HVAC temperature knobs

emedlin

Original poster
Member
Jan 25, 2012
150
When you turn the driver side temperature knob on the HVAC it mainly just moves the number up and down one degree. So you have to keep playing with it to get it to move the temperature say from 60 to 70 as it goes 60, 61, 60, 61, 62, 63, 62, 63, 62, 63 etc. I assume it is just wore out. What is the best way to fix it?

This is in a 04 XUV with auto digital HVAC controls.
 

christo829

Member
Dec 7, 2011
497
Fairfax, Virginia
If you're good with a soldering iron, you might be able to open it up and replace the failed component. It could also be
a bad solder joint, but you wouldn't really be able to tell until you got in there.

If you're not up for ripping in to it, the other option is to just replace the control head.

Good Luck!

Chris
 

emedlin

Original poster
Member
Jan 25, 2012
150
Soldering is not my thing. Do you have a part number for the control head? Anything I need to know before I swap it out.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
Better idea would be to get one from a junker. If your XUV has an actual rear HVAC unit, not just vents in the center console, you can get one from an EXT/XL. If no rear HVAC, get it from a SWB. Same year is required.
 

emedlin

Original poster
Member
Jan 25, 2012
150
It has an actual rear HVAC in the rear where you can control the fan speed. Don't have a problem with getting one from a junker but how can I be sure it doesn't have the same problem. Why is the same year required? Did they change them ever year?
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
You don't have a true dual system. A true dual HVAC has vents on the roof with a separate evaporator in the back, not in the center console. Center console type just takes air from the front system and blows it out the vents.

Years are affected because there have been changes over some years. Not sure of when these changes happened but the main change was how the A/C on/off worked. First version would have an "A/C OFF" message in the screen when you turned off the A/C. Later version has the snowflake when you turned it on. It's usually a safe bet to get the same year.
 

Reprise

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I wonder if it would be worthwhile to try and track when it changed over. I know my '03 has the "A/C OFF" display on-screen (the button itself has a snowflake symbol on it - at least until the paint wears off...lol. )
Of course, GM probably changed mid-year, whenever that was, using leftover parts from the prior MY until they ran out of the 'old' ones. :badday:
If I'm not mistaken, the same units were used in the pickups & full-size SUVs; those might have all changed in the same MY.

Mine only moves one degree at a time, as well. Even worse, when I first turn the knob after having been sitting 'idle', the display actually indicates the temp is moving in the *opposite* direction as commanded.

Took me forever to break the habit of thinking I was turning the knob incorrectly, and just continue on in the same direction; the display reverses itself and starts moving in the desired direction.

Now that I've subconsciously committed that to memory, it's a quirk I'm OK to continue dealing with, since it does a good job of maintaining the temp where I want it, once I set / adjust it. And, yes, if I adjust it again quickly afterward, it does *not* move in the wrong direction. It's as if when it sits 'unused', the knob forgets its reference point (but the system has been maintaining that previously set temp just fine.)

Oh, and yes, this all happens with the passenger side knob, too. And I believe it also happens if I adjust via the steering wheel button (I have the '1st version' SW buttons; GM removed 'fan' and 'temp' from the LH side of the wheel beginning in '04, IIRC)
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
Well, the 05 Saab I had for parts had the snowflake, as well as my 06. My 02 and your 03 had A/C OFF. So 04 is the mystery year right now.
 

Matt

Member
Dec 2, 2011
4,019
To make matters worse, you need to use the same model number as the one you're replacing, at least in the 02. I got an 03 climate control and it didn't work correctly in my 02, I had to find a control head with the same model number as the climate control head I was pulling out.
 
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Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,665
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Buddy of mine also has an 04 XUV, asked him for a pic of his display with the AC off... This help at all? Resized_20180313_124912.jpg
 

Reprise

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Jul 22, 2015
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I think he misunderstood you...that looks like he turned the system 'off', not the A/C :worried:

Have him start the truck, press 'Auto', press the snowflake button...then take a pic - with our thanks.

Once he does, we should have at least a preliminary idea of when they switched over.
(next step would be to test swapping units within each end of the switchover, but that's not something to worry about today).

OP: Sorry we hijacked your thread!
 

Reprise

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Perfect - thanks to you and your friend for this info :smile:
(on edit - I saw the digital unit, along with the 'carbon fiber' dash insert, and thought.... 'huh?' Then I saw this was from the rarest bird of all (XUV, which *all* got the CF inserts, whether SLE or SLT)

So... we kinda know (?) the '02-'04 used the text; after that, the 'snowflake' symbol was used. Which coincides with the MMC (mid-model change, as I like to call it...maybe there's another term GM-aholics use for the changes made in '05-forward).

There's also a compatibility issue between SWB and LWB units, from what I read above - applying to all MY '02-'06, when the LWB was discontinued.

Maybe start another thread on units within those MY breakpoints (e.g.; will an '04 work in an '03, will an '05 in an '08, etc.)
Given that the '02 is such an oddball relative to later years, we may (?) find that only an '02 unit will work in an '02 (?)

And I don't recall what the limitations are on the manual units, if any - perhaps that could be put into the new thread; maybe near the top, if there are no issues w/ the manual control heads.
 

Matt

Member
Dec 2, 2011
4,019
Given that the '02 is such an oddball relative to later years, we may (?) find that only an '02 unit will work in an '02 (?)

See my post #9. I got one for an 03 but it wouldn't work in my 02.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
What about the blower module? There's another thread on the go about that. None is listed for the auto in '02 but IIRC, later years will work in the '02.

Control heads can be iffy, especially if not reprogrammed for the particular year.
 

emedlin

Original poster
Member
Jan 25, 2012
150
Thanks for all the info. Looks like I need an 04 and maybe an 03 would work. Probably should just pull mine out and get the part number and match it at a junk yard.
 

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