting from your post:

You bought a car with existing damage (unspecified as yet). Got it fixed, drove it for a year, AC and heat worked fine. Then windshield gets broken. Then you discover problems with heat/AC??

racerock

No, the other way around. Bought it with existing damage including the windshield broken - basically a front nose and windshield damage high hit by a truck - all new Acura parts. No subframe damage at all, low miles. Glass was in the defrost, got as much out as possible. Drove it for about a year, things with HVAC seemed fine.

Today, my daughter did clarify that the passenger side changes from vent to heat.

SO, the problems seem to be opposites on the two sides:

Drivers - Vent only, changes temperature
Passenger - Only cold, changes outlet location

I pulled a hammy a week ago and am almost recovered to where I can get under the dash. I'm leaning towards testing the motors and seeing if the mechanisms are free (where I can manually change the temp/outlet locations, etc...) Thanks for the reply.

nfnsquared

For starters, check fuse #30 in the underdash fusebox and fuse #'s 9 and 12 in the underhood fusebox.

racerock

Fuses all check out.

So, I figure pull glovebox and get into passenger side first - the side that always blows cold (need to fix a rattle anyway, and easier for access. Things look o.k. in general, confirm wiring and component layouts... Turn system on, no DTC's, change temperature - I can see the motor turning the gears for the passenger air mix, I also monitor feedback voltage from potentiometer and it is moving consistent with the extremes (although the voltage range is between .2 and 1 V instead of between 1 and 4 volt.

So I confirm mode control motor moves about and it does.

Then off to the drivers side (wont move from vent) - in removing the lower panel, noticed more glass. In looking at the mode control and air mix - looks like there is some glass up there, so I put a hose on an one of my blow nozzles - some more glass comes out. I also take a q tip and wipe out the gear area of the driver air mix (or is it the mode motor that is the lower one on the drivers side). and then fire things up.

It seems like the gear moved further than before, and I can confirm that the gear moves from one end to the other (I now realize I did not monitor the voltage range...- will check that out).

I also confirm that in moving the temp, I can see the cable to the valve for the water valve in the engine compartment is moving (figured this because the drivers side does change temp.)

So, I start it up and heat up the engine to see if by chance things are working normally now... They are not - basically same as before, although it does seem that the drivers mode does seem to be changing some.

BUT still no defrost. The passenger side does change around, but not to defrost.

SO, I'm thinking next step is to pull the front panel off and see if the defrost doors are moving, but before I do that, may pull out the drivers mode and blend motors and make sure they are fully cleaned out, and try the gear movements further - but overall, I have a question -

What moves the defrost door (s) - I can see in the various drawings in the service manual how the two sides open up with full defrost and defrost/heat... So, maybe something is stuck there, and is somehow linked to the passenger heat.

I still do not understand what does changes the passenger side heat temp - it is not the cable going to the engine comparmenet, as this comes from the drivers side. But maybe they are linked somehow. Will study this a little further, but appreaciate any suggestions. I just hope that it does not require the instructions on page 21-82 of the service manual:

= Remove the dashboard!

I hope I can get in there and verify/clean/fix without pulling the entire air handler out.

racerock

Drivers mode - motor is turning removed (what a bear to get the upper screws out...Mode controls are jamming up...

Well, I was about 5 minutes away from just removing the dash... But thought take a break, have a lunch and ponder it a little... went back out and decided to check things a little further.

Removed the center cam/controller and sure enough, seems like glass is in the cam area jamming things up, and the other flappers are free, so I'm in the process of getting that center cam back in - WHAT A BEAR! trying to line everything up with just one hand... the center cam must line up with 4 things just right and you have no room at all.

Then after this, need to get the heat cam back in - took it out to clean it as there was some glass in there...

Then get the motors back in - not looking forward to the upper at all!

So, with some more patience, luck, maybe, just maybe this will be sorted out.

racerock

So, drivers side mode is running fine after three days.

Tonight, fixed the passenger mix. Removed the motor. No glass. Removed the gear with the groove as it was jammed, figuring that maybe glass was in there. No glass, but the mix was jammed in the cold position. Simply rotated it and it freed up nicely - sort of like it was over driven, or something.

SO, put it back together, runs good, hopefully that is it.

Spunasone

I see you fixed this problem. Awhile ago. I am having the exact same problem. I believe it is from the ext. vents below the windshield wiper blades, as I have had it park outside below trees and would occasionally get a leaf coming through my vents. Blower motor had to be changed 6 months ago, full of debris, and had to replace blender too, now this problem you had to a T. I read through you post on it, but not exactly sure what to go to right away. Any help on this matter would be very very appreciated... Thanks in advance. You can direct email me @ Spunasone@gmail.com or text/call 361-935-3133 Keith

prdude12

Sounds like that's the issue with mine. When I turn on the windshield defroster, the driver's side defrosts but the passenger side actually ends up getting even more fogged up!