Now For the Hard Stuff...

Alright, so you’ve done all of the above or whatever you found out was damaged and your control knob still doesn’t turn with ease. Well, I am sorry but you are in the same boat I was in. Your blend door that is INSIDE the white air mix box is binding and not moving properly. This means tearing down the dashboard and center console. I will break this section into three parts. The first is everything you have to do inside the engine bay. The second is tearing apart the interior all the way down to removing the air mix box. The third is the repair of the air mix box and mounting back in the car. After that it’s reassembly. You should be able to do that yourself. If you need help, just holler.

I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news but this is a major undertaking. This is why the dealer wants $1100 to fix this problem. The time and parts that it takes to do all this can rack up quite a bill. There are some people that have claimed to be able to repair it with some workarounds. I will explain that when we arrive at that point. However, I am going to explain the process that the TSB and dealership perform. It makes things quicker and easier in the long run rather than struggling with the workaround.
I will quickly explain the process in very broad terms and then explain in detail. That way you can decide whether or not you want to begin this project.


Summary:

Basically, you need to pop the hood. Get under the car and drain the radiator. I used the lower radiator hose. Then, remove the strut tower bar to give yourself some room. Next, the heater core hoses need to be detached. I had to cut mine off. Then, have a shop or remove the refrigerant yourself from the A/C system. Once you have freed the lines from the back of the evaporator you are done in the engine bay.

Next, take all interior pieces out. Remove the armrest piece, the shifter area. The kickpanels. The glovebox. The HVAC surround. The radio. The plastic pieces around the steering column. The instrument cluster. Everything else I missed so far. Unbolt the main dash piece (big black thing) from the front crossmember. Unbolt the steering column and rest it in the driver’s seat. Pull out the entire dash piece and set aside. Unbolt the front crossmember. Pull it out and down so you can start to remove the blower motor and cowl and ducting on the passenger side of the car. Remove all that junk. Unbolt the white air mix box. Maneuver the air mix box out of the passenger’s side of the car.

Now, tear apart the air mix box by breaking all the white tabs off. Replace the blend door in the box with the revised part. Clean everything. Reassemble the box. Put the box back into the car. Bolt everything back up.