I agree, it's not the easiest, but I used a mirror to see what I was doing/aiming for. Getting the left end (drivers side) of the door through the hole wasn't too hard, getting the other end slid in and popped into it's hole was a little harder to do, but on the door I bought, the right end (passenger side) was angled a bit, which made it much easier to accomplish. The hardest part was seeing where the passenger side hole was.


I probably should have taken some pics, but was already taking too much time.


Travis

 

I have a slightly different problem with my '95 S10. The blower is working fine, but I get a little air out of every opening. I can't tell any real difference no matter what I do with the controls. After it runs for a while, the truck cab warms up, but I can't feel a good air flow from anywhere.

I normally never use the floor vent. I prefer to use the upper vent or the defroster.

My 4WD works occasionally only, so I think I may have a vacuum leak somewhere.

 

That very well may be a Vacuum leak. I had one where the vacuum switch on the transfer case started sucking fluid up and filled the vac reservoir and front diff actuator and also pulled it up into the vent selector switch on the dash which causes the seal in it to deteriorate and puff up and then it sent vacuum to multiple actuators, real pain to fix all of that. I capped the hoses coming off the transfer case, locked the front diff in full time by tearing the guts out of the actuator (because the diaphragm was filled with t-case fluid and all puffed up and leaking) and manually locked it with a couple zip ties, i replaced and flushed the vac hoses that were deteriorated, and got another dash switch and vacuum reservoir from a junkyard (it would be really hard to flush the t-case fluid out of that reservoir). Anyway, never had another problem, never noticed any increase in mileage from the front driveshaft spinning constantly, problem fixed and eliminated the chance of it happening again, dash controls work great and i have much more reliable 4x4. Sorry for the book and thread hijack, i know an explanation always helps though, good luck!!

 

Never in my life have I seen a vehicle so poorly and cheaply designed and so riddled with silly, yet serious defects. Lets focus on the heat problem first. To find out for certain if your diverter vacuum actuator is functioning, just pull the outer end of the rod off of the white plastic lever on top. Then play with the controls. Look for the actuator and linkage stuffed way up high near the gas pedal linkage. If the disconnected rod moves up and down an inch or so with different settings, you know your actuator and vacuum circuit is okay and the heat diverter gate axle is the culprit. These being plastic, will often jam and then snap in two, inside the plenum.
Remember that the squirrel cage fan craps out often on these vehicles as well. Often the climate control circuits supplying power are to blame. I have isolated fan issues by supplying 12 volts directly to the motor, bypassing these circuits. Just do this to see if you can get more volume of air flow. If not, maybe replace the squirrel cage and motor. You'll find this under the hood, way over on the passenger side of the plenum.

 

I was very lucky. I replaced the vacuum hose going to the vacuum reservoir, another small line going to a Tee, and the main vacuum line coming off of the intake manifold. Basically, the ones I could get to easily from under the hood.

No liquid found in any of the lines and now my heater works correctly and my 4WD even works now! Just in time for another 6 - 8" of snow.

I saw something else there - on the driver's side of the engine, near the firewall with an electrical connection and 2 vacuum hoses. What is that for?

Thanks for the help, guys.

 

I completely agree. My attempt was a complete mickey mouse job, but it was either 14 hrs or 3 hours. The same part gets replaced and the only difference is I have a patched hole in my airbox that you can't even see because the computer is covering it and my toes were toasty. I have since sold my POS, thank god. I would never buy one again.

 

I have this exact problem with my HVAC, however my 4x4 works on demand without issue. If i change the air directional ****, I'll be lucky if it somewhat changes the airflow direction but as I'm driving I'll eventually hear the HVAC hiss sound and then I just get minimal air out of whatever vents it decides. Usually just trickles out the dash ones...

I'm thinking it's a vacuum leak like Dimeblazr said - just got to find out where...start under the hood I guess...

 

This is not likely a vacuum actuator or vacuum leak issue(see my past posts). To check this you only need to remove the actuator motor linkage to the HVAC gate axle on drivers side end and then watch see if the actuator rod moves up and down in accordance with the heater control commands(1 & 3/8"). This actuator is probably powerful enough it will move anyway and the axle to your internal HVAC diverter gate is already busted.
I want to emphasize guys, that it is easy to recover the used part from a Pick and Pull used auto parts source as I did. Forget about part numbers or buying the new piece you need at all. This piece is not available without buying the entire HVAC system. FORGET IT!
You get a much better idea of what you are up against if you practice at the junk yard and if you break something your okay. Remove the knee guard in some wreck and then the wiring plugs and computer box with some small sockets. With the hammer you brought along, now hammer the **** out of the plastic HVAC body. With any luck you will bust the outer housing to pieces until the diverter gate and axle becomes visible inside. The only tricky part of removing this is the white plastic adapter lever and torsion spring on the actuator side above the gas pedal. Watch out for remains of old chewing tobacco as you stuff your head in this tight work area upside down. This short white plastic piece pulls straight off the axle via a small screwdriver inserted through a small hole after a pry releases a plastic clip retainer. Once this is off, go ahead and remove the diverter through the smashed remains of its HVAC housing.
Of course, when you work on your own vehicle you will need to be much more surgical as you cut a patchable hole in front of your HVAC body where you will insert the new diverter after the old one is removed in two pieces.

Good luck and remember, its okay to be pissed off as you work.

 

I actually replaced one of my driver foot area vacuum actuators. Everything in there seemed to be moving fine other than it was hit or miss if one actuator would fully extend - even with the new one. This wasn't the one with the spring loaded white piece of plastic. I was right in there for a while over a couple days so I'll crawl in there again and pop the actuators levers off the nubs and try turning the nub by hand...see what happens.

 

Heres the piece that you CAN buy on ebay right now for $14.70 In my book, that sure beats crawling around in the filth, freezing your butt off in some mangled wreck that already has an aged, heat cycled, brittled and possibly broken door too. Click the button, wait 2 days, remove the kick panel, disconnect the actuator up by the gas pedal, pull the center console and body control module and slice yourself a flap in the heater box, reach up in there and pull the broken one out and stick the new one in. Heres pics from my 2000 i did a couple years ago, and a pic of the FACTORY AcDelco part with # on ebay.
Also a quick note on diagnosing the broken door, in the 3rd from last pic you see the stub of the door as it sticks through the heater box, the actuator connects to this stub, this is near the firewall next to the gas pedal, if you can tilt that stub to any angle up down left or right from perpendicular with the side of the box, then its broken. If its rigidly attached then watch the actuator while you change positions with the engine running. This will tell you wether its the door or an actuator/vacuum control circuit problem.
SAFETY: DO NOT put your fingers near these actuators when the engine is running and you are changing positions, they can actually create an incredible amount of force that could crush or even sever a finger.
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