2004 Chevrolet Silverado, Changing The Passenger Side Blend Door Actuator, B0424

This 2004 Chevrolet Silverado came in with a faulty passenger side blend door actuator. In the last post I got you to this point. If you have not yet read that post please click here. Now that the dash cover is off and you can see the actuator, but you still cannot get to it. More things need to come apart.

Remove the wiring hold down clips from the metal brackets as shown below.

Remove the 7 mm headed screws from the brackets on the passenger side.

Using a ratchet remove the two 10 mm headed screws from the front edges of the bracket on the passenger side.

Remove the 7mm  screw from the driver’s side of the cross over bracket.  Remove  the bracket.

Now the “U” shaped bracket on the passenger side can be removed.

Remove the 7 mm screws on the driver’s side bracket. I also remove the two 10 mm bolts on the driver’s side bracket to make sure the dash will move around freely.

Disable the air bag or SRS system according to the manufacturers directions. Then remove the two upper 10 mm bolts from the air bag as shown in the next two pictures.

Then remove the two lower air bag screws.

Note that the air bag screws are shorter than the bracket screws. Do Not put the long bolts back in the airbag when reassembling.

< Pull the orange "positive assurance clip" from the yellow connector. Disconnect the connector and remove the airbag. Use the manufacturers recommendations for handling and storing the airbag.

Getting close but more still has to come out. The silver box shown below is the vehicle communication interface module. It may not be present on all vehicles as it is related to the Onstar System.

There are three 10 mm nuts that hold the module to the brackets. They are locking nuts so they have to be wrenched all of the way off.

Remove the two 10 mm nuts at the passenger end of the dash carrier. Do Not mix these nuts up with the ones removed from the VCIM brackets.

Now remove the 7 mm screw from the backside of the right passenger vent.

Remove the 7 mm screw from the position shown below.

Wiggle the corner of the dash out as shown below.

I used a screwdriver handle to keep the duct work lifted.

I also used a pry bar to lift the duct work slightly to give myself more room. The weight of the pry bar is enough to keep the duct work up but you may want someone to hold it for you. If someone hold it for you be sure they do not use the area in the center of the opening for a fulcrum. It will break the mounting panel where the nut is for the phillips headed screw that was removed much earlier.

The VCIM can now be wiggled up and the wires disconnected.

Remove the wiring harness retaining clip from the bracket as shown below.

Remove the wiring harness clip from the cross bar as shown in the two pictures below. Lift the harness slightly to gain more room to work.

Using a short 5.5 mm socket and ratchet, remove the two mounting screws. Disconnect the wiring from the actuator before removing the screws. makes it a little easier.

You will actually need to work through two openings and use both hands to make it easier.

A magnet on a stick works real well fro retrieving dropped screws and  sockets.

You can finally remove the actuator from the dash.

Free at last.

The new and old actuators. The numbers match 52402588.
If you need to buy one of these actuators please click here.

If you do not have a Tech 2 or similar scan tool to diagnose these actuators, you can do voltmeter testing at these connectors. That is a whole other post though.

98 discussions on “2004 Chevrolet Silverado, Changing The Passenger Side Blend Door Actuator, B0424”

  1. Hi, So with a lot of frustration I finally removed the old actuator under the dash. However, it came out in the 2nd position to the right, as you look at the alignment marks. The ones in your photo (new vs old) show both actuators aligned dead center. I know that the post is also cocked that way for the blend door. I have 2 options as i see it: 1) move the blend door so that it’s also to position 2 to the right so that it matches the position of the old one: or reach in and try and find the blend door post and turn it the opposite way until it’s ‘center’. Although either way, how will it know where it’s at according to the dash Heat/Cool position? Does it just read the temp control when I start it and set the blend door to that position?

    I’m a bit lost at this point and I dont want to screw it up.

    1. Just rotate the door shaft to match the new actuator position and check the operation of the system. You “should” also perform a recalibration of the system. The pros for performing the recalibration is that the commanded and actual door positions will be matched for optimum performance. The cons for performing the recalibration is that you might discover you have another actuator that is failing or failed. The recalibration process tests each actuator by moving it from one stop to the other and reading the actuator position counts.

      1. Thanks Sparky, I figured it had to be one or the other. It will also allow me to be able to test the blend door itself to ensure that it’s rotating freely and not getting hung up. One other question, do you recommend pulling the HVAC fuse under the hood before hooking up the new actuator, or does it matter?

        thanks in advance

          1. Update: So I moved the blend door so that it was straight up/down in line with the new part, replaced the blend actuator and put the wire clip back on it. I put the heat/cold selectors 3/4″ up from the bottom and put the fan speed on 3; pulled the HVAC fuse and waited 1 min, put the fuse back and started the truck for 2 mins; stopped the truck and restarted it at 15 seconds (*the reset procedure.)

            After all that work there was no change. I can see the blend actuator move from the heat position (all the way to the right notch) to the cold position (all the way to the left notch), and then back to the heat side at the beginning of the the ‘2 min run cycle’. After the 2 min run cycle when I restart the truck 15-or-so seconds later, it stays all the way over in the heat position no matter where I move the controls (*and I do not touch the controls during the reset process).

            So still have I have the same issue. AC on the driver side, constant heat on the passenger side. I am thinking that the original blend actuator may not have been bad at all and there is some other issue plaguing this thing.

            Any advice at this point? PS, I’ve done the reset process about 10x’s now, same thing happens every time. Very frustrating.

          2. I will need to know the year, make and model of your truck. Also need to know the brand and part number of the replacement actuator.

          3. Hi Sparky,

            It’s a 2004 Silverado 1500. The part that I put into it to replace the original blend actuator is:
            Brand: Apeixoto
            Manufacturer Pat#: OK112A
            OEM Part# it replaces: 52495593 89018374 1573952 15-73952 604112 604-112
            AISN: B077HWBKWY
            Purchased on Amazon

          4. I did a google search of the description you provided. “Brand: Apeixoto
            Manufacturer Pat#: OK112A
            OEM Part# it replaces: 52495593 89018374 1573952 15-73952 604112 604-112
            AISN: B077HWBKWY”.
            Went to the first two amazon links and read the descriptions.
            Although they mention that it is a blend door actuator the description and the other listed part numbers tell me that it is the mode actuator and will not work in the position that you used it in.

  2. I have switched the acuator out twice and calibrated my actuators and also switched out my module. What else can I do to fix my problem of passenger side ac turning hot randomly? Please help

  3. Thanks for the thorough instructions, I followed them to replace my passenger blend door actuator. I’m a weekend mechanic at best and it took me ~3 hours to do the entire job. The screws on the actuator themselves looked impossible but with patience they came out and went back in.

    One note, on my 2004 Chevy Tahoe, I had to remove four additional screws around the glove box, one at the upper right of the opening and three on the glove box door hinge in order to get the dash corner to wiggle out of place.

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