Cavalier heater vent control cable?

'04 Cavalier. The vent control cable has kinked, probably because the
door(s?) sometimes gets stuck in one particular position. With the
console cover removed, I can reach under the dash and operate the
control manually. Strange to say, my wife is not too keen on this
solution.

It looks like a PITA to replace the cable. (And do whatever to unstick
the door.) Any guidance or experience on how to do this would be
appreciated.

Thanks,
George

On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:42:26 -0500, George >
wrote:

>'04 Cavalier. The vent control cable has kinked, probably because the
>door(s?) sometimes gets stuck in one particular position. With the
>console cover removed, I can reach under the dash and operate the
>control manually. Strange to say, my wife is not too keen on this
>solution.
>
>It looks like a PITA to replace the cable. (And do whatever to unstick
>the door.) Any guidance or experience on how to do this would be
>appreciated.
>
>Thanks,
>George

I had a similar issue with my daughter's '94 Grand Am.
Manually pushed the vent lever to heat - it was winter.
She later had it fixed by a mech for about $100.

Sometimes you get lucky and find somebody has posted a procedure on
the net that beats the shop manual.
Found that for my '97 Lumina engine mounts.
My kid replaced them in a couple hours
Reading my shop manual I was going to junk the junk before I would do
all the crap the manual called for.

I didn't find that for your problem.
What little I found called for dash removal to replace the cable.
One "pro" who said it was required, and another guy posting on a truck
forum who mentioned he removed the dash on his wife's 2004 Cav to
replace the heater cable.

This kid did a nice Youtube procedure for 2004 Cav dash removal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gJsc...eature=related

Not bad really, if you're up to it.
Then (guessing) if you get the radio out of the way you can replace
the cable and R&R whatever needs it. I read of one case where
insulation got in the vent and hampered the air door.

My kid does this stuff all the time, so I'd have him do it.
Though he doesn't ask for it, I pay him about 50 bucks an hour.
If he wasn't around I'd take the car to a dealer and get an estimate
to fix it.
Then I'd decide if I wanted to pay them or do it myself.
Probably think about doing it myself if it cost $150 more than my
parts cost. Depending on how "eager" I was.

--Vic

On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 10:59:35 -0600, Vic Smith
> wrote:

>On Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:42:26 -0500, George >
>wrote:
>
>>'04 Cavalier. The vent control cable has kinked, ...
>>
>>Thanks,
>>George
>
>I had a similar issue with my daughter's '94 Grand Am.
>...
>
>This kid did a nice Youtube procedure for 2004 Cav dash removal.
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gJsc...eature=related

> ....
>--Vic

That video is excellent. Thanks much for the pointer.

George