This was an on/off problem for a while, but is full time now. Cold air only comes out defrost and floor vents. I finally took it to the dealer and they said it was the controller, but I'm not sure if they were talking about the unit with the digital readout or the one on the pass side floor with the vacuum lines. The advisor said it was the digital part, and wanted $800!!!!!! I have tried to get to the vacuum controller, but cant, I've also tried to find an actuator to manually change the air flow.... no luck. I really don't want to buy a $650 part for a car with 108,000 miles on it, and I don't really trust the dealer that it will fix my problem. Any ideas? Used part, similar experiences, etc??

Normally what happens in these situations is the unit in the dash goes out that electronically changes the way the air flows when you turn the ****. I would suggest going to a local salvage yard and picking up a used one and putting it in.

Please fill out you signature so we will know what kind of car you have.

Is this a digital climate control or the manual one (with the three ****)? Sounds like a vacuum problem to me. Pop you hood and listen for a little sucking hissing sound. You might have a vacuum leak. I am not really sure how the digital controls work but a vacuum leak would cause this in the manual controls.

The actuator is kinda hard to get to, especially when a passenger airbag is present.

But your problem doesn't sound actuator related at all - unless there'* an error code reported by the climate control headunit (does the display blink for a while after the car is started?).

Seems to me that a vacuum line got disconnected somewhere. Check all vacuum lines in the engine compartment first, and then the pink one that goes around the ECM, right above the passenger feet, and then to the actuator (you'll need to remove the right insulation panel, the plastic panel above the passenger feet). All the lines draw vacuum from the throttle body. From there it goes to a vacuum tank that'* between the brake booster and the relay center on the firewall, and then to all the accessories.

You can definitely manually change the air flow by playing with the vacuum lines that controls the vent doors, once you get to the actuator.

Hope this helps

Mine is the electronic controller. I have tried to get to the pink vacuum line, but its behind the metal structure thats behind the glove box. I called many salvage yards, and nobody had the electronic controller. I'll check the vacuum lines under the hood, but I haven't found any problems there before. Also, there is no blinking display on startup.
Here'* a good one: We took this car up to Beaver Creek, CO over Christmas, and right when we got up in the mountains at 11pm in a raging snowstorm, the defroster vents SHUT OFF COMPLETELY, and started blowing through the panel vents!!!! It hadn't done that in a year! Talk about mad.....

That last problem is sort of strange, and does sound like a programmer. But first you have to ensure vacuum at the programmer.

Yes look under the hood for a small vacum line near the brake booster that was my problem when the air was not blowing through the vents!