Once I started using the A/C at the start of summer, I noticed it was blowing hot air on the passenger side. But it was cool on the driver side. After many trials and diagnosis, And lots of YouTube videos. I knew exactly the problem to be the flap that controls the hot and cold air coming out. Dealership wanted 3k plus parts for the fix. They wanted to replace the entire HVAC assembly, which costs ~2k-3k brand new. It would be about 6k to get it fixed! No thanks. After watching some videos, I took it all apart. I'm no professional by any means and had a little helping hand. I was able to get to the HVAC assembly once I took the whole front of my vehicle apart. The HVAC is connected to the AC line, which meant the a/c liquid will spill out. No way of avoiding it unless you have the tool to pump it out, which is expensive.
Anyways, got to the HVAC and opened it up. Yup! The flap was the problem. It's supposed to go up and down. However, it had folded on itself, so it blocked the a/c hole no matter what. The design of the flap is horrible. It's easy for it get mis-configured because it goes through a small slot. Anyways, I took an iron and fixed that silly piece of plastic flap. Hooked up everything back to the best I remembered and it works great. Oh and I pumped new A/C coolant back into the system. It took me 12 hrs non-stop to fix it. I had a lot of screws and random stuff leftover. Yea...did I forget to tell you I wasn't a Pro? There are some plastic pieces that may have broke too. So it's far from perfect but things are being held together for the most part. It's an old vehicle, I don't really care, as long it works.
Once I started using the A/C at the start of summer, I noticed it was blowing hot air on the passenger side. But it was cool on the driver side. After many trials and diagnosis, And lots of YouTube videos. I knew exactly the problem to be the flap that controls the hot and cold air coming out. Dealership wanted 3k plus parts for the fix. They wanted to replace the entire HVAC assembly, which costs ~2k-3k brand new. It would be about 6k to get it fixed! No thanks. After watching some videos, I took it all apart. I'm no professional by any means and had a little helping hand. I was able to get to the HVAC assembly once I took the whole front of my vehicle apart. The HVAC is connected to the AC line, which meant the a/c liquid will spill out. No way of avoiding it unless you have the tool to pump it out, which is expensive.
Anyways, got to the HVAC and opened it up. Yup! The flap was the problem. It's supposed to go up and down. However, it had folded on itself, so it blocked the a/c hole no matter what. The design of the flap is horrible. It's easy for it get mis-configured because it goes through a small slot. Anyways, I took an iron and fixed that silly piece of plastic flap. Hooked up everything back to the best I remembered and it works great. Oh and I pumped new A/C coolant back into the system. It took me 12 hrs non-stop to fix it. I had a lot of screws and random stuff leftover. Yea...did I forget to tell you I wasn't a Pro? There are some plastic pieces that may have broke too. So it's far from perfect but things are being held together for the most part. It's an old vehicle, I don't really care, as long it works.
- John N., Minneapolis, MN, US