I'm new here, but have been a Honda Accord owner for 20 years. I just recently bought a '99 Accord EX 2.3l with manual trans. A problem it has is that it won't change from blowing on the windshield. It won't change to dash vents or floor vents. The blower works fine and the AC works. Anybody have some words of wisdom for a forum newbie. Thanks.

 

Suggest downloading the 94-97 Accord Manual from Online Manuals links in DIY forum. This should be similar to your vehicle. You can cross check at Autozone for your model to insure similarity.

There is a Mode motor test in the 94-97 Accord manual that should determine whether your motor is good or perhaps your control panel is faulty.

Check mode control motor under driver's side of dash. If you see movement, you may have damaged linkage to the vent selection door.

good luck

 

When the vents stay on defrost, does the light change when you select a different vent mode?

 

Yes, the light changes, but the air still blows at defrost.
Thanks for the help so far.

 

I think the "quickest" test will be to unplug the connector to the mode control motor (#5). You will need a volt meter to do the tests. The entire unit (#3) is under the dash towards the center of the dash.

This is based on the 94 manual, but yours should be similar. On the electrical connector, there should be one wire that has voltage with the key in the II position (blk/yel?). There may be one wire that is always grounded (closed circuit or zero resistance to ground). The other wires remaining will only be grounded if the proper mode is selected on the HVAC panel. In other words, only one other wire should be grounded. Another wire will be grounded when you switch the mode to say only the upper vents.

If you go through this and find that the ground is switching and have power, then you can replace the mode control motor #5.

 

Just an update on this, I think the climate control unit is bad. The lights started blinking and randomly all go off. When they go off nothing works except the fan motor. Anyone know where I can get one for less than $80 on ebay?

 

You may be better off going to a junkyard. car-part.com will search junkyards and sort by distance or price.

You can also search forums for people parting out their accords in the classified section.