Temperature or Blend Door Actuators - Can you DIY?

This episode tells you everything you need to know about temperature (aka blend door actuator) failures in cars like my Cadillac CTS. It's common to have heat on one side and cold on the other when one of these fails to do it's job. In my case, an actuator is making a grinding noise. These require many hours of labor to replace, but can we do it ourselves?
Want more content? ‪@CarWizard‬ just did a video on the same topic! • Cheap Plastic Parts ar...
Chapter Markers:
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Appreciate skilled mechanics
01:42 About HVAC temperature door actuators
05:51 Accessing the passenger actuators
09:16 Removing my failed actuator
11:55 Conclusion
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Actuator Reset Procedure (without scan tool). This may help fix a stuck actuator.
When installing a new actuator, don't put power to it until you do the following:
1. Remove HVAC fuse
2. Wait 15 seconds and reinstall fuse
3. Start car and don't touch AC controls for at least 40 seconds. You will hear doors moving and adjusting.
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All information is presented in good faith and with no representations or warranties regarding its accuracy, completeness, reliability, safety, effectiveness or any other matter whatsoever. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Jet Fuel Only (and its members and agents) shall have no liability whatsoever, under any theory of law, and anyone using or accessing this information assumes any and all associated risks. Always follow factory safety precautions and seek the help of a professional if you do not have the training, tools, skills, or knowledge to safely accomplish automotive work.

[@makevet6531]

Best video editing and explanation out there. Those overlay diagrams >chef's kiss

[@paulcondie2520]

I've been subscribed to your channel Daniel for about 4 years now and seriously don't see how you don't have more subs than you do. I have a Cadillac ATS 2015 premium performance with the 3.6 rwd and you are my go-to for repairs, upgrades etc. Thanks for what you do!

[@JetFuelOnly]

Thanks! It’s tough having a niche channel.

[@teedoe3451]

You're the man, Danial! We really appreciate you.

[@JetFuelOnly]

Thanks!

[@user-kt6vg8qs6r]

Super appreciate this and all your videos on vsport!!!!

[@ads1035]

In spite of your failure, I, at least, am still super grateful to you for making this video. I once did a similar job on my '11 STS, and it was refreshing to see some similarities between the two cars. I DO wonder why GM packages everything so close up in there... On my STS, it was possible to remove and insert the actuators through a specific yet clearly defined escape path. I didn't even have to drill through the AC lines, like you did, to line up the screw holes.

[@dekcaddy3771]

Woooo daniel I was waiting for the part where you were going to say: you know what, we are going this way and I finally got it out!!! hahahaha you are a monster and a source of inspiration for those of us who are passionate about fixing our own cars... I congratulate you for the great content!!! My respect from your friend in panama!

[@jeffreyarriaza665]

That’s a lot of work, dope video

[@ebon18cole]

You're brave! when mine went out I took it straight to the dealer and didn't think twice about it. After replacing one in a 02 Deville I knew I didn't want to open that can of worms again

[@cryptoninja3245]

I feel your pain Brother, most of us have gone down the wrong rabbit hole on more than one occasion..At one time, my AC went into default mode & only blew out the top defogger and the bottom..To solve that one, I slid a piece of thin cardboard on the top part to deflect the air towards the cabin, and for the bottome, covered up the holes except for one, on both sides, and ran a 3/4 in rubber hose to point upward and strapped it to the middle..Then after a few months, it switch to blowing only from the front and bottom, so for really hot days, I just tape up the bottom holes..Both hacks worked like a charm..Point being, with the high repair bills on this fine, luxury vehicle, you have to become a McGyver at times..Also want to add that I am glad you did not abadon us VSport Enthusiasts after getting your awesome Porche!!!...

[@JetFuelOnly]

That’s some creative stuff!

[@markpresbrey5191]

excellent video! You have a new subscriber. I am working on the identical car with the same problem. watched your video and am about to call the customer with the bad news!

[@plastikmadness]

Wow, I was frustrated this morning when the dealer quoted me $1300 to replace one of these little SOBs on my car (not as cool as your car tho 😉)but I figured they are a pain to replace and you confirmed it. Super detailed video. Take care.

[@manuelbarrone8139]

Excellent try. I admire your efforts. I'm getting ready to do a 2014 CTS. I sawon another site where the bracket that sets on the left side can be removed. Reinstall with drill screws. I also use Vaseline on a brush on all of the contact areas before installing screws. That prevents squeaking of plastic parts once the dash is reassembled. The video you made is remarkable!! 💫

[@JetFuelOnly]

Thanks let me know how it goes.

[@shadijalamneh4812]

Please let us know, I'm having the same issue withe 2014 CTS

[@Scoober_Cat]

Wow, great information! Horrors upon Horrors.... so expensive for repair...

[@nicolasp5459]

I had the issue of one side blowing cold and the other hot. I added refrigerant, and that fixed the issue. I don't remember if it was on my 09 cts. Ir the 14 vsport.

[@themann713281]

Your videos are great and detailed....special fx is a plus...I hate taking failure as an option...

[@JetFuelOnly]

Thanks!

[@loopba]

Thanks Daniel! Had this issue pop up and didn’t make sense one side blows hot. Asked the Cadillac dealer and they wanted $180 to run the codes (it doesn’t show up). Said wouldn’t get the money unless fix whatever they find. So seems they were lying if its this common. 2014 Vsport ✌️

[@JOHNWAYNE1920]

Amazing videos, really appreciate these. If you ever replace your sunshade I'd love to see that video. My warranty won't cover trim items like the shade.

[@JetFuelOnly]

Hopefully I will never have to!

[@MrJimmee]

Thanks again for doing the video Daniel, it helped a lot, and saved me the +$2k, my situation was different though, I took the vehicle in for gasket, engine work, and brake replacement and other things and it took almost 2 months to get the vehicle back, so when I got it back the AC wouldn't come thru the driver and passenger vents, so I called the dealership and they said bring it back and they can look at it, that's when I asked if you were going to do a video, glad you did cause that "Heating and Air Conditioning Remote Control Assembly" you mentioned I thought I tried that thru gm parts direct for $103 going the easy route first see if that is the quick fix, thinking maybe it got shorted out or something sitting at the dealership, so after replacing it with a new one I didn't realize it needs the dealership to setup the remote control to work properly, so I ended up putting back the old unit I guess it's like when rebooting a hung up or slow phone, after I did that I guess it went back to default settings and all of sudden I can use the driver and passenger vents again, thanks again for the great detailed videos.

[@JetFuelOnly]

Interesting, I'm wondering if one of those connectors wasn't seated properly? Any reason the dealer would have worked in that area in the first place?

[@MrJimmee]

@JetFuelOnly I also tried that too, making sure the connectors was seated properly, and checking the pins for each wire was locked down properly to each slot of the connectors, but something with the new part when I put it in and didn't work and put in the old part, all of sudden rebooted things back to default, I think they had the car battery disconnected for a while is my guess that may have caused the interruption with the hvac system

[@ThePudgie123]

Thank you for the post! My '15 mode is stuck blowing on the floor after the coolant ran low from the problem upper radiator pressure hose that cracked and leaked. I'm hoping it's a software issue as I'm really reluctant to pay the dealer 10 or 11 hours of labor. It's also amazing how different the fuse panels are on different years. Just finding the main HVAC module fuse is a challenge! Grrrrr.

[@JetFuelOnly]

There was an update to the 2015 manual so make sure you have the latest list and diagram. If you don’t have pages inserted it’s probably not correct. Compare the manual you have with the one available through GM online.

[@JOHNWAYNE1920]

I bought my 2nd 2014 V Sport premium in February of 2020 with 14k miles on it. I immediately bought a GM Cadillac extended warranty for $3500 covering 5 years and 100k miles. 3 years later it's paid out over $13,000 so far. 2 more years and 60k miles to go, lol. I refuse to own a Cadillac out of warranty.

[@JetFuelOnly]

Nice!! It can definitely be worth it!

[@EmmyJune212008]

My third gen is now only blowing air out of the foot wells, no matter what setting it’s on. I assume it’s one of the actuators. I remembered you doing a video on actuators and that it seemed like a big job. I just rewatched and was quickly reminded. I had a Cadillac Protection Plan for 4 years after the factory warranty and the only things that broke in that time period were two hoses, which weren’t covered. Since it expired, the water pump died last August and now this. Oh well.

[@JetFuelOnly]

So sorry to hear that! Mine had been pretty reliable too but after 8 years now it’s time for repairs.

[@adamhayden5152]

My actuators went out in my 05 STS4 I was able to replace them. I needed flat thin screw drivers and small angled screw drivers. Had to break a few tabs to get old ones out. Bought my 14 ats in Jan 2022 and it had heat and ac but wouldn’t change to bi level etc. the actuators said they were fine when hooked up to dealer shop tools and showed movement and working but they were completely failed. Had them replaced under carvana’s warranty all of them. Also will never buy from carvana again, horrible experience.

[@anonymoususerxoxo]

Uuuuugh!!! WHY CADILLAC? WHY? 😤

[@ceez3317]

Do you know what actuator I would need to replace if my 2 driver vents are blowing hot air?

[@JetFuelOnly]

I would say left temperature door or mode door actuator. Only ways to know is have a capable scanner or to see or hear them in motion or not

[@19vinny91]

That was a great try. There is enough history with the GM actuators to know they will go bad. The engineer who designed that should be fired.

[@russellbroadwell]

Engineer's design does not allow easy service of a well known failure. I bet the bean counters are the ones that demand cheap parts that don't last. Today's car company's want it to last until the warranty is out then want you to buy a new one. Bottom line is more important than producing a good product. They should all be kicked in the nutts and made to repair the mess they created.

[@johnPeterson-tk6qq]

Hi my daughter has a 2014 Cadillac CTS 2.0 Liter turbo and it’s shifter cable has gotten stuck again, happened last year and we took it to a Chevy house to fix, now it’s stuck in drive again. Do you have a video on what to look for under the car or how to replace the shift cable.

[@JetFuelOnly]

I’m sorry I don’t have any videos on that. But if it happens to be a shift lock issue - that can be accessed by removing the side panel next to the shifter on the drivers side. A flat head should be able to activate the switch.

[@thebayareastandout]

@Jet Fuel Only I have a Dodge Charger that has 3 bad actuators so its been so annoying to hear 3 different loud clicking noises. I just removed 2 on the passenger side and it was tedious and hard and I thought Id never get them unscrewed but I did. My cars setup is easier than yours. When test driving for 2 days afterwards I hear no clicking noise so far from one and only one time from the other. The heat and air conditioning don't seem to be affected by there being no actuators in there at all so what I want to know is what happens if I opt to go with none at all?

[@JetFuelOnly]

If you have a climate control system I would assume when it gets colder you will notice? For example, maybe they were disconnected while in the cold position if they are temp actuators. Or maybe they are in the middle and the car will be able to compensate somewhat. If they weren’t temperature actuators and only door actuators then I would assume a split in temperature would occur either top/bottom or left/right. If one was the fresh air door I’m sure you wouldn’t notice much with that one!

[@thebayareastandout]

@@JetFuelOnly If I do have a climate control system I didn't set it to that at the time of testing it. Im pretty sure it's a door actuator and not temperature actuator because when I Google the serial numbers that are on the actuator I took out the results say blend door actuator. In my car there's options to have a certain temperature blow out at the feet and a certain one for the upper body so I'm not exactly sure about splits in temperature. What do you mean by the fresh air door?

[@JetFuelOnly]

@thebayareastandout fresh air door I mean the one that closes to recirculate air in the car or open to flow air from outside and then heat/cool it

[@thebayareastandout]

@@JetFuelOnly gotcha

[@CastBlastCamp]

2010 chevy impala, driver side vents not blowing cold like the passenger side until its circulated thru for a few mins. Replaced driver side actuator hoping to fix the issue. Still having the same issue. Any ideas? Any help is most appreciated!

[@JetFuelOnly]

There are a lot of actuators. Are you sure it was the right one? A good scan tool can tell you which actuator isn’t working properly

[@CastBlastCamp]

@@JetFuelOnly to be honest I'm not sure any of them are bad, I just assumed the driver side one was bad because the driver side vents wasn't responding to the temp controls. I did hook up a zurich zr11 scan tool, but no codes. A bit frustrating, I guess i need to change the passenger side? idk at this point.

[@JetFuelOnly]

@@CastBlastCamp well like on my car there are many actuators. I don’t think the Zurich is designed to read Gm HVAC codes or the BCM module. Need a Tech2 or equivalent.

[@CastBlastCamp]

@@JetFuelOnly Also I never heard a clicking noise, just the one symptom of not having cold blow thru. It may not be the actuator(s) but I figured id start with them. If actuators are replaced/good and the issue is still present, do you have any other ideas? Thanks for all the help!

[@JetFuelOnly]

@CastBlastCamp it’s more common that it just stops working and doesn’t make any noise.

[@1qforan]

brutal . just got my 10 hr quote 2020 ram??!!!

[@JetFuelOnly]

Sorry for your loss! Sucks.

[@bradzyczynski660]

Damn. Sorry to see you couldn't get it out. I replaced couple of those on my cadillac sts years ago; was a real bitch to reach up underneath and get to

[@kingohighlight1867]

I have a 2019 kia forte. Hot on driver side cold passenger. Do you think this is the problem?

[@JetFuelOnly]

Yup very likely

[@kingohighlight1867]

@@JetFuelOnly it looks like there is one on the driver side and passenger and as far as I can see they are both moving. Should I just change the passenger side? The driver side is hot passenger cold

[@JetFuelOnly]

@@kingohighlight1867 does one not change temperature? That would be the bad one. Not which is cold or hot. Which one stays at temp regardless of setting. Make sure you are using the controls right. Best way to verify the actuation is a proper scan tool

[@perrykatie2014]

How close is this to the Escalade ESV 2015?

[@JetFuelOnly]

How close? Well it will certainly experience the same failures. However the location of the various doors at be different. Plus there’s probably more for all the ducting to the rear passengers.

[@lesschlemback9685]

Daniel any idea what the noise I get from inside my dash is that sounds like an old time car horn ?Wondering if anyone else has had this.TIA

[@JetFuelOnly]

That sounds familiar, I want to say I’ve heard somebody ask about it years ago, let me do some research.

[@JetFuelOnly]

Like a bike horn or what? Does it happen at any specific time? Does stepping on the gas change it?

[@lesschlemback9685]

@@JetFuelOnly yea happens when I accelerate at times ,but yea does sound like a bike horn as well!drives me nuts….lol

[@JetFuelOnly]

@@lesschlemback9685 have you watched my wastegate solenoids videos? Sometimes they can make noise while driving.

[@lesschlemback9685]

@@JetFuelOnly yes ,replaced those already,that’s what I thought it was at first,that cured the noise after I shut the car down ,this is from the interior

[@966XXXXXXXXX]

Do places get cold all the time if you unplug the power ?

[@JetFuelOnly]

I’m not sure what the default position is but if you unplug it while in the position you want it in, I think it will stay there

[@966XXXXXXXXX]

thanks ❤️ you 🤬 cadillac 🤬

[@user-cj7dv2kc6d]

Where is the hvac control module located in there? My hvac has a mind of its own and often the ac will just turn off when it's 100 inside. Or it takes 5 minutes after a startup for ac to turn on. Doesn't matter if I have it in auto or manual or set at 60. I assume it's the control module that is faulty but who knows.

[@JetFuelOnly]

Does it not blow at all or just not cold. I believe the CUE has all the control. If it’s acting weird sometimes it’s because it doesn’t know what’s going on - as in what the actual temp is. There are a couple sensors. One is right under the blower motor and toward the back. When it comes to complex HVAC issues you really need a high end scanner to identify faults so you know where to go. It’s not always as simple as saying something must be broke we replace that part. I would start with a good scan.

[@user-cj7dv2kc6d]

The fan speed will vary up and down sporadically and then the fan will slow down and stop. Then after some minutes it'll come back on and then blow for a bit and stop again. It's random. Meanwhile it's 100 the entire time. Or at times when starting up in high heat the ac and fan won't start til 5 minutes of driving. The ac works great when it's blowing. The cue control panel is new so it's not that. Could be a temp sensor, but the way it acts seems like control module. I've brought it to dealer years ago and course they said nothing is wrong.

[@ryannova6573]

Where can I get that shirt?

[@JetFuelOnly]

IG: @Chilacxn

[@MrChucktown09]

Well that's unfortunate, I'm very confident if you couldn't get it done I know I can't 😬😬

[@mjbuisse]

I hate car engineers. $1500 to pull apart the dash to replace a $50 part.

[@JVenom_]

My actuator motor is in plane site unscrew and unplug lol

[@nodrogkam]

oh my

[@Museville1]

THAT'S CrAzY 😵‍💫😳🥺 My old 2008 CTS had that problem just before I Sold It. 😊 Sorry Dude

[@966XXXXXXXXX]

What's the solution ?

[@JetFuelOnly]

Dealer job and a lot of $$.

[@henrygallardo1969]

So what’s the next step after removing the whole dash💀💀

[@thomash5191]

You can relearn the door positions via gds2 or battery disconnect must follow the procedure correctly should be in service manual. Also I believe a module reprogramming update exist as well a specific software fix for a problem these have .

[@JetFuelOnly]

Yes you are correct and I meant to address those things but they were of no help on this situation.

[@tylergray6308]

I'm an auto Tech. I hate watching videos that call us rip offs or price gouging. Watching some of those videos that are"DIY" is a Hack job Thank you for explaining the process of what is involved. I agree with you some things are better for an experience tech. And some things can definitely be done by a DIY.

[@timmaayfiyeeeeeeeah]

Crap. I'll be paying someone as this is beyond my abilities and tools. Gee thanks Cadillac.

[@Ochtane101]

Yeah, great car till you have to replace an actuator

[@alexvbyev]

Whyd you stop? Gotta brake that aluminum vertical bar from welds and take actuator out. Pointless video without it done. Could just make a short video: - go to dealer pay $2k.

[@urimorales3364]

Never buying a GM POS ever again this is not a “great car” At all nothing but bs since owning it pretty does not mean good

[@JetFuelOnly]

I’m sorry you’ve had a bad experience. Some people have but for most owners it’s been good from what I can tell

[@urimorales3364]

@@JetFuelOnly that or Maybe I just can’t comfortably afford the constant repairs as well

[@JetFuelOnly]

It’s tough as these cars get cheap to acquire but still expensive to repair.