My 97 SSEi is in the shop right now, according to the mechanic, the programmer for the climate control system is shot. The symptoms I have been having are that the system only puts out cold air regardless of the temperature setting. Within a minute or so of firing up the car, the temperature display blinks. I had the car scanned and no error codes came up. Is there a way to check the electrical actuator for the heat and cold?? I hope it is not the programmer (it'* $675 cdn). Anyone have any ideas???

It'* either the Airmix actuator, or the programmer. Scanning for codes in the PCM won't tell you this. So basically, the dealer COULD lie to you if they wanted to. They have to scan for ECC codes in a different manner.

The airmix actuator would be much cheaper, but that may not be the case.

Will,

Thanks for the speedy reply. I told him to lock it in the hot air position since winter is coming and I'll either fix it or get myself a new bonny in the spring(lots of mileage on mine, 200k miles, and it'* beginning to have some problems that can be very costly to fix ) Since he moved everything around, it might have gotten itself unstuck, who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and all will be right with the world.

If you need to get a new controller for your HVAC system....I work in a salvage yard and I could drop ship you one for your car for about $45 bucks. If you want one,pm with your address and a C/C number and I could get one on UPS or something like that probably same day. I hope this helps.


Nate

Have the dealer give you the climate control code, and we'll see if we can match it up.

Just picked up a '95 SSEi cheap but with problems. The car blows cold air on all settings when I am trying to run the heat. Except through the vent which blows cold on the driver side and hot on the passenger. I have been reading through the posts and haven't found anyone with this specific problem. It seems as though it should be all cold or all hot. Any ideas?

As long you're getting hot air out _somewhere_, the problem sounds like it'* got something to do with ducts not switching themselves around properly. If you have an electronic climate-control display and it'* blinking at you in the first two minutes of driving, there'* one or more error codes stored in it that may tell you what'* wrong. A little more detail needed here, I think...?

acg_ssei,
Thanks for the reply. It is the electric climate control and no it doesn't flash when the car is turned on. In the manual mode I can select 90 as the temp and with the air slected to the windshield outlets it'* cold, select the floor outlets it'* cold, select the middle outlets, it comes out warm on the passenger vents and cold on the drivers side vents. IF I'm getting hot air somewhere I dont expcet the usual thermostat or heater core problems. Could it be the airmix actuator mentioned in this thread? I'm new to this car and just learning it'* systems. Where can I find this actuator and is there any way to test it? Any other ideas are greatly appreciated.

I would say so, yes.

I don't have first-hand experience with this system, but I would suggest getting under there for a look-see behind the dash: see if you find something obvious, like a disconnected vacuum line or a ham-fisted repair of some sort (bad aftermarket stereo installation, perhaps). Someone who'* actually chased this problem can give you more help. If you're planning to keep this for a while, buying the original service manuals for it ( http://www.helminc.com ) is a great first step. (I doubt a Chilton manual will give you enough detail for fixing a system like this.)

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll take a look around and post what I find out when I fix it. Hopefully it will help someone else down the road.