It's common knowledge that 8th Gen Impalas with split left/right HVAC controls are cursed with three identical plastic HVAC actuators manufactured with weak plastic gears, and that all three will fail sooner or later. (The 4th actuator - the Mode actuator - is a completely different design that has never given most of us any grief.)
Well, my third of these three identical actuators finally failed yesterday, and I replaced it this morning. Thankfully, this one, the Passenger-Side Blend Door actuator) was FAR easier to access and swap than the first two (the Driver-Side Blend Door actuator and the Recirculation Door actuator) had been.
Surprise, surprise! This actuator exhibited the same exact failure mode as the previous ones. Two adjacent teeth sheared off the intermediate gear inside the housing, resulting in the thing producing a loud clacking noise as it attempted to reposition past the missing teeth.
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I replaced the failed actuator with one I had rebuilt using an intermediate gear made from much stronger material, just as I had done with the the last failed actuator. Then, I rebuilt this failed unit and put it on the shelf. In the photo above, you can see the two broken teeth next to the failed gear. If you decide to go the rebuild route, instead of continually replacing failed actuators, be sure to fish the broken teeth out of the housing before installing the new gear and closing the thing up again. Leaving the teeth inside there will cause a premature failure if one of them gets caught between two gears.
I used to buy my actuator rebuild kits, which consist of only this gear and a small tube of synthetic grease, directly from the website of the individual who makes them at blenddoor.com. But I've discovered that he now lists them on Amazon, so I buy them from there to get the Amazon points. They're the same $12.99 price either way.
I'm in no way associated with this product other than as a user, but I do recommend it as a less expensive and hopefully much longer lasting solution to the broken actuator problems in these cars.
Cheers!
Well, my third of these three identical actuators finally failed yesterday, and I replaced it this morning. Thankfully, this one, the Passenger-Side Blend Door actuator) was FAR easier to access and swap than the first two (the Driver-Side Blend Door actuator and the Recirculation Door actuator) had been.
Surprise, surprise! This actuator exhibited the same exact failure mode as the previous ones. Two adjacent teeth sheared off the intermediate gear inside the housing, resulting in the thing producing a loud clacking noise as it attempted to reposition past the missing teeth.
I replaced the failed actuator with one I had rebuilt using an intermediate gear made from much stronger material, just as I had done with the the last failed actuator. Then, I rebuilt this failed unit and put it on the shelf. In the photo above, you can see the two broken teeth next to the failed gear. If you decide to go the rebuild route, instead of continually replacing failed actuators, be sure to fish the broken teeth out of the housing before installing the new gear and closing the thing up again. Leaving the teeth inside there will cause a premature failure if one of them gets caught between two gears.
I used to buy my actuator rebuild kits, which consist of only this gear and a small tube of synthetic grease, directly from the website of the individual who makes them at blenddoor.com. But I've discovered that he now lists them on Amazon, so I buy them from there to get the Amazon points. They're the same $12.99 price either way.
I'm in no way associated with this product other than as a user, but I do recommend it as a less expensive and hopefully much longer lasting solution to the broken actuator problems in these cars.
Cheers!
