Climate Control Nightmares Topic is solved

V50M66 · Post by **V50M66** » 03 Jul 2023, 09:17

songzunhuang wrote: ↑03 Jul 2023, 07:58
A few questions and an idea.
Can you access all this pretty easily from under the driver kick panel? Or do you have to get to it from the top by removing the dash pad? Here's a picture of when I had my white HVAC box out last time. Is the motor in question the one with the arrow?
Curious that in this picture I only see one motor. I think there is supposed to be 2.
HVAC Blend motor.png

Here's a picture from a seller on eBay, I think this is more accurate. Is the electric damper in question the on on the left, deeper in the dash?
HVAC Box2.jpeg

A suggested quick fix - what if you put some dark grey JB Weld epoxy on into that recess and then mount the damper motor, wait 24 hours and then try it? Could it be possible that the JB Weld would refresh the square end that got chewed up? It maybe worth a shot before tearing into the white HVAC box. That's a major job.

Access from below by just removing the kick panel is rough and makes you hate yourself the next morning but is doable. Yes, the one with the arrow. Both of your pictures show the same box - the top picture is missing the motor for adjusting where the air goes.
Good call on the JB. Though I do think this car needs an evaporator for unrelated issues, so…

Post by **abscate** » 04 Jul 2023, 03:13

Though I do think this car needs an evaporator for unrelated issues, so…

Off with her head! (Dash)

Dont forget to reinforce your dash mounts and replace your bulbs, too

V50M66 · Post by **V50M66** » 04 Jul 2023, 14:03

abscate wrote: ↑04 Jul 2023, 03:13
Though I do think this car needs an evaporator for unrelated issues, so…
Off with her head! (Dash)

Dont forget to reinforce your dash mounts and replace your bulbs, too

Yep, guess so. Shame, since it was out like last month to replace the ECC wiring harness that ended up not being my issue. Dash mounts are shockingly all great - no cracks or anything

Post by **scot850** » 04 Jul 2023, 16:10

Damn, just tripped over a unicorn poop!

That is a rare thing indeed, no broken mounts.

Neil.

V50M66 · Post by **V50M66** » 04 Jul 2023, 23:10

scot850 wrote: ↑04 Jul 2023, 16:10 Damn, just tripped over a unicorn poop!

That is a rare thing indeed, no broken mounts.

Neil.

Haha I was as shocked as you are. Only thing that isn't broken on this car. LOL

Post by **abscate** » 05 Jul 2023, 04:02

When you take it out this time, build up the plastic with JB Weld to prevent future cracking. Takes 10 minutes.

V50M66 · Post by **V50M66** » 09 Aug 2023, 09:25

So it’s time to take this thing apart and replace the evaporator and blend door flap. Everything is almost ready to come out, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how to get these evaporator lines off. System is drained, the bolt by the headlight is out, and I have the quick disconnect tools, but no matter how hard I pull on the damn thing, nothing moves. Anyone have any tips or tricks?

Edit - got them off - turns out wiggling and pulling gets them off eventually. Anyone have any idea how to get them back on?

Post by **scot850** » 09 Aug 2023, 14:27

Spraying them with WD40 or silicon oil helps loosen the wire spring which can get dirty or slightly rusted in place. You did the only thing you can to loosen them. Thankfully it worked!

Neil.

V50M66 · Post by **V50M66** » 09 Aug 2023, 14:56

scot850 wrote: ↑09 Aug 2023, 14:27 Spraying them with WD40 or silicon oil helps loosen the wire spring which can get dirty or slightly rusted in place. You did the only thing you can to loosen them. Thankfully it worked!

Neil.

Thanks, I'll give it a whirl.

Edit - this, along with a half hour of persistent fiddling, got them to click in place

V50M66 · Post by **V50M66** » 09 Aug 2023, 23:47

And it's fixed!!!!!

Turns out the end of the blend door was completely sheared off and wouldn't allow the motor to engage with it whatsoever, and it was loosely flopping around in the case.

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I'm incredibly happy to finally have the climate control figured out. After months of fighting with it, I now have full control over the temperature in the car. The blend door from Alex's '98 partout and non-broken flap from my '99 parts car is what ultimately ended up doing the trick. While it was apart, I also replaced the evaporator since I have a leak somewhere. In the coming days I'll also replace the receiver/drier and get it charged to get this thing fully to 100%.

Some interesting things I learned through this process:

Despite sharing part numbers, there appears to be early and late blend door actuators. Multiple motors from a '99 (that worked well in the car they came from) wouldn't work in my '98 and threw an error code, despite having the same part number. As far as I can tell having taken both a '98 and '99 P80 AWDs apart, the cars are more different than they are similar, occasionally without a reason or indication of that being the case.

The HVAC case is surprisingly put together in a way that it's not very difficult to replace individual doors, though it is tedious. I elected to take this route as opposed to swapping boxes with my parts '99, as I don't want to evacuate that AC system to remove it completely since I don't have the equipment, and swapping all the motors and other items over would have been a pain.

Massive shoutout to all the work @xanthefin has put into the 850 OBDII app as a direct result of my car's issues. It was a big help in ultimately diagnosing this car and figuring out the year split oddities with the blend doors. Also thank you to everyone else who helped me through this process.

And some pictures of what's hopefully the last climate-related surgery I'll have to do inside this car for a long time.

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