No heat out of passenger vents

Just realized passenger side is blowing cold air instead of heat.... any idea why that is happening? What do I need to replace this time lol.

The passenger side climate actuator is bad. Not too hard of a fix. Very slightly more difficult than changing the cabin air filter on our cars as the process to get there is identical. I'd recommend a right-angle screwdriver/allen wrench to install the new actuator.

https://parts.subaru.com/p/Subaru__/HVAC-Air-Inlet-Door-Actuator/49280683/72131AG26A.html

That's the part I bought.

Buy a new cabin filter while you're in there.

 

That video should get you there, I'd think. I'd take the dash apart and leave the key in RUN and mess with your climate system and watch your actuators work/not work before buying the part.

Hmm, I pulled the dash apart a while back to change the heater core, hopefully something is just unplugged or is just not aligned. Thanks for the info!

So I see 3 actuators, 2 on the left one on the right.

 

The top 2 work and start moving when I change the vent mode.

 

The bottom guy however doesn't seem to do anything. Is that the one that lets heat through the mixer? Is that what you changed to get heat going on the passenger side @Pleides?

 

Are all those actuators the same part number? Looks like its the one you linked. Damnit.... why are these parts so expensive...

 

Also did you remove the bracket or just the servo?

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by Tehnation

Yep, thats it, I just pulled it out, and moved the lever manually and heat started coming through.

Cause I'm cheap lol, I pulled it apart, cleaned the contacts on that wheel thingy, and tested the motor it moves. I just plugged it into the car and its now moving again!!!

 

Only problem is I didn't pay attention to the arm orientation so I have no idea where the arm is supposed to be.........

And I got heat again! If you do what I did, then you just have to align the arm with the arrow .... wish i took pictures but its cold as hell. So everything works now, it adjusts it properly and works the way it should. I kept adjusting the knob to make sure it wasn't a one time fluke, it was able to keep up, so I am assuming cleaning it did the trick.

 

When I tested the motor it seemed strong as hell, so I couldn't understand why it wasn't working but if you watch the end of the video Pleides linked it will show whats inside. I cleaned that wheel, mine wasn't in nearly as bad shape as the video , so wiped it down to inspect the contacts and they looked good so I used some of the extra grease that was in actuator to grease it back. Now it works fine..... for now!

 

Thanks again for that information! Saved me about a 75 bucks and got me my heat back today instead of waiting days for parts!

Edited January 22, 2022 by Tehnation

And you learned how they work. Win win.

 

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

Yeah, as you found out the car will figure out where to set the actuator. It’s just a simple parts swap!

 

I’ll be curious to see how opening them up and cleaning them works long-term.

I don't think it sets the actuator does it? I put the arm to the arrow on the body of the box and everything worked out. I don't think it actually calibrates itself, I can't really say because I didn't try anything else, I just saw the big arrow and assumed thats the direction the arm needs to point, because the gearing and motor only has a certain range of motion. Maybe it does, I was more focused on getting out of the cold and not sitting in a cold ass car with the heat blasting away.

 

I'll bump this thread the next time it goes!! I figured the 2 most important parts looked good, motor and gear, the motor ran when I gave it 12 volts. I don't even understand what the hell is going on with the wheel and contacts lol. But I think you might be right, its probably using those contacts on the wheel to calibrate or figure out where it needs to be.... those contacts on the wheel are important, if they are in good shape and not stripped then you can probably get by with what I did, basically clean the contacts points so whatever is doing the calibrating gets a proper signal.

Edited January 22, 2022 by Tehnation

I also bent the metal rake like contacts a little to apply more pressure to that wheel. Or rather when I was cleaning them off I was pulling them in the direction of the wheel. I think the grime on the rake like contacts that touch the wheel were the bigger issue, seems like sitting for a while allowed them to build corrosion etc. Once they were clean they probably made better contact.