Windscreen Demister Vent Actuator Problem

[imc042]

Hi,

So I'm pretty sure from what I've read that one of the vent actuators is gone in my 02 Diesel A4. There is no air coming out of the windscreen vent or the centre vents, only out the sides and to the floor.

As I can't afford to get this fixed I was hoping I could do it myself. I know that the actuators are just behind the glovebox and that I can get at it just by taking this out. I heard there was a way that I could open the flap on the broken actuator and just leave it opened until I can afford to buy the new part. That way at least I'll be able to see out the window when driving.

I was hoping someone who knows about this could walk me through it. Like the tools I'll need to get the glovebox out and what to do to open the flap and keep it open. Also if anyone has the part that I'm looking for second hand I'd like to buy it.

Thanks :biglaugh:

[nevo]

Get the glove box out 3 bolts along the top (lid open) couple along the bottom,1 one the end cover and one under the cd player,lift it out be careful of the light connector,the green lever is the one you want for the screen,remove the motor and report back and I'll tell you how to fix it.

[imc042]

Thanks nevo. Ok I have the glovebox out and I can see the green lever. so im supposed to remove the box that the green lever is connected to?

[nevo]

Thats it,it'll say bosch on the side,take the 3 bolts out and let it hang on the wires,you can try it using the manual arrow on the unit,usually the motors stick ,anyway remove it and get it on the bench and split it in half,you may need to cut 2 of the clips,try and save as many as you can for reassembly,with it in half you need to try the 12v motor make sure its not burnt out, if it is then its curtains but usually it'll be ok,next lube the worm gear with silicon grease then reassemble.The central flaps are controlled by the motor above the one connected to the red lever same again.http://i627.photobucket.com/albums/tt358/nevo_album/KGrHqEOKpQE3stOkjrBOGKzloO3g_121.jpg

[imc042]

Right so, took off the motor box and opened it up. Then I connected it back up to see and it is spinning away alright. It seems to be a bit tired though and is stalling a little while its spinning. I dont have any silicone grease but I do have "Easy Grease" which is just like WD40. Will the do the job? And where exactly should i spray it ? Thanks!

http://i893.photobucket.com/albums/ac138/cyberdyne05/photo2-1.jpg

[nevo]

If you've no silicon grease use a little multi-purpose on the white gears,wd40 type spray will work but will dry out after a short time and stick again.

[imc042]

just opened the motor for the centre vents now and there is big blobs of vaseline in there, so this obviously happened to the last owner too. :D

[imc042]

All sorted now, just freed them out with some more vaseline and everything is working as it should. Thanks for the help nevo ;)

[albailey]

Hi chaps, glad you got your sorted, gives me hope! Have a similar problem but I'm only getting cold air on the drivers side. Audi kindly ran diagnostics for me and found v70 and v159 motors have failed. They then wanted £550 to replace! My question is which of the motors under the dash are these ones so I can try and repair them myself!

[nevo]

Welcome to the forum,did you get sorted or still need help?

[danclyon]

Nevo you legend - that's another niggly little job that I needed to get done - I'll follow your guidance. I know mine is just sticking as it will occasionally not open or not shut properly :)

[nevo]

Glad to be of assistance,I wonder how many of these motors have gone in the bin but the want of a bit of grease!!!!

[danclyon]

Yeah I've been wondering about that too. It might be funktional und perfekt in form, but execution is a bit crap in some areas - these motors being a great example. I've noted other things that just leave me a bit speechless too. Glove-box door, wiper bottle lid, plenum-chamber leaf/water store, headlight bolt locations, boot lamp lens assembly screws (and their propensity to be a right PITA to get out), front wing lining clips, undertray fragility (I realise now though my MB put METAL trays under the car as you REALLY have to belt them one to break them vs. just looking at the Audi ones in a funny way). The list probably goes on......still wouldn't swap it for anything else though - just coming up on 7yrs old, approaching 100k miles, and still a dream to drive - AND getting 46mpg! Not too shabby...

Note to self: Get undertray clips, a rear undertray, wing lining clips, sort the glovebox out, change the pollen filter and grease the wiper assembly, find a proper magnetic bolt for the rear lamp lenses, sort out the leaking wiper pipe in the boot roof, find out why the parking sensor is intermittent, check the plenum drains are clear......the list goes on.....

[kwackermad]

Hi Nevo, really need your help if possible. I have had the same problem with my touran and had removed the glove box but cant see all of the actuators. Can you help.? I can see the actuator and mechanism which is triggered by the hot and cold and it seems to be working intermittently , either fully open or fully closed and the linkage arm seems to come off... can you help with how I get the actuator off to lubricate and how I can fix the linkage arm from coming off.. is there a supposed t be a spring clip or spring washer holding it on..?
:1zhelp:

[nevo]

Can't say I'm familiar with the touran set up but it shouldn't be a million miles away from the A4,the motors just unbolt by undoing the 3 small bolts,and the arms pull out and click in,what exactly is the problem demister,vents,or footwell????.

[kwackermad]

Hi Nevo thanks for reply.The problem is demisting the windscreen or should i say trying to demist screen.The blower seems to work but not much warm air coming through when the dial is fully over to 26. I decided to go with taking the glovebox off to look at the actuators and check they were working but could only find two. One for the hot n cold and the other to recirculate air flow. The circulation one seems to be working fine. Although I have some further questions about how and when that seems to activate semi auto when blowers on but car reversing and strangely when the front screen wash is used but only when the blower is on. It then deactivates when driving forward after about 30 seconds?Main problem apears to be lack of air flow and heat on windscreen even when car is running and warm

[nevo]

If you're getting no air out of the demister(hot or cold)its the flap motor,on the a4 its the green lever,can you upload a photo of your arrangement.

[kwackermad]

Hi. I ve located the actuator and flap controlled by the temp dial and although it was a little hit and miss it now seems to opening and closing the flap. I am getting air flow through the vents but not getting hot air just mildly warm. Was wondering if there were any other flaps or things I should be looking at? At 1st i thought heater matrix but The pipes that feed that seem to be getting warm , not sure how hot these should get? Any ideas on what the problem may be?

[nevo]

Remove the two motors for the temp and the demister and operate by hand and ensure they both operate to their full extent,if the cabin is maintaining a decent temp the matrix should be ok,these motors stick and don't travel to their full extent so its just a matter of finding the culprit.are the footwells getting hot on both sides,assuming you've got dual climate.

[jon78]

Hi all, I too have this windscreen flap motor issue. I've removed the motor, stripped it, cleaned it, and refitted. it is now working but constantly jumping in small jerks. There is no smooth constant motion open and closed. Even with the windscreen demister off the motor is constantly on the move. Is this a motor issue or something else??? Thanks in advance. Jon.

[kite]

Hi all, I too have this windscreen flap motor issue. I've removed the motor, stripped it, cleaned it, and refitted. it is now working but constantly jumping in small jerks. There is no smooth constant motion open and closed. Even with the windscreen demister off the motor is constantly on the move. Is this a motor issue or something else??? Thanks in advance. Jon.

You could try resetting the motor with basic settings in VCDS.

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

[jon78]

Thanks but I don't have the access to any of that, it appears to be functioning ok now, I've refitted and tried all the different vent settings and all seems to be working fine. it's just that when it is just on its normal setting you can hear the motor constantly adjusting itself, even with the engine switched off you can hear it. very random!

[kite]

The noise is the motor trying to reset.

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

[diegopd]

Hi @nevo I have a mk4 golf gti, today dash vent stop sending air while windshield vents and floor vents still doing it. I guess I have same problem descrived here.
Is the red arm the one for dash vents? please confirm and I will try to fix the motor or either replace it

regards

[nevo]

the golf is a different set up,you're best starting a new thread in the mk4 section.

[marshy68]

Hi Nero
Hoping you might be able to help with a similar problem on my 2007 A4 Tdi Sline Quattro
First let me give you the background, bought the car in Dec 2016 and noticed straight away after collecting the car that the climate control wasn't working no matter what the control unit is set to either screen, middle or floor the air only came out of the screen vents.
Things I have tried so far:


Replaced the climate control unit with a used eBay item with the same part number this had no effect.
Checked all the fuses and all were ok.
Taken the glove box off and checked that the 3 vent actuators that are visible ( green, red and black control arms ) selected screen, middle and floor options and all combinations and none of the motors did not appear to move at all so it appears to me like the motors are not getting any power, I very much doubt that all three motors need replacing and obviously don't want to do that from a cost perspective.


Just wanted to get your thoughts on this as I expected 2 of the 3 motors to at least move or try to move when operated. I haven't yet removed the motors but was wondering if there is an easy way I can removed them and test with a 9v battery to make sure they are working at least that would eliminate the motors.

Your opinion would be appreciated
Thanks
Paul Marsh

[niall campbell]

get vcds or autelvag505 to scan the car in a full scan; in the Autel you select VW and full system scan


or a multimeter probe into the connection would be better, are the motors getting power ?

[nevo]

As the previous post really,check if there's power there and disconnect a servo and operate by hand just to see if you can get air out of the vents,these motors do dry up inside and stick so you should be able to pin it down.

[BMurr]

Just for info, heres a look at inside of one of those motors. The plastic body can be prised apart if you push the clips down. Once inside there's an electric motor which drives a worm drive which drives a cog. The cog is what moves the arm for whatever flap its related to. There are 3 of these motors, two with arms and one of them has a cam attached to move two arms. The piece with 3 pins pops off to let me grease the big cog as it rests on top of the big cog, this communicates the position of the arm/cog to the computer so you'll need to return arm to position that matches the central axle of that part when reassembling. This is the second time I've had to deal with that motor, the fix lasted about 6 years. This time, since I was there anyway I lubed the other two trouble free motors. There's also a motor that controls a flap by the fan which activates when you select recirc mode, I left that alone as I rarely use recirc mode. Each time the mechanism had seized. To lubricate and free it back up I pop the electric motor off, lube the cogs and wormdrive with grease, move the mechanism by rotating the worm driven end of the spindle and once its loosened up by moving the control arm back and forth. There really is quite a difference once its lubed up and its amazing that the motor was able to keep going so long under such strain.