Wow! I wish my indie could read this and interject...he just completed the diagnosis and repair of my A/C center vent problem. Fortunately, it turned out that I had inadvertently yanked off a vacuum line during an ambitious stereo install.

But he used a vacuum tool to determine whether the actuator pod was bad or the control unit, or the actuator flaps itself. You need to perform the same type of diagnostic tests to determine exactly what is actually wrong. Except for the pod replacement, the other repairs do not need dash removal.

My indie also did a "temporary" repair for a customer that did need a new pod. He removed the actuator flap, which allowed the air to pass through the center vents all the time (including heat). Dialing the knob in the center would shut off air flow, so that turned out to be a working solution. The customer saved the actuator flap so that at a later date when they decided to replace the pod, he would reinstall.

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car