Ontopic The new car-seching thread

That gear looks repairable.

Has a big circular slot in it. You could probably modify a washer and glue it into that slot to hold the gear together and keep it together.
 
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but then you'd have to sink a load into getting the printer to do a good job on nylon.

I've done one of those, if you want me to give it a go.

Appreciate the offer though I'll probably just junkyard another one.

Might be a little side gig in these things for you printer guys if it doesn't "have" to be nylon, just something of suitable strength, rigidity, etc.
 
That gear looks repairable.

Has a big circular slot in it. You could probably modify a washer and glue it into that slot to hold the gear together and keep it together.

There is another crack started opposite the obvious one but washer and a decent 2-part epoxy might just do it. Thanks for that idea.

Other side of it has the same slot. Could washer and glue both sides. Nothing on either side needs that slot for clearance.
 
As of now the airflow is stuck on defroster. Won't move the doors to change it to dash vents or floor.
 
Appreciate the offer though I'll probably just junkyard another one.

Might be a little side gig in these things for you printer guys if it doesn't "have" to be nylon, just something of suitable strength, rigidity, etc.
The only thing I'd trust in that application is nylon, so anybody who's telling you they can do it in PETG or ABS is just full of it.
 
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Well as it turns out nylon doesn't go the distance either. I don't know that that's common but it's not uncommon.
 
That might not be a case of nylon not doing the job, but whoever designed the assembly doing a shitty job.

Nylon expands/shrinks with humidity and the metal shaft it's attached onto doesn't. Gotta account for that shit.
 
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Well as it turns out nylon doesn't go the distance either. I don't know that that's common but it's not uncommon.
I don't know much about your particular failure, but when I did the ones for the 300ZX, the common failure is the arms that the gears attach to. They get sticky and difficult to move with age, so the gear becomes the weakest link in the chain.
 
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That might not be a case of nylon not doing the job, but whoever designed the assembly doing a shitty job.

Nylon expands/shrinks with humidity and the metal shaft it's attached onto doesn't. Gotta account for that shit.
Yup. As much as 8-10% in extreme circumstances. More normal is probably 2% by weight. Additionally, as it gains water weight, it significantly changes the physical characteristics of the plastic
 
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Nylon can go the distance, how old are the parts? Everything ages, man. You should know that better than most

Ya I know things age. In this case 18 years, 136k miles. Should be something a bit better IMO.

I wouldn't even mention it if it was 4 or 5 years older, or north of 250k at any age.
 
I don't know much about your particular failure, but when I did the ones for the 300ZX, the common failure is the arms that the gears attach to. They get sticky and difficult to move with age, so the gear becomes the weakest link in the chain.

I need to check this again.
The 2 arms I could reach without breaking extra joints into my hand moved freely. I'll take more stuff out of the way or bend a coat hanger just right to move the 3rd one around.
Thanks.
 
I don't know much about your particular failure, but when I did the ones for the 300ZX, the common failure is the arms that the gears attach to. They get sticky and difficult to move with age, so the gear becomes the weakest link in the chain.

Haven't seen one from a Nissan. GM the actuator spins this wheel.

20200810_132742_HDR_resize_24.jpg

Broken gear is the drive gear on the other end of its shaft. All the others are for rpm reduction from the motor to that wheel.
Arms have a "post" on the end that sits in those slots and slides along them. Shape of slots + design of arms makes it so turning the one wheel cycles through the different combinations of air flow.

All that together seems like a whole lot of points of contact/possible shit to break to me. Here's hoping the arm I couldn't reach is just stuck and this thing kept pushing and found the weak spot. Need to dig deeper.

If these actuators really are aging out there's 3 more that are just as old, lol.
 
Haven't seen one from a Nissan. GM the actuator spins this wheel.

View attachment 12310

Broken gear is the drive gear on the other end of its shaft. All the others are for rpm reduction from the motor to that wheel.
Arms have a "post" on the end that sits in those slots and slides along them. Shape of slots + design of arms makes it so turning the one wheel cycles through the different combinations of air flow.

All that together seems like a whole lot of points of contact/possible shit to break to me. Here's hoping the arm I couldn't reach is just stuck and this thing kept pushing and found the weak spot. Need to dig deeper.

If these actuators really are aging out there's 3 more that are just as old, lol.


There's a torque multiplication/RPM reduction geartrain that actuates an arm with a wiper pad to register arm position with the ECU. So, almost the same shit, except Nissan only pulls/pushes one arm at a time with the box, and has 3 of them total.
 
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There's a torque multiplication/RPM reduction geartrain that actuates an arm with a wiper pad to register arm position with the ECU. So, almost the same shit, except Nissan only pulls/pushes one arm at a time with the box, and has 3 of them total.


The one I grabbed from an 03 or 04 Buick has the wiper pad to register position. It also has one less wire and a different pin out and won't work with my car. :)

Mine doesn't have the wiper. I'm not entirely sure how it knows where it is. I ASSume after you calibrate it it has it spin a certain number of rpms then stop depending on setting or something.

The rest of the mechanical parts are the same. I can cannibalize it to fix mine. Or take it back and trade it for one from a 00-02.
 
The one I grabbed from an 03 or 04 Buick has the wiper pad to register position. It also has one less wire and a different pin out and won't work with my car. :)

Mine doesn't have the wiper. I'm not entirely sure how it knows where it is. I ASSume after you calibrate it it has it spin a certain number of rpms then stop depending on setting or something.

The rest of the mechanical parts are the same. I can cannibalize it to fix mine. Or take it back and trade it for one from a 00-02.
The real upgrade would be to move it to a pancake stepper and some kind of driver that's controlled by a microcomputer like an arduino or something.

Those have a load more torque than the cheapo DC motors I've found in there, and no plastic pieces.
 
The real upgrade would be to move it to a pancake stepper and some kind of driver that's controlled by a microcomputer like an arduino or something.

Those have a load more torque than the cheapo DC motors I've found in there, and no plastic pieces.

Sure I'll get right on that.