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Common a/c problem


cougar214
01-12-2011, 10:37 AM
Hey guys. I know most of us by now know what causes the a/c to blow cold on one side and hot on the other. But I have noticed there are still people posting about this problem so I thought to help out a little I would post this. Maybe it could get stickied for future reference.

If you have the electronic duel zone climate control like I and a lot of others on here do and you have noticed one side blowing cold and the other blowing hot, you're problem is the small motor located under your glove box.

This small motor controls the blend door that allows either heat or cold to pass through all your vents. The problem is Oldsmobile, in their all mighty wisdom, used a cheap plastic gear inside this motor. the gear breaks and the motor cannot reset your blend door.

Like in mine, you will also notice your climate control unit will not operate properly. Your a/c light that used to come on doesn't any more, your recycle button won't work anymore, etc. This is due to the small blend door motor not being able to reset the blend door.

Your climate control unit communicates with this small blend door motor telling it what to do and vise versa. If you blend door isn't in it's proper position then your climate control unit will not be able to operate correctly.

Please keep in mind you could also have a dead blend door motor, bad relay, or the blend door itself could be stuck or sticking. Or you may not have the automatic climate control system.

If you have the manual system the concept is basically the same. The only difference I am aware of is the blend door motor is a lot cheaper to replace in a manual system. I hope this answers some questions and I have gotten this info as correct as I could. The people on this forum have treated me well and offer a lot of help. I would like to return the favor.

wrenchturner255
01-28-2011, 01:51 PM
I have two Intrigues, the runner has the automatic systems, the parts / totalled on one side car, has the manual system with the hot /cold problem and sometimes no AC. Can I swap the manual control head from the parts car into the automatic system if I swap out the servo motor on the blend door?

cougar214
01-29-2011, 09:19 AM
Yes. You can swap out the gears, you cannot swap out the whole motor and put a manual in an automatic system. But As I said,this is providing your problem is a broken gear in the motor. Just be sure to check your whole system and be sure your problem is the broken gear in that motor.

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