2005 Chevy Malibu stopped blowing cold air suddenly...Update: fixed

[waterjug]

So yesterday I was driving home, it was really humid and my windshield started fogging up, I set the vents to blow on the windshield, and set it to the hottest setting, and it cleared up the fog. I set the vents back to blowing on me, and turned the temperature back down to cold....except it kept blowing hot air. Same thing this morning. Whether the AC is on or not, no matter which vents the air is blowing through, no matter what the temperature setting is, no matter if recirculate is on or not, the air coming out blows hot. Any ideas?


UPDATE: So it was POURING out when I got out of work; I was feeling around under the dash on the drivers side for where the screws are I would have to remove later in the evening. I knocked on the panel to see if I could hear where the unit was. After that the cold air started blowing again. Guess my magic hands fixed another problem.

Thanks everyone!

 

[pauldun170]

If it were an older car I'd say the cable fell off either the heater control knob or the control valve under the hood.

 

[BUTCH1]

So yesterday I was driving home, it was really humid and my windshield started fogging up, I set the vents to blow on the windshield, and set it to the hottest setting, and it cleared up the fog. I set the vents back to blowing on me, and turned the temperature back down to cold....except it kept blowing hot air. Same thing this morning. Whether the AC is on or not, no matter which vents the air is blowing through, no matter what the temperature setting is, no matter if recirculate is on or not, the air coming out blows hot. Any ideas?

So the vents will change output when you move the knob right?, looks like your "blend door" is stuck it diverts air either through the AC coil or the heater core depending on where the temp control is set at, I've got an '05 Malibu and a Haynes for it , maybe I could look something up for you?..

 

[BUTCH1]

See if a vacuum lines came off a canister under the dash or a mechanical linkage that might have failed. Does this car have the standard controls or is it a digital one (like mine is).

 

[waterjug]

See if a vacuum lines came off a canister under the dash or a mechanical linkage that might have failed. Does this car have the standard controls or is it a digital one (like mine is).

regular knobs! I'm going to pull the panel off today and see if the actual dial came disconnected from the control.

edit: pulled off the panel and checked the wires going to the temperature gauge, everything looked fine. Where are the vacuum lines under the dash? If there's any pics in the hayne's could you PM them to me? I've never poked around with the cooling/heating system on this car before and I'm shooting blind.

 

[Raizinman]

Next time your windows fogs up, open a window. Every control on your vehicle has a specific life span. It might be 1000 cycles or such. GM does lots of research on each switch/control and does not invest any more into a switch than necessary.

 

[BUTCH1]

Here I found this from Google, dunno how accurate it is,.."The location of the blend motor on my 2005 malibu is on the driver side, near the center consol, not easy to get to. Before you try to remove the blend motor, unplug the wires it, turn the temp knob to cool side, disconnect the pos side of the battery for a couple of minutes. Reconnect the battery, plug in the bend motor start the car and turn the temp control to heat side. If this does not work remove the motor and repeat. the motor my be jamed. I had the same problem, this might be a cheaper way to fix this instead of the dealer. PS if you remove the blend motor, be carfull to look at the orientation of the spring on the shaft of the door in case it pops off."

 

[waterjug]

Hmmm interesting. I found this:

" The most common cause for this problem on this vehicle is the blend door getting stuck in the hot or cold position. This is usually because the blend door actuator is not strong enough to move the blend door to the selected position. The fix for this is to replace the blend door actuator. This job usually takes about one hour."

 

[waterjug]

Here I found this from Google, dunno how accurate it is,.."The location of the blend motor on my 2005 malibu is on the driver side, near the center consol, not easy to get to. Before you try to remove the blend motor, unplug the wires it, turn the temp knob to cool side, disconnect the pos side of the battery for a couple of minutes. Reconnect the battery, plug in the bend motor start the car and turn the temp control to heat side. If this does not work remove the motor and repeat. the motor my be jamed. I had the same problem, this might be a cheaper way to fix this instead of the dealer. PS if you remove the blend motor, be carfull to look at the orientation of the spring on the shaft of the door in case it pops off."

Thanks! I get the feeling this is going to be a pain int he ass to get to...will try tonight or tomorrow and report back. I'm googling what this thing even looks like..

 

[waterjug]

So it was POURING out when I got out of work; I was feeling around under the dash on the drivers side for where the screws are I would have to remove later in the evening. I knocked on the panel to see if I could hear where the unit was. After that the cold air started blowing again. Guess my magic hands fixed another problem.

Thanks everyone!

 

[BUTCH1]

So it was POURING out when I got out of work; I was feeling around under the dash on the drivers side for where the screws are I would have to remove later in the evening. I knocked on the panel to see if I could hear where the unit was. After that the cold air started blowing again. Guess my magic hands fixed another problem.

Thanks everyone!

Good news, now leave the temp control where it's at. Prolly a sticky door or a weak actuator and you rumbling around freed it up, trying to go back to a warm setting might cause it to hang up again. let it be (till winter anyway)..

 

[waterjug]

Good news, now leave the temp control where it's at. Prolly a sticky door or a weak actuator and you rumbling around freed it up, trying to go back to a warm setting might cause it to hang up again. let it be (till winter anyway)..

my thoughts exactly. Thanks for your help! I appreciate it

 

[BUTCH1]

my thoughts exactly. Thanks for your help! I appreciate it

Anytime, if you've got a specific question just PM me and I'll try to help. I haven't done anything heavy duty to mine, just brakes and fluid changes, honestly I hope I don't have to, the 3.5L V6 is shoehorned in there, to replace the serp. belt requires removing a motor mount, ouch!..