2015 Passat no defrost

[03 shaker]

I've searched and can't find a situation exactly like what my car is doing. I've got no air coming through the vents when on defrost. All other settings blow air like normal. I can still hear the fan running when I switch to defrost but absolutely no air comes out the vents at the windshield.

My car is an SEL with the auto climate controls. I've done the blend door recalibration by holding the middle vent button and ac button and no change. I still have great heat on both side of the car so I don't think it would be a clogged heater core. And I have great airflow on all other setting except defrost. Car has about 81k miles. Confused and not sure where to start looking. Any ideas?

 

[Tom in PT]

The blend door actuator for the defrost mode may be bad and need replacement.

 

[03 shaker]

Pretty sure that's it. I ran VCDS and sure enough there is a fault code for defrost mode actuator stuck. I didn't realize it had an actuator for every different mode. Hence why the feet and upper vents still worked and changed fine with no defrost. I've ordered the defrost actuator and think that should fix my problem.

 

[03 shaker]

It was the defrost actuator. Pain to replace but now I have defrost again.

 

[TDIx3]

Same problem with mine. Where is the defrost actuator located?

 

[TDIx3]

Everything works fine, heat is awesome & arrives fast, all modes except defrost work, and have also ran the recalibration.

 

[03 shaker]

If you put your head down by the throttle pedal and look up and behind the heater core, it's there. The defrost one is also farther back than the first actuator you see. It was super frustrating for me to change and the smaller and more nimble your hands and fingers are, the better. From reading around this forum and other I think the "easier" way is to remove the dash...but I just started under the dash and ended up getting it changed from under the dash and didn't have to remove it.

 

[TDIx3]

Smaller & more nimble hands you say. LOL Guess I need to get a shop manual for the tricks to remove the dash then. I will get the codes checked to make sure it’s the same issue first. It was bad when I bought it, & had to drive back to East TN from St Louis through the middle of that crazy winter storm last February. It’s killing me on de-icer right now.

 

[oilhammer]

I often take the dash out, and replace all of the stupid Chinese HVAC door motors. They use the same basic garbage ones that GM uses. For some reason, the 2015+ is the worst, by far, so I think that must've been the year they found a cheaper source. Because most all of them I have done are on 2015s or newer. I had a 2018 in here last month with a bad one.

The NMS' dash is not that hard to take out, and you are not removing the HVAC case itself, so the brace and all that stays in place. I remove the seats to make it easier to get the center console out, that really takes the most time I think.

 

[Squelch]

Anyone have a link or instructions for this actuator job? I will need to do mine soon. Thanks

 

[03 shaker]

Anyone have a link or instructions for this actuator job? I will need to do mine soon. Thanks

I looked around before I did mine and couldn't find anything. Just felt my way through it.

 

[roni024]

Let's resurrect this old thread...

I had the privilege, no... joy of replacing my defrost actuator recently. I thought I would throw a tip on here to help anyone else who needs to tackle this.

The metal bracket that fastens way up high (with two welded studs and nuts) is a PITA to remove, and even less fun to reinstall (I opted to not remove the dashboard but this is one area where it would've been a lot easier if I had). I was able to finally get some wiggle room by enlarging/drilling the hole for the uppermost stud by 1/8" or so larger (enough that the nut can still engage the bracket).

The bolts that hold the defrost and temperature blend actuators are 6 mm, and there are three for the defrost actuator and two for the temp blend one. I know we all wish that last bolt was not tucked in all the way at the top of each actuator, out of sight and virtually out of reach), but it is (I'm thankful for plastic repair epoxy and time to allow it to cure).

Good luck to all who must do this, and please remember to thank your local chiropractor.

 

[Jmalibuss]

I had the dreaded passenger side cold air issue. I removed and disassembled my actuator since it was already broken. I post here on Reddit. See link below.

'15 TDI SEL Heater blend door actuator in depth view.

 

[gvgeis]

Hi all,
I think I'm having this issue. Once outside air temperature drops to ~1C/34F, every window in the car will rapidly and hopelessly fog up. The defogger will create a thin strip of visibility about 3-5 inches tall near the bottom of the windshield, but the only actual solution is manually wiping the condensation from the glass.

Should an OBD2 unit turn up the fault code, or am I not getting the code because I am not using a VCDS unit? This sounds like a right pain in the batootie job and I wouldn't mind being more certain of my diagnosis before I dive into it.