I have an 99 kia sportage that just hit the loo thousand mile mark and I love it. It runs great, burns no oil, and has plenty of pep. My question is in regards to the air conditioning control knob, the one that controls where the air comes out, defrost or at your feet or where ever you want it, my air works fine it gets cold and blows all right,except that control knob doesn’t work anymore, the air blows down at my feet and not anywhere else,it will not change direction, I have no idea if this car has the old time vacume lines, and that maybe something is wrong with that or what the problem, I was scared away from taking it in to a dealer by my dad who told me they would charge hundreds of dollars to fix it. I can’t help but feel that since the air works and gets icy cold that it could be something quite simple. Has anyone had a similar experience or any advice? Thank you
It probably is quite simple, and it might just use vacuum controls. You’ll need to tear into the dash a bit to get at the back of the controls. Once you get a look at how it is all hooked up you should be able to figure it out. You never need a dealer. Even if you don’t want to mess with it, a good independent (non-corporate chain) mechanic can figure it out. If you want to get into it yourself, it may be worth the $20 to pick up a repair manual (Haynes or Chiltons - check out the auto parts stores).