Heater Blend Acutuator Gear Fix

[Radiatorkid]

Great Forum! I've gotten tons of Infro from this site. 2000 Winnie with a bad blend door actuator. The wife wanted some heat so I knew I had to dive into this thing. First I did not remove the raido, nor did I remove the glove box. I'm you're average size Joe so first remove the bottom console part of the dash, open the drivers door,slide the drivers seat all the way back,lay on your back with your feet out the door and you can reach this thing from ander the dash, You may need a flashlligh also. Remove the 3 bolts, unplug the power connection and remove it from the van. Next, open it up. About half of the top teeth on the middle gear were broke off. I don't know if they all break this way, but it looks to be the weakest part of the setup. Next I took a hobby saw and cut off the bad part, but leaving the rest. Now this will make the gear to low in engage with the actuator rod so you will need to shim it from the bottom to raise it. I used a couple of small washers and raised it maybe 3/32 of a inch. Don't raise it to far or you will loose contact with the worm gear on the motor drive. This was a pretty simple fix for my situation, It may not work for everyone. Anyone with this problem, and I know from this forum that there are a lot who can remove a screw can do this. First I thought since I had rear heat, that I would just swap the back to the front for now. I thought the back one was a real B____ to get compared the front. I'm just your ordinary Saturday afternoon oil changin kind of guy. Not into heavy mechanics. Anyone can do this. Good Luck!