2 climate control issues

Issue 2 sounce like a "clockspring" in the steering wheel, I believe.
@jerrymildred replaced one a while ago.

 

He will likely respond since we both tagged him.

 

1) the vent damper is either stuck, or burned out. in some threads, i believe there has been some success with spraying lubricant in there.

2) agree with pp above, the clock spring is failing. it doesn't have to affect all the steering wheel buttons.

 

Ta da!! Here I am. (For whatever that's worth. Looks like you folks have it sorted out pretty well. )

Issue one, also sound to me like a damper malfunction. I've heard they are a pain in the patooty to access. I've had a couple Gen 2 dashes apart which wasn't that hard with the help of an excellent Youtube video. But I didn't mess with ductwork.

Issue two is almost for sure the clockspring. It is not hard to replace but be VERY VERY careful that the one you put in was taken out with the steering wheel aiming the car straight ahead (12 o'clock on the wheel pointing straight up) and that you do not let the clockspring shift position during the R&R process. If you do, you could have a heck of a time getting it lined up right again. New ones are not cheap. I got a used one for about $50 from a trusted shop.

 

Yeah, there are several flaps that get moved around by electric-motor servos. The only one that's hard to get to is the one selecting between fresh and recirculated input (that one's on the glove-box side of things sandwiched between the heater and blower cabinets, ew). The ones for the temperature mixing and output selection are both on the driver's side of the unit and not hard to reach. At least, they weren't in my Gen 1; I don't know if Gen 2 added some other stuff down there that would make access more difficult.

I don't expect that lube is the issue; more likely that the servo just needs some attention. This thread might help. The Gen 2 servos were still the same design. Gen 3 changed them a bit.

Don't overlook that you've got a diagnostic mode available on your MFD screen. Lots of threads here about how to get into it. People get overexcited when they find it because they think it will be general-purpose diagnostics for the whole car, which it isn't, but it should have a switch-and-button test you can use to confirm all your dash and steering wheel buttons are sending the right signals. It probably also has a servo test, where you just command all the flaps to their various positions and see if they succeed. You might need to look that up in the repair manual, as there might be a different easter egg for getting into it, and it's less often discussed here.

You can do the same kind of active tests with Techstream, if you have access to that.

-Chap