Golf MK4 Variant V68 Temperature Flap and V71 Recirculation Flap servo motor replacement (without removing dashboard)

The V68 servo controls the cold / hot air mix flap and color coded purple.
Th V71 servo controls the opening / closing of air intake flap.

I had errors for both in my system. The errors would go away for a while after clearing, but come back eventually.

I do not know exactly what was the problem with my V68 servo but I found out that there was a crack in a cogwheel  in V71 servo. The crack can be seen in photo below.

I bought a used V71 servo but later I realized it also had a crack. I eventually solved the issue by replacing the broken part from a cheap chinese copy of it. I removed the cogwheel from the chinese unit and put it inside the original unit. It has been over a year now and no errors yet. Removing the cogwheel require heating the shaft up (without melting the cogwheel) and pushing out. It is easier to work with it when it is really warm.

V68 Temperature Flap Servo Replacement

V68 servo is located in the middle of dash all the way bottom. You will need a 6mm small wrench to be able to screw it out. It is held in place with 3 screws.

Yes, 6mm wrench is the only tool you need for removing the servo. However I strongly recommend removing the side panels of center console before proceeding. Below you can see the footwell vent and the purple arm of the V68 servo. The 3 screws around it are the ones we need to remove. Unfortunately I found no other tool than a simple 6mm wrench fitting to the area.

Once the nuts are removed. You can free the servo by rotating slightly. The arm releases its connection at a certain angle. The cable goes off by squeezing the tabs on sides and pulling out.

The installation is the reverse of the procedure. I bought a used V68 servo, opened it and sprayed the potentiometer with contact grease before installation.

V71 Recirculation Flap Servo Replacement

The V71 servo is at the passenger side and attached with a single 6mm screw. Removing it require removal of the glovebox compartment. The glovebox compartment uses 7 torx screws, one of them is behind the middle console covers. Luckily in my car that piece was broken and I was able to remove the glovebox compartment by only removing 6 of the screws.

You will need a long screwdriver type nut opener since the screw is hidden behind some plastic parts. It is perpendicular and you need to access it from bottom. You can see my screwdriver and hand in the picture below, at middle bottom side. It is not difficult to find the screw once you locate it with your fingers. But it is impossible to see it directly without using some sort of mirror.

It is advised to set the servo to middle position before removal. I have done this by pressing the recirculation button and turning off the ignition when servo was about middle way. You should set the new servo to middle before installation also.

Once the screw is removed, you can wiggle out the servo. Servo has 2 connections one connection goes directly to the main flap and the other one is an arm connected to a secondary flap. The easiest way to remove the secondary flap connection was first removing the screw, then wiggling out the servo and then turn the servo slightly so the arm moves to a better position and use my fingers to push it out..

The installation is the reverse of the removal.