Fresh Air Motor Flapper No idea how it works Help!

[harrypalmer]

As the Fresh Air slider is manually moved to the right, consequently this little guy rotated back and forth (mind you, without the lever attached to it) but I did get Fresh Air!

However, when this plastic arm (seen below) reaches the very top as shown and is...

connected to this lever...

then, said plastic arm gets stuck between that bright metal support (see previous picture) and it cannot return back on its own; thus, end of Fresh Air

Is there an easy practical way to unscrew these three screws at the front of the Motor Flapper...



and remove or tighten them without destroying all this black plastic ducting section on the side...

or without having to remove the dashboard to access the Flapper Motor?
BTW, the little plastic end "arm" of the Flapper Motor might be bended. So if anyone has or knows of a good working Motor Flapper for sale please let me know?
Many Thanks!

[harrypalmer]

Well, after receiving "so many" forum replies to this question, I finally got a witted response from harrypalmer's right brain, so with better lighting on sight, solved my question: "How to remove this plastic duct without damaging it to access the Flapper Motor?" Just pushed up and out! So a big Harry Palmer's right brain! Too bad one motor gear is kaput as seen below. First time forum has failed me but I guess it forced me to be creative. Regardless, thank you all !

[harrypalmer]

Well,

I am reviving this subject after a year, as I am about to install a new electric Air Motor Flapper.

Once I connected the motor flapper I realized it has a never ending 360 degree rotational movement.
So I originally imagined the motor had a 90 degree movement instead limiting its movement to go up or down position. It seems to me that the full 360 rotational movement will only be halted at some point when the arm (that pulls the air flapper up or down) attached to the motor reaches a metal stopper at the top side of the AC assembly.

So my question is, if I just go ahead and just do the R/R will I end up destroying this motor if its movement gets interrupted? Can anyone please help with any suggestion?

I am puzzled by this and will appreciate any insight on how to do it right. Thanks!

[RonW]

That same thing happened on my 535i. I took a pocketknife to the teeth on the broken gear and whittled them so they'd still mesh with the adjacent gear. Not perfect, but it worked for years.

[harrypalmer]

That same thing happened on my 535i. I took a pocketknife to the teeth on the broken gear and whittled them so they'd still mesh with the adjacent gear. Not perfect, but it worked for years.

Hi Ron, thank you for your quick response. I quite honestly don't understand your answer and please don't feel offended, I need to grasp what you're saying because I need your help. Most likely it is my fault at not explaining things correctly.

In this video https://www.flickr.com/photos/109547372 ... /lightbox/ you can see I installed the new motor being activated. However, once the motor turns (counterclockwise wise) and the arm is raised, to leave the flapper in the closed position, that is it. Nothing happens.

The arm doesn't come down (only if I do it manually clockwise with the ignition off) to allow fresh air in the vent. Once I switch the ignition on, the flapper motor goes up and stays up.

I know I am missing something here, like an electric connection to reverse the motor? Don't know what is. Please help!

[RonW]

In your photo that shows the gears, you can see that the bottom gear on the right is split, so its teeth aren't in the right position relative to each other. On my car, the gearbox would jam when the teeth on either side of the split tried to mesh with the adjacent gear. But it looks like that's not the problem here.

Your car has a fresh air door control unit that drives the motor whichever way is appropriate. It's possible that that unit has failed and can only drive the motor one way. It's also possible that the door's position sensor is broken and always tells the control unit that the door is closed no matter what.

If you move the slider part way, does the motor move part way also, or all the way to the opposite end?

If part way, then if you move the slider all the way back to the starting position, can you manually push the motor back as well as you could if the car were off?

[harrypalmer]

In your photo that shows the gears, you can see that the bottom gear on the right is split, so its teeth aren't in the right position relative to each other. On my car, the gearbox would jam when the teeth on either side of the split tried to mesh with the adjacent gear. But it looks like that's not the problem here.

Your car has a fresh air door control unit that drives the motor whichever way is appropriate. It's possible that that unit has failed and can only drive the motor one way. It's also possible that the door's position sensor is broken and always tells the control unit that the door is closed no matter what.

If you move the slider part way, does the motor move part way also, or all the way to the opposite end?

If part way, then if you move the slider all the way back to the starting position, can you manually push the motor back as well as you could if the car were off?

Since I have a new motor now, one would assume worn gears are out of the question.

You may be right that the fresh air control unit has failed but how to tell, or how can I tell if the door's position sensor is broken (measuring voltage of some sort and where) Bentley vaguely address AC issues (from memory) But I'll my due diligence research within the book or here.

I moved the slider from the closed to open position while the motor is engaged and nothing happened, meaning the motor did not return down and kept the flapper up (in the closed position).

I can push the motor back (with its flapper arm or extension attached) to the open position but ONLY if I either turn off the ignition switch or disconnect the motor. Hope this helps you to help me and thank you!

[RonW]

I moved the slider from the closed to open position while the motor is engaged and nothing happened, meaning the motor did not return down and kept the flapper up (in the closed position).

What I want to know is, with the motor in the open position, what happens when you move the slider part way to the closed position? Does the motor go part way also, or all the way to the closed position?

I can push the motor back (with its flapper arm or extension attached) to the open position but ONLY if I either turn off the ignition switch or disconnect the motor. Hope this helps you to help me and thank you!

It's been a while, but if I recall correctly, the position sensor is on the driver's side of the air flap. It's a little slider (not the) that's built into the fresh air door control unit and connects to the air flap. If you unmount the control unit you can control the motor my moving the little slider by hand.

[harrypalmer]

What I want to know is, with the motor in the open position, what happens when you move the slider part way to the closed position?

Nothing happens. It doesn't have any effect on how the motor turns whether I move the slider from the closed position towards the passenger side, or bring it back to the left near the driver's side

Does the motor go part way also, or all the way to the closed position?

Don't understand you when you say "Does the motor go part way also" but I can tell you that once I switch the car's ignition on, the motor starts to turns on its own (regardless of where the slider is) to the closed position and stays that way

It's been a while, but if I recall correctly, the position sensor is on the driver's side of the air flap.

I will look into that and get back to you

It's a little slider (not the) that's built into the fresh air door control unit and connects to the air flap. If you unmount the control unit you can control the motor my moving the little slider by hand.

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