Hi Everyone. I solved a problem yesterday and thought I’d share it with everyone. Since I bought the car in June, I’ve noticed that the air volume didn’t change when I changed from fresh air to recirculated air in the climate control system. After searching the forums, I was only able to find posts about the defroster fogging issues which is a problem I didn’t have. So I laid some detective work.

First: I searche the forums and found an image of the right hand drive air handler system. This was the only place I saw the “air inlet blend actuator” mentioned and a definition that it controls the fresh air/recirculated air.


Second: I reversed the image in my head and found the actuator Above of the fan motor. Later I found a left hand drive image in a parts catalog that was even more helpful. See #7.



Third: I removed the actuator and tested its movement. It wasn’t hard to get out, but the screws are at a weird angle and the bolts need torx bits. No way a screwdriver will fit. I had to hand thread them after starting to loosen with a ratchet. I was convinced that the actuator was broken and I’d need a new one. Imagine my surprise when the actuator worked when I tested it with the recirculater button.

Fourth: I needed to get my eyes on the door, so I opened the cowl under the hood and removed the cabin air filter. I was able to see the fresh/recirculating blend door. I wondered if it was stuck, so I got a coat hanger and used it to grab the door and moved it back and forth. It wasn’t stuck or jammed.

Closed door


Open door



Fifth: I needed to see the plastic nut that the actuator turns, however, the space is too small, so, I used my cell phone camera. Turns out the nut was stripped and the actuator just spun in the stripped out nut. I also removed the three torx screws and the electrical connector from the bottom of the fan motor (cylinder shaped plastic housing below the actuator) so I could see and touch the fresh/recirculating blend door. This was very easy and helpful to really understand how the whole thing worked.




Sixth: I prepared some epoxy and applied it to the actuator arm and replaced it. After some toil I was able to get it to get the screws back in. After it dried, it worked great.

Hopefully this helps someone with this problem.

Important note: make sure to reseal the plastic trim to prevent a water leak from rain or car washes. If you need to remove the trim, you will needs a small idler arm or ball joint puller (see pic) to remove the wiper arms.

Clean an the bottom of the windshield and underside of the trim and use some durable/waterproof double sided tape. That should do it.