Air bag recall - any affect on hvac wiring?

I'm trying to figure out why my hvac doors stopped working suddenly. On a trip over Christmas my 2005 LGT stopped venting heat to the defroster. I've since changed the mode actuator (the box that moves the arms up and down to direct the airflow) and the temp control module (elect box that controls the mode actuator). Both of these parts came from the same 100k mile parts car.

 

So, I'm trying to figure out why things aren't working. Is it because the mode actuator from the parts car is work out just like my original?

 

OR.... is there a wiring issue? When I pulled out the mode actuator, the connector wires weren't part of the wiring harness, they were 4 wires wrapped in electrical tape, that disappear behind the dash (between the firewall and the stereo). When I pulled the parts from the parts car, the mode actuator wiring was a 4" loom with a connector on each end.

 

I can't figure out why anyone would have messed with this wiring. The only thing I can think is that this was somehow affected when I took the car in for the air bag recall about 6 mos ago.

 

My question - any idea if the entire dash comes out for the airbag recall, and if there is any reason that this would affect my mode actuator wiring? I'm sure if I accuse the dealer of this, they will deny it, so I haven't even approached them.

 

Just wondering if I should spend another $75 on a new (not used) mode actuator, or tear apart the dash to follow that electrical tape wiring and see if something came loose (a project I'm not looking forward to).

 

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

When I had the recall done, they told me they used to have to pull the dashboard to do it, but there was a newer procedure they were using that allowed them to go through the glove box opening.

 

So, I guess it is possible some HVAC wiring was disturbed. There is some HVAC wiring close by the glove box.

The dash is supposed to come out. The shortcut is found by the techs and to my knowledge not in any campaign or bulletin. Highly unlikely they caused this 6 months later. I mean really? If they screwed up wiring it would have been immediate.

 

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The Dash is held in with 12 screws, and 2 bolts for the airbag on the passenger side. The only wiring I remember being in it was the sensor in the back right corner and the airbag.

 

As MilesA said, there is hvac wiring behind the glovebox which has to come out though.

Dash doesn't need to come out on the 05, it's done through the glove box! Tech took 1hr45min on mine, couldn't tell he was in there.