HVAC Nightmares!!!
- Thread starter StealthTahoe
- Start date
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You can find used ones on EBay pretty cheap if you don't have a wrecking yard with one.
Mp619
Member
Thanks sir, we do have a wrecker yard nearby, i'll be dropping by there tomorrow
Speaking of HVAC nightmares: I had to share this. I use forums to fix most of my problems so I thought I would return the favor.
2013 Yukon
Symptom: rear HVAC not working well, not blowing much air (heat or AC). Not sure how long she had the problem. Friend of a friend.
My assessment: blower seemed to respond to all the controls, but really no air coming through the ceiling vents. Seemed like the ductwork had an obstruction.?? Maybe blend door is stuck.
What I did next: I recalibrated the blend door actuator by disconnecting the battery, had a hops flavored foamy pop and then reconnected the battery. It didn’t fix anything.
Next step: I went to auto parts store and picked up a new blower resistor. I didn’t think this was the problem, but it was an easy thing to try... it didn’t change anything.
Other things I did. Checked fuses, pulled the rear panel all the way off and removed duct work so I could see the blend doors (all pretty easy to do) they appeared to function correctly and I did not see any obstructions.
Solution: I noticed air was blowing out the intake...??? The blower was rotating the wrong direction!!! I have no explanation for this and can not imagine why. In hindsight I wonder if it had always been this way. Anyway, I pulled the wires out of the connector that plugs into the blower and switched them to reverse the polarity and it worked perfectly. Any ideas why this happened??? The owner thinks the problem just started as the weather became colder. She is the only owner. No work was done on HVAC before. I suspect it was backwards from the factory and she just never realized it wasn’t working well. The only person to sit in the rear was her toddler and didn’t know any better.
2013 Yukon
Symptom: rear HVAC not working well, not blowing much air (heat or AC). Not sure how long she had the problem. Friend of a friend.
My assessment: blower seemed to respond to all the controls, but really no air coming through the ceiling vents. Seemed like the ductwork had an obstruction.?? Maybe blend door is stuck.
What I did next: I recalibrated the blend door actuator by disconnecting the battery, had a hops flavored foamy pop and then reconnected the battery. It didn’t fix anything.
Next step: I went to auto parts store and picked up a new blower resistor. I didn’t think this was the problem, but it was an easy thing to try... it didn’t change anything.
Other things I did. Checked fuses, pulled the rear panel all the way off and removed duct work so I could see the blend doors (all pretty easy to do) they appeared to function correctly and I did not see any obstructions.
Solution: I noticed air was blowing out the intake...??? The blower was rotating the wrong direction!!! I have no explanation for this and can not imagine why. In hindsight I wonder if it had always been this way. Anyway, I pulled the wires out of the connector that plugs into the blower and switched them to reverse the polarity and it worked perfectly. Any ideas why this happened??? The owner thinks the problem just started as the weather became colder. She is the only owner. No work was done on HVAC before. I suspect it was backwards from the factory and she just never realized it wasn’t working well. The only person to sit in the rear was her toddler and didn’t know any better.
I had a similar problem this past summer I had replaced the front control with a new one because of button wear, it was plug-n-play or so I thought----, when I put it in it was hot in the California summer time so basically you have to run the temp @60 deg 24/7 to keep cool so that all worked fine, but as soon as it started to cool down this fall I started running into a problem with the rear only getting warm/hot if it was cranked all the way up to 90deg, set it for 89deg and it would blow cold. so I figured must be a bad rear blend actuator right? nope $127 later still same problem I could sit there and watch it set to 90 get hot, set to 89 go totally cold.....
so lucky me I had bought a tech2 for reasons just like this (avoiding $*** diagnostic fee's) I hooked it up and found a bunch of body codes in the hvac dcm, basically a list of 10 different errors, one of them was a open code for rear temp sensor so I thought ok here's my problem, lol tons of searches and questions later still cannot find this dam rear temp sensor. figured it must be one on the ambient sensors in the vent housings (there's like 8 of these in our trucks) checked the back 2 they checked out good with resistance and the harness had 5v so wth??? Finally I get a diagram for probably a swb escalade that showed a rear temp sensor in the headliner just like the one above the driver in the headliner. I double and triple checked my xl denali didn't have this sensor....,during my searches I had found a tsb that said if you had this list of errors (similar to what I had) then the control module should be re-programmed, not calibrated,-reprogrammed!
so at this point I just took it to the dealer and requested they flash the hvac control with the latest software, since I haven't yet programmed anything via tsweb with the tech2 I didn't want to brick my $180 control, turned out I guess the software that came on the control was for this mysterious escalade or whatever with rear temp sensor after they flashed it works perfect and no errors. so if you ever replace your hvac front control and have similar problems it could just be the firmware. I am kinda happy it happened simply because I learned a lot about how these systems work troubleshooting it.
so lucky me I had bought a tech2 for reasons just like this (avoiding $*** diagnostic fee's) I hooked it up and found a bunch of body codes in the hvac dcm, basically a list of 10 different errors, one of them was a open code for rear temp sensor so I thought ok here's my problem, lol tons of searches and questions later still cannot find this dam rear temp sensor. figured it must be one on the ambient sensors in the vent housings (there's like 8 of these in our trucks) checked the back 2 they checked out good with resistance and the harness had 5v so wth??? Finally I get a diagram for probably a swb escalade that showed a rear temp sensor in the headliner just like the one above the driver in the headliner. I double and triple checked my xl denali didn't have this sensor....,during my searches I had found a tsb that said if you had this list of errors (similar to what I had) then the control module should be re-programmed, not calibrated,-reprogrammed!
so at this point I just took it to the dealer and requested they flash the hvac control with the latest software, since I haven't yet programmed anything via tsweb with the tech2 I didn't want to brick my $180 control, turned out I guess the software that came on the control was for this mysterious escalade or whatever with rear temp sensor after they flashed it works perfect and no errors. so if you ever replace your hvac front control and have similar problems it could just be the firmware. I am kinda happy it happened simply because I learned a lot about how these systems work troubleshooting it.
kbuskill
***CAUTION*** I do my own stunts!
That's weird... my '08 Burb LTZ has both a front and rear ambient temp sensor... I replaced both when my front A/C started not cooling consistently. Problem solved.
ya when I saw the open code I looked up the part and it called for 2 so I ordered 2 but mine only use's 1 I even pulled the headliner down in the back and reached up inside as far as I could inside just to see if maybe it was hidden somewhere or if maybe the harness was just dangling but nope....must have been one of those suttle changes made like rain sensors or heated wiper fluid
Airbear757
TYF Newbie
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2017
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Can you confirm that the center console controls also contains the control "computer" and that no separate module exists? I'm having multiple blend door issues and after reading your thread I think I may just replace the dash controller for $50 used instead of donating $1100 to my local Cadillac charity.
swathdiver
Full Access Member
Welcome to the forum Eric. If you can get access to a Tech-2 or other advanced scan tool, you can find out in moments what is wrong and why with your HVAC system. Without the codes and seeing what the actuators are doing, we're just guessing.
the center console controller is the main "brain" if you want to call it that then there is the rear controller at the back of the center console and a separate rear module inside the passenger side kick panel in the rear hvac that controls the 2 rear actuators, but that's it other than the temperature sensors throughout the system.
if you get a used controller be sure it is from the same style truck otherwise you likely will have to have it reprogrammed
