Thread: cant control where heat blows to

so my 97 gt 3800 is having some sort of problem with the part that controls where the heat is directed to. i pulled the control unit out of the dash and it has about 6 tubes of various colors connected. tried to block the holes with my fingers and it did nothing. Where do I look to fix this issue?? i need to be able to direct where the air goes....

thanks in advance

ok so apparently I need a blend door actuator.... sweet except there is one for manual a/c and one for automatic a/c.... price diff is $39.99 to $140! i am not exactly sure which one I have.... I believe automatic because when I turn the dial the ac light automatically comes on yet I have a button I can push to turn it on too.... any ideas??

Look inside the trunk lid at your RPO label. You will see the RPO codes that make up your car in alphabetical order. You will have either CJ2 or C60 but not both.
CJ2 is automatic air, C60 is manual air.
Once you have that info call or e-mail:

Morad Parts Company
3455 W. 140th (service road)
Cleveland, Ohio 44111

P (216) 671-3736
F (216) 671-8406

sales@MoradPartsCompany.com

Hours: M-F 9AM-6:30PM
Weekend pickup by appointment.

and they will hook you up. I had an automatic actuator go bad a couple of years ago and they fixed me up with a used one for $40 or so and it's still working today. Morad Parts specializes in W-body GM cars so they have what you need.
Once you get the part it's held on with three screws; figure 20 minute fix.

I'm wondering if this is the same thing that is happening to me. My heat/air only goes to one or the other: defrost, vents, or feat. Like I can't have it on both vents/feat or defrost/feat. Is that what's wrong with yours?

I'm having the same problem; I just created a thread and I'm not sure our issue is the same.
I have the Digital climate control with dual options. Heat works fine but I can't control where it blows. Is this your problem?

a bad blend door motor[actuator] will cause this 9 times out of 10.

if you have a digital climate control, you will need the automatic actuator. whereas others with manual climate control will use the manual actuator.

okay, well i've seen other things like vacuum hoses or something that you can check first?

also, idk if this will make a difference, but since i've owened the car (since July '10) if you have the radio off and the fan turned down you can here some motor in there sound like it goes back and forth back and forth like it's adjusting ALL the time it never stops (guessing it's the actuator idk). but i've never had any issues everything has worked fine up until now.

so could that be a dead give away i need an actuator?

honestly, diagnosing the auto climate is one thing i am going to stay away from. i have never had one, and never dealt with one.

the vacuum lines enter near the blower motor, you can see where they route from there.

mine blows out everywhere there is a vent and I cannot control the direction... it does not matter which location i select. The vac lines are all in tact and when I took the switch apart i covered a few of the holes and it still didnt help so I would imagine the blend door actuator died out on me.... now if I could find someone with a parts car to buy misc parts from id be all set hahaha