Car: 88 JDM EF7

Issue: Denso unit its not turning to pull the water heater cable, its not turning at all.

Story:

So I bought a denso unit thinking that was the issue. Well its brand new and it did not fix it. I then unwrapped all the electrical tape. and started following the wire from the denso unit to where it connects to. I thought it went temperature **** to the denso unit. Low and behold it goes denso unit to this:



This was taken from the left side of the car of course, would be about 6 inches towards the center console right behind where the auto air con unit would be.

Wtf is this? Possible issue? I am thinking it goes temperature **** > whatever that is above > denso

I am looking for any other suggestions on what this issue could be because as much as I love buying backup parts. This is becoming a massive money sink hole to be able to adjust the heat.

Also is it possible to ditch the auto air con and go to a manual?

Someone please help me its been 2 years since I've had this and I have never gotten it to work and have been through 2 auto air con units. Taken it to 2 shops, one said it was the denso unit the other said it was the auto air con unit.