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How To: Fix annoying clicking heater/ac actuator under dash (w/pics)

539K views 366 replies 150 participants last post by  Jim Padget 
#1 · (Edited)
UPDATE: There seems to be two actuators that fail most commonly. The one in my posts below is for the knob that controls the vents like defrost to dash to floor ect. The other one that fails is for the temperature control knob. This happens when you move the control nob from hot to cold or vice versa and requires the dash to be removed to access for repair. In my case this caused the heater to not work. When I would go from cold to hot I could hear the little lever on the actuator inside the dash pop off the track and the vents would remain cold even with the knob turned all the way to hot. There is a solution to this. You start with the knob on cold turn it very slow like one tiny click at a time until you hear it pop off the track then you back it up a few ticks very slowly until you hear it pop back in the track then you can turn it all the way and it should "catch" and bring your heat on. It takes a little messing with but I can now get my heat to come on in the first try. It is annoying but better than no heat and the alternative will be tearing into the dash.

Original Thread:
A lot of people complain about the clicking actuator when going from defrost back to normal. You can fix it yourself if you have some patience. The updated part number is 27743-ZS00A. It is like 40-50$ from the Nissan dealership.


old one on left:


I believe there is a plate above the gas pedal (mine wasn't there) so remove that to start and lay on your back and look up above the gas pedal and you should see the actuator as pictured below. I propped my feet up on a chair.



Pull the power connector from the top of the actuator. There are three screws that hold the actuator to the mounting plate. Two on the bottom that you can see and one that is up top that you have to get by feel. They should be 5.5 mm unless like me yours had been replaced before.

Once the screws are free you can pull the actuator out and you'll likely have the white cam plate come with it. I did, so I pulled off the mounting plate that the actuator had been bolted to then re-aligned the cam gear as pictured below then put the mounting plate back on.



Now here is the tricky part. Maybe someone will have a better way for this but if you are like me I went into it not knowing and this was how I figured it out. Get the new actuator and plug it in, don't bolt yet. You'll notice it has a little gear with specific grooves to fit into the grooves on the hole in the cam plate. I plugged the actuator in and turned the vent knob until the gears moved and lined up with how I had the cam plate set then I was able to slide the new actuator into place and put the screws back in and was then good to go. You could probably just move the cam plate to line up the gears but it kept falling off for me.

So now I am clicking free and hopefully this helps save someone some time.
 
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#8 ·
Oh ok, I guess mine doesn't do it. Mine clicks just once...I was about to say, if one click was making people mad then people need xynex LOL....but a bunch of clicks would piss me off too

If by "one click" you mean clicking six thousand times
made me LOL
 
#9 ·
Yeah mine does this to. I would describe mine as more like a long creaking noise:confused:, but I guess a hundred clicks in a row would work too. Thanks for the tip btw
 
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#10 ·
yes the annoying click, turn your truck off and sit there for a minute or so and then you can hear it...........i usally get out before it happens but I remember the first time it happened to me, I was like "WTF"......................what is the difference between the 2.....i think i saw a post if you just grease the gear looking thing the noise will go away..
 
#13 ·
Finally got around to fixing mine. It only took me a few minutes and was pretty easy.

Mine was more to the right of the gas pedal behind the plastic shroud around the floor vent.

Mine also turned out to need a completely different actuator.
my actuator on the passenger side heater box just went out a month ago and started doing the clicky thing as well. There seems to be a bunch of these in the dash and they are all equally crappy and strip out often.
 
#12 ·
Well after Im sure my manifolds dont need replacing next week, I find out what the crazy clicking and ticking from the front passenger side at low speeds is and I get my new exhaust on I may have to tackle this one.

One thing at a time....and one paycheck at a time..lol.

On that note other than the crazy grounding cable fix has anyone found any other significant cause to the ticking and clicking ??? The fix seems too easy..lol!
 
#22 ·
thanks for your help on this!! ive been listening to the annoying clicking for 4 months now and this fixed it.. kind of a pain in the *** to get at but not to bad
 
#23 ·
I attempted this this afternoon - thanks for the great write up Core2. However, I could not get to the top bolt with my socket setup. What tool did you use to get to the top bolt? I guess I need an open ended wrench because I couldn't get to it to save my life.

One thing I have learned in the many years of mechanics -- can't do a job without the correct tools!

Any help much appreciated. Thanks again for the great write up. Hopefully I will soon be "click" free!
 
#27 ·
I need to fix the one that is on the heater control before winter comes which I think is going to mean an adventure in dash removal. I really wish I had some pics to help me out in this process as I am not gentle with plastic. If anyone gets a wild hair and does this make sure you take some pics and document the process.
 
#28 ·
i am on my way to the nissan dealer today to get the same actuator. i am in the same situation u are! i am going to attempt this my self? i hope do do this in the next week or so while weather is still decent. i went through and read some old posts on this. the person that wrote it said that some times it is not the actuator but a plastic piece that breaks off and lets the actuator turn to far?? and you get that clicking noise. if that is the case replacing the actuator is not going to fix the problem? that plastic piece according to the person that wrote it is part of the heater box itself? who knows what that would cost?? plus you would then have to remove the entire dash i would think to replace it?? any way the person that wrote it said you could replace this actuator by removing the glove box and some of the parts behind or next to it? said it was a really tight fit for hands and tools? another post said if you remove the radio you can see this actuator? so my plan is to do both and hopefully i can do it one way or the other?? i do not have a digital camera so i do not have the ability to post pics. i am planning to set a side a whole day off to do this??? a couple of posts said the dealer gets 500 to 600 to this??? that in itself is enough to motivate me to try it?? good luck!!!
 
#29 ·
Might have to do this!
 
#30 ·
I think that for any sane person that has no mechanical knowedge, the "click" (i think its more of a "growl") wouldn't be worth 500.00 to 1500.00 to fix.

I am an avid mechanic that has worked on cars, trucks, helicopters, and jets. I dont want to do it, but to each his own.
 
#32 ·
Yup, you are drunk! but just in case you are hittin' the bottle while reading this, here ya go.

I don't want to do this fix, cause the only time I hear it is if I'm sittin in the truck for am extended time AFTER I shut it off. I've never been driving down the road and thought "damn, that sound is killin' me, I think I'll part with a days time and some cash and fix it."

but to each his own. when it stops working, then the swap.
 
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