The other day my 2010 Equinox started getting a little screwy with the vents. I tried putting the windshield defroster on and it didn't move the airflow to those vents, the strength of airflow was the same no matter what I turned the vent to, and I got some weird smell for a minute. A little while later, the ac was working fine, the smell went away, BUT it still didn't change which vents the air came out of. And that's how it's been for a couple days - seems fine except for WHICH vents air flows through. I know this is actuator-related... but which one controls WHERE the air moves? FWIW, it is NOT an auto ac control - simple control where you set the temp and set the fan speed. Also, there is no clicking sound like seems to be noticeable when one goes. I'd love to try recalibrating everything before I bother to take it into a shop but I can't seem to find the "recalibrate" instructions for 2010s - only earlier models. Any help is appreciated. And if you think a novice like myself can change the appropriate actuator, please advise. THANKS!

 

My car is doing the same thing. They have 3 actuators and two are on the passenger side behind the glove compartment, the one we need is on the drivers side under the foot panel somewhere. I've torn mine apart and can't find the actuator!

 

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. I don't have the know-how/patience to have a go at the one under the steering wheel. The ones behind the glove compartment I'd try. But before I do any I want to try and calibrate them. Is yours making the clicking noise? Mine doesn't do anything. Just can't change where the airflow comes from. Speed and temp controls work fine.

 

Nothing. We're working on it right now, it's no fun. I'll let you know how it goes lol its only $40 for the part

 

Everything works fine on mine but it's stuck on floor. Air heat everything works I just can't get it to switch from floor to defrost or vent. No noise or anything coming from it. I'm pretty sure we found the actuator, just can't get to it.

 

A/C guy says he's not sure it's the actuator. Said it's getting very low power - so he's not sure if the actuator is the problem or it's not getting enough power to move. Might be the hvac controller/control module. Can anyone shed some light on how to determine if it's the actuator or the control module. Really don't want to start trying things and spending money without knowing for sure what the problem is. Any tutorials on replacing the a/c control module? Anyone know prices for a control module on a 2010? THANKS!

 

Same issue here, I checked all the fuses, replaced all the actuators AND the HVAC head unit, still no change. Mine is a Captiva, must be some top secret sub-computer that controls the HVAC system, I don't know and I'm all out of things to replace 🤷‍♂️

Btw, get a finger rachet for the actuator bolts, otherwise you'd have to take the whole dash out to remove them 👍

 

So during the summer my vents blow cold air with the ac on. As soon as winter hits and it gets below 50 my whole vent system stops working. Doesn’t matter if it’s heat or ac. Any advice?