The final video in the series of the trusty VY Commodore. We revisit the cabin temperature sensor and replace it. A success? Not really, but I guess it was fun to do? Maybe not fun, but a few steps in the right direction, even if we didn’t get it working 100%. Apparently she’s still purring along to this day, so that has to count for something!

The problem has been the climate-control system, which doesn’t always seem to know whether it should be heating or cooling the cabin. Changing the requested temperature does produce a response, but the cooling hasn’t been reliable. There’s also an X showing on the climate-control display, which suggests that something isn’t being read properly.

I’d already been through the dashboard looking at the cabin temperature sensor, so this time I decided to replace it. I found a replacement for around $20, apparently from a related Commodore model, and the electrical connections looked compatible. Whether it would actually solve anything remained to be seen.

The sensor sits behind the dashboard trim, with a little tube that allows cabin air to pass over the sensing element. Getting to it involves removing a couple of screws and carefully pulling the trim away. It’s not a particularly complicated arrangement, although there’s always the opportunity to lose a screw somewhere unpleasant.

Once the replacement was in place, I started the car and gave the climate control another test. At first I couldn’t quite believe it. Cold air was coming through the vents, and changing the temperature setting seemed to make the system respond properly. Excellent!

I also cycled through the different airflow modes to see what the vacuum actuators were doing. They appeared to be changing the airflow between the vents, windscreen and footwell, although the replacement actuator was still making its distinctive little popping noise.

Unfortunately, the initial improvement wasn’t the complete, lasting solution I’d hoped for. The climate-control problems weren’t entirely resolved, despite everything appearing to cooperate during parts of the test. At least replacing the sensor gave us some more information about how this system behaves.

We’ve now worked through a handbrake replacement, vacuum actuator repairs, key programming and the cabin temperature sensor. Not a bad collection of jobs for somebody who doesn’t normally spend much time repairing cars. I still prefer old computers, though!

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