Climate control freaking out...

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jman0322

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I have a 2004 tahoe with the separate climate controls and the drivers side from time to time is blowing hot air while the passenger side is blowing cold like it should and the only way to get it corrected (that I've found) is to shut off the engine and then restart and it'll usually fix itself. Can someone tell me what I need to do to fix this problem????
 

Whipple1

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Well I dont understand what is exactly wrong,what your trying to say is that sometimes you cant get both sides at the same temp,one side blows hot and the other cold until you do a restart then its back to normal,is this correct?
 

Whipple1

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Im not 100 percent sure ,but it seems that something is wrong with the control module,where you control your heat and ac from that sometimes isnt sending a signal to mix the temp properly.That whole part should just unplug from the the back,unplug the old and plug in the new,its not like years ago when there was all sorts of vaccum lines behind it.If you can get one that might be your easiest thing to try first.
 

jman0322

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Yes but now I have to get the part number b/c I'm not going to pay the dealers price for one.
 

jc957

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Have you heard anything from anyone about this? I am having the EXACT same problem. I have an 04 z71 and have noticed blowing hot air on the driver's side even when I have the controls set to 60. It doesn't last forever and it seems like after I have driven it on the highway for a minute or sometimes during heavy accelerating, it will switch back to cold. Has anyone else dealt with this and know the cause? At least now I know I'm not the only one.
 

jman0322

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Not really but if I turn the car off and then wait a minute and restart it then it resets and runs right but I haven't gotten any info as to why it's doing it or how to fix it.......
 

jc957

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I ended up reading a couple other forums last night and some people suggested that while the truck is running, turn off the climate control and everything else off inside. Disconnect the battery for 15 minutes and this should allow the computer to re-set itself. Turn the truck back on and let it run for a couple minutes. Then re-start it again and it may take care of it if it is a computer issue. It was best described as turning your home computer off by by unplugging it instead of going through the shut down procedure...sometimes you get gremlins if it isn't done the right way. Apparently a lot of people had the same issue when changing out a battery and didn't leave it the battery disconnected long enough for the computer to properly re-set itself. I plan on trying it when I get home from work.
 

jman0322

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Although I haven't changed the battery or anything it's worth a shot I guess...Thanks!
 

MadMedwyn

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You have broken actuators. I drive an '04 Yukon, and the exact same thing happened to me. The driver's side vents were blowing out hot air, and everything else was blowing cold. I put a pyrometer up to the driver's side to have it read 150F coming out of the vents.

The actuators are what regulate the mixture of warm and cool air coming into the vents. Yes, you can turn off the engine, restart, and everything will be fine. But as time goes by (took about 6 months for me), you'll literally have to restart your tahoe/yukon at every traffic light to keep cold air coming out of your vents. The problem will only get progressively worse.

When I took mine to the dealer last summer to have them look at it, they disconnected the battery, and even used their computer to reset the actuators ect. None of it works. The guy at the dealer even said 90% of the time it doesn't work.

You'll have to get them replaced. It was about a grand to do that. BUT, you can call GM, and nag them until they agree to help cover the costs. What my dad and I did was tell them that the driver side vent blowing 150F was a major safety issue, and it could put a driver/passengar in danger. It worked. We paid $500, GM paid $500. Don't let the dealer stiff you on this, get GM to help. And don't take "no" for an answer :)
 

jrneyman

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called a "heater blend door actuator"?? sound right??
 

jc957

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I did notice it has been getting worse and the kicker of this is I just bought this thing used about a month ago. It didn't start having the problem until about 2 weeks ago. I tried the battery reset and it didn't work. Who did you call at GM? Do you have a phone #? I don't know what kind of luck I am going to have since I am not the original buyer but anything is worth a shot.
 

jc957

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Well...it has taken a while but it looks like the problem will be getting fixed. Thanks to this thread and others like it, I had some info going into the dealership so I didn't sound like a total ass. I ended up having the problem occur when I pulled up into the dealership. They threw it on their machine and did not have any malfunction codes some up and they said the actuators all tested fine. Then they told me my software was not up to date and wanted to charge me for the update. I already knew there was a diagnostic fee but I also knew from similar thread that the software update only worked 10% or less of the time. So I was told that if it didn't work, all the money would be credited towards whatever needed to be done. Well...wouldn't you know the software update didn't work. So I came back the next day and they were able to get one of the actuators to fail even though they didn't get any codes. The manager put in writing that they won't charge me anything additional to replace the actuators(including labor) so I should be going in and getting this done by the end of this week(once they get the part in) and I'll keep you posted.
 

klg928

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This thread has been very helpful. My Yukon has three separate climate areas. Last night the drivers side blew hot area and this morning the rear area began to blow hot area. In both instances the temperature reset when the vehicle was turned off and back on. Do I need an actuator for both climate areas?
 

greengumby

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This thread has been very helpful. My Yukon has three separate climate areas. Last night the drivers side blew hot area and this morning the rear area began to blow hot area. In both instances the temperature reset when the vehicle was turned off and back on. Do I need an actuator for both climate areas?

yup...tahoe has two in the front due to independant climate control and one in the back
 

tinner

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Has anyone changed out one or more of these actuators themselves? I've got hot air on the driver's side and cold on the passenger side. There's one actuator on the bottom over the right side of the transmission tunnel. Is that the one or is it located somewhere else?
 
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