Removing blend door actuator on 1994 k1500 sbrc

[man-a-fre]

How do you get to the top 7mm bolt on the recirculation door actuator i am having a heck of a time.The actuator gear must have broke because it is clicking alot.Unplugged it for now in recirculate mode for the best heat in the Nebraska harsh winter.Have new actuator but can only see how to get bottom bolt out .That top bolt is up in no mans land.

 

[delta_p]

Some say there is room to peep up in there and use "name your wrench" to get the top screw out.

I didn't have room to see it on my '96 and it was so close to the fire wall I could barely get a 1/4 ratchet and socket to it. I had to use a scope fed in behind the glove box and a make shift extension on the ratchet and force it up in there and watch the scope screen.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/me_n_my_xv/33259541208/in/album-72157703421201032/

 

[someotherguy]

https://www.chevytalk.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/170970

Richard

 

[Donald Mitchell]

Some say there is room to peep up in there and use "name your wrench" to get the top screw out.

I didn't have room to see it on my '96 and it was so close to the fire wall I could barely get a 1/4 ratchet and socket to it. I had to use a scope fed in behind the glove box and a make shift extension on the ratchet and force it up in there and watch the scope screen.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/me_n_my_xv/33259541208/in/album-72157703421201032/

Now that's willpower!

 

[delta_p]

Now that's willpower!

I kept having to pull out the socket and one click the ratchet to get a few more turns of the bolt : ).

 

[man-a-fre]

You guys are the greatest!Thank you so much your help is appreciated!Followed your directions with light on top thrugh glovebox hole and used a 1/4"ratchet from below to loosen top bolt. Took about 45 min.to remove and install without replacing top bolt,i left it out,for ease of replacement of actuator next time.

 

[Garrett Fulton]

The reason that's the actuator that always fails is that it has no position feedback. The other two have a position sensor internally and send it back to the HVAC control head. They stop at the commanded position. The recirc. door actuator runs to either open or closed and power is held to the motor through a 10 second time delay in the HVAC control head. After a few years, the plastic gears get old and brittle and the tooth that's being pushed against during the 10 seconds pops off. Drive gear keeps hitting the adjacent tooth and that's the popping noise. When you shut the truck down, the recirc. door actuator runs full travel. Can't remember if it's to full open or full closed. 10 seconds of popping. Bad design in my opinion. My hat is off to the fellow that removed that recirc. door actuator without removing the dash. My a/c evaporator sprung a tiny leak and I had to pull the dash anyhow, so replaced the popping recirc. door actuator while I had the dash out. Along with the heater core and lubed up all the HVAC door linkages. Yeah, pulling the dash is one evil job.

 

[someotherguy]

You guys are the greatest!Thank you so much your help is appreciated!Followed your directions with light on top thrugh glovebox hole and used a 1/4"ratchet from below to loosen top bolt. Took about 45 min.to remove and install without replacing top bolt,i left it out,for ease of replacement of actuator next time.

It's actually pretty "easy" at least compared to pulling the dash, with just some thought on how to get in there. I personally would go ahead and put that top screw back in place as that actuator needs all the help it can get to stay properly aligned and do its job. It should be many years before it needs replacement..

Richard

 

[Tpok454]

You guys are the greatest!Thank you so much your help is appreciated!Followed your directions with light on top thrugh glovebox hole and used a 1/4"ratchet from below to loosen top bolt. Took about 45 min.to remove and install without replacing top bolt,i left it out,for ease of replacement of actuator next time.

Have you noticed any issues since not relaxing the top screw? I’m currently working on getting the top screw out and having a heck of a time with it, If I could get away without it on the new actuator that would be awesome!

 

[man-a-fre]

Not a single problem with leaving the top bolt out, am very glad I left it out in case I ever have to replace the actuator again it'll be a breeze.