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Hey guys, very recently I have been unable to get my 03 chev cavilier’s defrost to engage. There would be tension in the dial and when you try and select defrost it would snap back to a normal vent mode. Ive found out that the metal cable going fron the dial to the air deflector (?) had developed a kink. I can see it and get my hands on it but its such a tight area to work in, never mind get enough leverage to sreighten the cable. Any ideas?
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Well, if you have access to some long reach pliers (google it for a picture), that would allow you to reach in there. Option two is you have to start taking off panels and whatnot until you can get to what you need to fix.
Also, check the end of the cable where it goes to the vent selector (if possible). It might be kinking because the selector arm is binding up on something.
The long pliers might help however if the problem is in the HVAC assembly itself due to a door binding or something you may have to take apart the HVAC to repair it unfortunatly. Good job on diagnosing the problem though.
Thanks Eric. I actually researched the problem ad found its a common issue on the cavilier. Im not sure what causes it to bend but I feel it may just be the design since the cable not only goes side to side but it can easily bend over time resulting in a kink forming.
Hey guys. I got a temporary to permanent fix on the defroster. I strightened out the cable as best I could on the end with the vent switch tho it still has a bend. Today I crawled under the drivers side and pushed the big deflector door and rotated it upwhich puts it into defrost mode. This actually pulls the cable thru its sleve and helps streighten it out. I can select settings again but im not sure how long it will last given the cable does have a bit of a kink in it still. But it is progress.
Hey again all, I guess that fix was temporary as the cable kinked up again. Im not sure if that cable just needs replaced or if the door needs replacement. I can push it by hand tho it does have some tough points when you go thru the different stops
Very common problem for the cavalier and sunfires, there’s a piece of foam that comes out of place and gets jammed in the defrost door, causing your exact issue. You’ll have to take the upper dash pad off to get the foam out. Been a while since I’ve done one but I’m pretty sure you just throw it in the garbage. Upper dash pad is fairly easy to get off, bunch of 7mm screws. 1 phillips where the vent is for the defrost, gotta go through the glovebox and you’ll see 2 gold 7mm hidden up there for the passenger airbag cover. Take the two little panels off the sides of the dash and there’s a couple in there. Think there’s two going up in front of the instrument cluster. Pull the trim panel off that goes along the edge of the bottom part of the windshield and there’s a few under it for the dashpad as well. Think there’s a couple under the knee bolsters too.
Thanks for the post Shaun. Its nice having a few GM techs on this board.
Now where are all the Ford ones? Hmmm
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