It is cold outside and I have little to no heat. The problem seems to be the regulation of where the heat [Air] goes through. No matter where I turn the control ****, the heat [air] comes through the defrost area by the windshield, providing little warmth to us people in the car.. No way can I get to come through the dash vents or floor. The blower motor seems to work OK. Back in the old days this was "linkage" controlled. If that problem existed you could bet the linkage was interrupted somewhere. On this model such does not seem to be the case. I do not know what controls the direction that the heat [air] goes through. Would appreciate some advice from you.
Paul

 

Air delivery to the various outlets in the system is performed via vacuum actuators. If you loose vacuum, the system goes to the default position for each actuator which causes the output to be directed to the defrost ducts for the most part.

Check for vacuum to the back of the HVAC control module in the dash.

 

Thanks for the heads up on what makes the air delivery system work. Although, I do not have a vacuum checker, I will remove the lower dash so I can get to the control module. Is there another way that I can check it? If not, I will go out and buy a vacuum gauge. Thanks again.Paul

 

As a first step, you can check for the presence of vacuum with just your finger.

 

OK! This is turning out to be a job that I am saying more than a few four letter words. I took the lower dash off [right and middle]. I found that this did not help at all to get at the back side of the the controls to the HVAC. If I go up higher in the dash, it looks like I will be taking the whole thing [most of it anyway] apart. Do I have to go that far.? Is there another way to get at the back of the HVAC controls? I am pretty sure the problem is the vacuum that you were talking about. Hope I am not over my head here. I did try to pry off the panel surrounding the HVAC controls without any success. Am I doing right by trying to take the dash off? If so, where can I get instructions [schematics] on do this?

 

Its been awhile since I have looked at a '95-'97 dash, but on the '98+, you just pull off the dash bezel (the plastic that goes around the gauges, radio, & hvac controls) and then unbolt the hvac control head.

 

Before you tear your dash totally apart, check the plastic line entering from the driverside firewall. Mine had a crack where the T fitting connected.

Brian

 

Opps! My first reply did not take. I will try again. Thanks. I looked under the hood on the drivers side. There are a bunch of what could be vacuum tubes coming from a T. I removed one of them to "finger check" for vacuum. There was none. . The one I removed goes into the engine and is hidden from my view. But one thing is for sure. It is rotted and needs to be replaced whatever it is. Look at the enclosed picture. #2 is the tube I removed from the T. Am I on the right track in my HVAC problem?

 

Most definitely. That tube should lead to the intake and should have vacuum to it when the engine is running. Without that hose, the HVAC system will not function properly.

 

Does the actuator even move when you change the vent locations? That would be a quick test.