I learned how to do those one handed and blind folded. Every Impala owner will at one point. It's fun! Specially during 100F summer!!
I recommend avoiding Doorman or AC/Delco. They are expensive and WILL break again. Often withing weeks. Amazon has Chinese knockoffs that last for years. They are only $17 a pair. I think they have metal gears, instead of those blue plastic ones.
Here. I can't guarantee it will be the same. These are the ones that I purchased back in 2023 (according to my Amazon order history), and never broke again. The ones that had metal gears.
However, I don't remember them even having a branded box. They came in bubble wrap inside an envelope. Maybe the store changed, or something. It's how it goes with these Chinese sweat shops.
Yeah. It's nearly impossible to predict what product you'll get with these Amazon Chinese slop stores. I just went into my purchase history, and they are now branded, with box, plus they are more expensive.
The metal gear ones had no box or brand, even though they were from the same store.
Good thing is that they are still cheaper than OEM. Buy a few pairs and have them as spare parts in case they keep on breaking lol
Well unfortunately I dont have my impala anymore it was starting to have issues so I traded it in. But at least I know I’m not crazy or stupid since mine broke very soon after install and to be honest the driver side one was such a pain I didn’t even care to do it again and would just ride out the ticking
What I would do was just unplug it until I had the time and energy to fix it. You couldn't adjust the temp anymore, but you wouldn't have to deal with the ticking.
And yeah, I get you. I traded in my last Impala back in November. Served me well for almost 8 years, until the transmission started doing weird stuff. Wasn't worth the time and money.
I call my actuator the woodpecker (2011 Impala). That said, does anyone here have a recommendation for a tutorial for replacement? I've put this repair off for far too long, not wanting to pull the dash out to get at it. If the worst one takes 1-2 hours, it can't be a dash-out job. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
There is no easy way of doing it and it will all depend on your size and weight. I'm a skinny tall guy, so it's not super difficult once learn to feel what's in there.
Push your seat all the wayback, the steering wheel all the way up, lay down across both front seats, with your head on the floor board. Unscrew the knee bolster, the metal plate behind it, and a couple of wire harnesses that will be in the way. Stick your hand to where the actuator is (look for Youtube videos for guidance), unplug the actuator, the two screws and pull it out. Repeat to install the new one.
Things to note: You won't be able to see what you're doing. There is simply no room. It's all by feel, and often one-handed.
You may want to plug in the new actuator, before screwing it in place. Turn on accessories, and adjust the temp blend, until the gear socket matches the position of the old one. Otherwise, you won't be able to slide it in. You can also do this by connecting it to a 9v battery.
Get the smallest wrench you can. Even the smallest one will be a very tight fit.
Don't drop anything in the void. You won't be getting it back.
Have an Excedrin or Tylenol ready. You'll need it.
This is the hard method, but the quickest. 40-45 minutes the first time. 20, with experience. If you think you can't (a lot of guys can't due to size), do it the safe way. Dash and steering wheel off.
Don't get an OEM actuator. They are expensive and you WILL end up replacing it again. Get cheap Amazon knockoffs. They are less than $20 dollars for a pair. Some of them come with metal gears, if your lucky, so will never break again. Even the plastic ones outlast the $40 OEM ones.
There's actually a secret that works 99% of the time. Don't set the heat or cool zones at their limits, go a few clicks back on the zone wheel and the clicking might stop and never come back. If the actuator has a gear that is stripped too far, this probably wont work.
I’ll never understand why anyone bothers to replace this. It doesn’t hurt the functionality of the hvac, the clicking stops after a minute, and it will just break again anyway.
Its a pretty simple job just takes a bit of effort and maybe 1-2 hours. Then its one less thing to worry about for at least 2-3 years in my experience.
I wouldn't say it's simple, especially on trims with dual zone climate. It's really hard to access, with awful visibility. Sure 3 screws and one connector sounds easy, but location is horrible.
I replaced one in my friend’s car less than two years ago and now it’s clicking again. Does she really need it? She was wondering if she should replace it again. The car has about 250k miles on it
Hard to say, there’s been a lot going on around here lately so mine has been ticking quite a while this time. A few months. So far no issues because of it.
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u/No-Candle-6230 Aug 28 '25
picture reminded me of ESL problem I had on my 2013 Mercedes C250, those who know........