This evening, I pulled out the radio, and the blend door actuator was right behind it. I reached in and gently tapped it with a screwdriver a few times, started the car and turned on the A/C. I watched the actuator arm slowly rotate to move the blend door...COLD AIR! YAY! It seems like it is the actuator, unless it is because the amp is not putting out enough power to rotate the actuator. I think I will be able to change the actuator via the radio access, if I need too.....may just change them both to be done with it.

 

excellent. post back on what solved the problem. no one seems to post back the solutions, which are a big help

 

It took me a while to get back to this issue. I have basically been driving with the radio released from the dash mount.....when the air mix door gets stuck I would pull the radio out and fiddle with the actuator until the door moved, then slide the radio back in....tedious, but it worked as a temporary fix.

The air mix actuator is part number TA0161A60 on the mazda parts website, although the one in my car was marked with part number GA601TA01C-91. It's a very expensive part from Mazda...retail is ~$250, and mazdaparts unlimited had it at $185...still more than what I wanted to pay. I was able to find a complete heater core housing on ebay for about $70 including shipping....It had the air mix actuator and mode actuator attached. Score!

I was able to get the old actuator out through the radio dash hole, but it was a little tricky to get the screws out because there is a crossmember in the way. Getting the replacement actuator installed was more difficult. You need to make sure the pins from the actuator arm are inserted in the door arms, and then align the screw holes up to install the screws. It's really hard to hold the actuator in place and re-insert the screws. Once I got it in the correct position, I held it in place with a piece of wadded up cardboard wedged between the actuator and the crossmember. I was only able to get two of the tree mounting screws installed, but they are at the diagonal corners so i think it should be OK. Reconnected the power cable it it works great! All-in all, it was about an hour+ to complete.

 

fwiw, the best prices for genuine parts is tasca. this part from them is 170.74. their shipping is also the most reasonable of all the online supplers i have seen