2013 Tahoe LTZ AC weaker on passenger side

[expredator]

Got myself a 2013 Tahoe LTZ the other day. What an amazing car!

About my problem: the vents on the passenger side are considerably weaker than their counterparts on the driver side. It seems that everything AC related is weaker on the passenger side, including the windshield defogger vents, front vents and also the seat cooling feature. Any idea why this might be? The car has a clean Carfax, but not sure when the cabin filter was changed (if it has anything to do with my problem anyway).

Any tricks I can do to fix it myself? I am not very car savvy but happy to try out things.

 

[swathdiver]

Got myself a 2013 Tahoe LTZ the other day. What an amazing car!

About my problem: the vents on the passenger side are considerably weaker than their counterparts on the driver side. It seems that everything AC related is weaker on the passenger side, including the windshield defogger vents, front vents and also the seat cooling feature. Any idea why this might be? The car has a clean Carfax, but not sure when the cabin filter was changed (if it has anything to do with my problem anyway).

Any tricks I can do to fix it myself? I am not very car savvy but happy to try out things.

Welcome from Florida. You have an air temperature actuator that needs replacing, most likely. It is located under the airbag and above the glove box on the passenger side.

Part number on the box is 15-72971 and 89018365. I've been buying mine from a guy on ebay who gets them direct from the factory in a white box for a lot less: https://www.ebay.com/itm/114679435293

There are videos on youtube on how to replace it, I did a little write up without photos on my build page called "Useless Information".

If you have access to a Tech-2 or equivalent, it's always best to pull the internal BCM codes first and even monitor the actuators to see what they are doing. You'll likely discover another one or two that needs replacing.

Consider buying a second and replacing the Recirc actuator at the same time since they are both under the airbag and that has to come out to replace them.

 

[OR VietVet]

Welcome to the forum. The cabin air filter would not effect just one side. I would still check it anyway. Sounds like you have the ever popular "blend door actuator" problem. Lots and lots of threads here at the forum about that. Hell, if all I ever did was become an expert on the symptoms, location working parts and part numbers and amount of labor needed for each one/location, I could stay very busy on this forum. Others here that are better at it will chime in with help.

To be clear, I started typing this recommendation when there were no responses but @swathdiver is fast on the draw.

 

[swathdiver]

Ohh, I missed something, you don't have a cabin filter from the factory. Someone might have added it though, easy way to check by removing that black cover in the passenger footwell and having a looksee. Thanks Ron!

 

[expredator]

Thank you guys, much appreciated! From what I've seen, it should be fairly easy to replace the actuator, so will give it a shot!

 

[expredator]

Also, per some YouTube comments, once the actuator is replaced, some people have issues like not going to defrost mode anymore. Is that something I should anticipate and how would I fix it? I was hoping those would be a simple replacing job without any further "relearning" or "reconfiguration" kind of thing.