AC blowing cold on one side and hot on the other.
 

I’ve got a 1997 Oldsmobile 88 V6 and have been working on getting it running after about 5 years. I have attempted to recharge the ac but the needle on the recharge kit gauge never wants to go past “30”. The two driver side vents are now blowing cold air and the passenger sides once’s are blowing hot air. I’ve look around and discovered that I could possibly need a HVAC door actuator. Do you think this is what I need? Is it a simple project? Thanks.

Well, kind of simple. It mostly has to do with skill level and experience. The hot/cold thing could be an actuator or could be that the door is gummed up inside. You'll probably want to dig into it more before swapping parts.

Regarding the recharge kit, we would need to know more about how much you put in in the first place, as well as any repairs you've made to the system.

If it has dual zone climate control, you should be able to verify that the actuators are working by visual inspection. If it doesn't have dual zone climate control, it likely requires more refrigerant.

I'm pretty sure your problem is the system is not charged correctly. Need good gauges and really need to look at high and low side. Also you can't trust those cheap gauges on the kits.

And that era also uses a variable displacement compressor if memory serves, which means it can still get pressure pretty close, but still not be properly charged. Ideally you fully evacuate, and charge with the required amount of refrigerant.

The variable displacement compressor was a year or two later.

Unless the vacuum actuator is bad you'll want to charge it correctly. I have the specs but it's not something you are likely to be able to do without an AC machine. I would take it to a qualified shop and have them evacuate the system and charge it properly.

I've never understood the whole a/c in a can with a pressure gauge on it. A/C systems are pretty complex and if the correct gauges are not used, a system can be over or undercharged. Or permanently damaged.

Having the correct pro gauges is critical. Might as well start with the high low readings to see where you stand first.
Even though I understand trying to save $ and use A/C in the can, It is not the right way to service the system.
In reality if you are having to add refrigerant, it means you probably have a leak somewhere.
Leak needs to be found & might as well just have AC shop get the system fixed correctly & up to speed.

I'll probably take flak for this, but:

Joe/Jane Average either either takes his broken air conditioning to a shop or remembers the last time he/she did, or heard an acquaintance's tale of when they did. The prices involved were likely in the mid three-digits or higher, involved a missing car for a few days, and then a few years later and voila' warm air. This might be because the repair wasn't done well, or a different part failed, or they swapped cars in the meantime, or etc. etc.

In the meantime, those commercials with the disobedient shoplifting dog (and its owner that takes auto-repair recommendations from a disobedient criminal canine) make it look so easy: Just charge your air conditioning with a magic can of magic for a price in the mid-to-low 2-digits and voila' you can drive with your windows down because you want to, not because you need to.

Of course it says on the can that the system should be properly repaired yada yada by a trained professional yada yada and the manufacturer holds no liability yada yada and the environment yada yada and safety working under the hood yada yada. But, that's all in small print so it must be boring . . . so most of the consumers that purchase them never read this stuff, especially with all the sweat dripping in their eyes. The ones that do are often tempted to the dark side by the lure of cool air, dry seatbacks, and the ability to read fine print in comfort.

Sometimes the magic goo that is included with these will actually seal a minor leak . . . even if every professional automotive air conditioning tech hates this stuff contaminating their machines. Sometimes it doesn't seal anything. The leak is probably slow enough that the magic can of magic will get the consumer through summer, and if not, another can in August is still cheap.

If it turns out that the felonious canine was wrong, and the magic can of magic can't actually fix the air conditioning, the consumer will still likely be glad they tried this before collecting another story of three+ digit prices to tell their friends about.

Personally, I've used the magic fill-and-fly solutions a few times, and I have real gauges etc. to do it right. I never use the highly-hyped brands, but usually get the cheap cans on the shelf at Walmart that don't have goo in them. I know several that have to fill theirs every Spring because of a slow leak, and others that can tell tales of expensive repairs and nightmares related. I've never taken auto-repair advice from a canine.

Since the magic cans of magic are in the $5.00 to $25.00 range, a person could refill their system twice a year for ten years and still never approach what a repair would possibly cost them . . . and likely they will have the car half that long when they top off the R134, bend the truth a little, and sell it anyways. If it turns out the next car has the same issue, their experience with magic cans of magic will come in handy, and the buyer of their old car, having discovered an "unforeseen" issue with their air conditioning, will either try a magic can of magic, or get a quote and then try a magic can of magic next time around.

Disclaimer: I'm not attempting to discuss right or wrong here, just the difference between "close-enough" magic cans of magic, expensive professional repairs, and the factors that drive folks either way.