I am hearing so much about the blend door problem that I would like to know who has a bad door and who has never had a problem....just curious to the % of bad doors compared to those who have had no problems.

Much appreciated....


My vote: No problems as of yet (Fingers crossed and knocking on wood)

no problems here either, but i mean, my truck only has 45k on it and is 4 years old. it may take some time to occur - maybe 2 years from now itll happen (im also crossing my fingers and knocking on wood :D )

Should have done this as a poll so we can see the %.

my 97 sport has a bad blend door. When I bought it i i only checked the MAX AC to see if it blew cold. When I felt the cold air, I thought it worked ok, but i didn't check any other setting until a few days later when i needed just the vent to be on, that's when i found nothing but heat.....

Not yet, but I'm not gonna say that cause then it'll die tomorrow:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

It's in the groaning stages, and I am dreading having to mess with it...

At least the part isn't that expensive to fix it...

If I could get ahold of the (*%#^&^*($&*()^&*()$& guy that designed it that way (having to pull the entire dash) I would wring his neck!!! (course I guess he figured they would put the correct door in the plenum and it would never have to be replaced:confused: :rolleyes: :confused:

I have one, thanks to Opera House for pointing this out. I have only 5 more payments on my 98, I have always been told, that after it is paid for you will keep spending money on it. I also have to change my 02 sensors.

Mine was good when I pulled out the whole mess to change the heater core out. I figured I had it out, might as well check it.

mine is fixed now :D

Hi, I am new to Ford EX ownership, I got a good deal on one for the wife to drive, And things are fine now with the car after;
Transmision
Steering Rack
Power Steering Pump
Alternator
Upper Control Arms,Ball Joints
Right Front Hub Assy.
So Now this Blend Door issue is NO BIG DEAL!
But the car has 160,000 Miles on it as well, And if you put it next to a friend of mines'98' with 48,000 you can't tell them apart, So a quick fix is in order for now I.E. cut a hole and move the door till spring. Thanks for the Info on the fix.

Mine went at 53,000 mi. Luckily, the dealer replaced it N/C:D

No problem with mine so far. 83000+ miles. :)

It's fine in my 95 with 107K
It's bad in my 96 with 70K

Robb

My 98 went bad sometime before it had 45K on it. HERE (http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=49440&highlight=calling+broken+blend+doors) is the thread I started telling how I got Ford to pay 80% of the fix cost.

mine is also fixed, but it still sucks that it happenned in the first place.

Count me in as one who has had a problem with the blend door. Cost $983.00 to fix it here in NYC, but luckily I blamed the damage on an accident that wasnt my fault. Heck, it worked BEFORE the accident.

At 95,000 miles last summer, had Pat Goss' shop do it for half of what the Ford Dealership wanted.

Chris

here is an easier way to fix your blend door without putting a hole in your plenum. I actually did this and it wasn't too bad, just a couple of band aids on the hands..It's been over a month and it's still working !!

http://www.proacshops.com/accum-March-April%2020011.pdf

the fix is on page 2....

is this blend door problem a 2nd gen thing?

Yah, my dad got his fixed for 700

Originally posted by Rhett Browning
is this blend door problem a 2nd gen thing?

As far as I know, yes.

Not familiar with this problem. Was not evidenced on my 94 Limited to 103K miles, my 97 XLT 5.0 AWD to 87K miles, and not yet on my 2002 Limited 4.6 as of 18K miles.

I think the TSB on this problem started in 1997. Not sure tho. Where's Robert when you need him?

Mine was bad when I got it, found out a week later

The blend door problem is only for the 96-98 Explorer (I believe).

Robb

64K miles, just got the diagnosis confirmed by local Ford dealer - broken blend door.

Called Ford, expressed my dissatisfaction and requested relief on the $775 repair bill. They "researched the problem", to their credit they called the dealer, but regretted to tell me they couldn't grant my request.

RAZOR - how'd you get them to pay?!?

On a side note, I just got a letter from Honda saying they have had an unusually high number of problems with '01 Odyssey trannies, so they're extending the warranty to 7yrs/100k miles just in case.

I'll be writing a letter to Ford. Probably a waste of ink, but it'll make me feel better!

In the meantime, I'm gonna cut the hole and manually open the door.

pagz - So the instructions in the link worked? Your door works like new?

Shivering in AK,
MechWolf

Be persistant with Ford. Call them back and ask again. Tell them you dont think its right that you should have to pay to fix a manufacturing flaw. Tell them its been a problem waiting to happen since it left the factory. That what I did and they paid 80%.

Mechwolf - yeah, it works fine right now....i took it up to the snow on New Years and was able to adjust the temp as needed with no problems. You have to find someone to remove the refrigerant from the evaporator. (I had a friend of mine do it at his A/C shop) Like i said got a few cuts on my fingers and hands but it was worth the $900.00 ford was gonna charge me. It was a little tricky fitting the new door in but if you follow the directions and cut it like it says, you should have no problems. They said it should take about 2 hours but in actuality for someone who is not mechanically inclined, it took me about 5-6 hours ...Good Luck

Blend door already replaced.

At about 100k.

cost about $900, but i don't care my dad payed for it...

No prob yet !! but I ear that it`s more tha 96 and up ???? tell me yes please !!

Just bought the 97 X six months back and have
been following the board for recurring themes. The
other day I noticed I was getting cold air when it should have been blowing hot, the hot air started up and it appeared fine, then today the heat/cold was very sporadic.

I'm not hearing any unusual sounds however, I think the symptons are Blend door related, I have sourced a Ford tranny guy in the Surrey B.C. area that now works out of a shop in his home, when I went to visit home a while ago to diagnose my tranny he had a 97 EB in his shop with the dash ripped out and having the whole assembly replaced. He says the part is 200$ Cdn, I think he gets it wholesale from the Ford dealership he used to work at, then he charges $300 for labour.

I can get the job done for around $500 which from what I've read here seems reasonable.
I plan on starting a new thread and seeing how many people have had success with the free blend door fix from Ford Truck forum.

Sid :(

MechWolf, I didn't know it was covered till I picked the truck up. I told the Dealer that it was constantly blowing heat and they fixed it N/C There is an authorization code on the bill. Authorization Code:6975 Hope this helps someone? RAZOR:chug:

Repairs on the blend door are not covered under any warranty that I'm aware of. There is a TSB on the problem. I paid 20% of the final cost to have mine replaced after complaining to Ford Customer Service.

just got mine fixed a couple months ago... i got the used car managers labor rate which was $55/hr and parts at a 10% discount after complaining to the dealer since i had just bought the car a year ago and already had almost $3k in repairs. i think it ended up costing around $500, which from searching around is a pretty good deal for a dealer

also, be sure to call Ford Customer Care and report it. as worthless as they are (which is pretty damn worthless, i must say), hopefully someday they'll get enough complaints to issue a recall so i can get my damn money back. :rolleyes:

I didnt think the blend door was a problem with the automatic climate control systems... unless yours, for some strange reason, is manual.

At about 95k. Cost around $900, because i was too lazy to do it myself.

I did alot of research on it and didn't like the idea of tearing out my whole dash.

Oooh well.

Originally posted by 98FordX24
I didnt think the blend door was a problem with the automatic climate control systems... unless yours, for some strange reason, is manual.
i always thought it was only a problem with the automatic climate control systems?

in my -99

My blend door makes noises, but it still kinda works.

Originally posted by Morgan97Ltd
i always thought it was only a problem with the automatic climate control systems?
The guy at my dealer said that during manufacturing, they put the blend door for the auto climate control systems in the manual and it didnt fit right which causes it to fall over and break.

He was either lying or Ford screwed everything up. :) Doesnt suprise me. :rolleyes:

so many explicatives it would bring down the server if it edited them... mine just went out.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Not the blend door.. Whew..
Turns out my radiator was running a tad low and
it was affecting the temperture of the hot air.

Boy am I happy !!

Sid

Originally posted by Sid Daley
Just bought the 97 X six months back and have
been following the board for recurring themes. The
other day I noticed I was getting cold air when it should have been blowing hot, the hot air started up and it appeared fine, then today the heat/cold was very sporadic.

I'm not hearing any unusual sounds however, I think the symptons are Blend door related, I have sourced a Ford tranny guy in the Surrey B.C. area that now works out of a shop in his home, when I went to visit home a while ago to diagnose my tranny he had a 97 EB in his shop with the dash ripped out and having the whole assembly replaced. He says the part is 200$ Cdn, I think he gets it wholesale from the Ford dealership he used to work at, then he charges $300 for labour.

I can get the job done for around $500 which from what I've read here seems reasonable.
I plan on starting a new thread and seeing how many people have had success with the free blend door fix from Ford Truck forum.

Sid :(

It's a problem for BOTH manual and automatic climate control systems. The material used for the blend door was made of ABS plastic, the revised part is now made of nylon.

Mine went out around 15K miles at 4 years old. The dealer was able to get the price down from almost $1000 to $700.

Mine went out around 15K miles at 4 years old. The dealer was able to get the price down from almost $1000 to $700.

98EBV8, wow you only put 15k on your X in 4 years! thats amazing. :eek:

I went back to my service receipts and found out that I first reported this problem at the dealer at 15836 miles, just a few days after my 3 (not 4, :o) year factory warranty was up. The climate control was just blowing only hot air, MAX AC is the only thing to cool it down.

For some reason, it cleared up after a week before taking it to the dealer. They found nothing wrong.

Then, at 23321 miles (over 4 years), the climate control was blowing only cold air, no heat whatsoever. It was below zero in December at the time and I was getting cold feet. So, the dealer couldn't fix it until about three weeks later at 23465 miles, it was finally fixed for $700.

Presently, my truck is now over 29100 miles for 5.5 years.

Right now, I am revisiting this coolant thermostat leaking, but that's another story :o

Shane

(newbie 1st post)
My blend door failed about 2 years ago ~45k. Saw lots of folks about it before getting the dreaded $900 estimate. Some mechanics are worth thier weight in gold, as my friend's told me about the problem without needing up see the truck.

I was playing around with the 'cheap fix'; throwing a pin in the pivot and adjusting it manually. While I still had my head under the dash, I fired up the blower and got hit in the head but about 20 pieces of the disintegrated gear :eek: (safety last, kids!). Was kind of fun to watch little ABS plastic pieces shoot out for a few days, but eventually I guess most of the gear left.

Anyone ever rip out the dash and do a replacement? I see not everyone is able to convince Ford/Dealers to cover the costs.

I aint had any problems, my control switches from cold to warm. But the damn AC dont work, hasnt since i had it, oh well, dont need it that bad. Thats what they make windows for....Right???;)

i don't think the problem started until 95 with the new model.

Originally posted by darktrance
.

Anyone ever rip out the dash and do a replacement? I see not everyone is able to convince Ford/Dealers to cover the costs.

Welcome to the site.

Yes, at least one member has done it:

dash removal and blend door fix (http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59787&highlight=blend+door)

There is also a method that does not require removing the dash which pagz found:

http://www.proacshops.com/accum-March-April%2020011.pdf

But I have my fingers crossed!

I looked at the both references posted by dogfriend. The replacement through firewall seem simpler. A lot simpler! Has anyone done this? What's the downside?

Also, does anyone know if Ford will pre-emptively fix the door if it still works?

Thanks!

It's broken on my 96, 94K miles.:(

Broken on my '97. Approximately 85k miles.

No After Warranty Assistance from the wonderful Ford people 'cuz it's out of warranty. Weird how their AWA program works isn't it?

I believe mine failed at 120k ('97 XLT)...plan to either do the pin repair or take it into the shop :-(

I've determined that they can't design blend doors, timing chain tensioners (dodged a $$$$ bullet there...had to replace the engine at 80k tho'),drivers seat reclining levers,spare tire winch/lift assemblies , and spare tire jack handles among othe things

Broken on 1996 Sport I bought last week from privaty party. When I tested A/C I tried in on Max and found it workng OK, stupid me not trying everything...

Now planning to apply quick and dirty fix with a nail through glove box, if it doesn't work or breaks again would go through the firewall. No way I would pay $900 for that...

-- Sergei

Just got it fixed with a nail. It works !!!!

We'll see for how long though. I also left the nail too sharp, I'll get it back and smooth a bit, otherwise it might scartch the plastic.

I have not as of yet had my blend door fail, but was wondering since it is deterioration of the plastic being the culprit, if a coating of spray silicone (or something equivalent) would keep it from deteriorating or deteriorating as fast??

The blend door has broken twice on my Limited. I almost think that is why the last owner sold it. While going through all the paperwork on repairs, I found one bill from Jan 2001 for replacing the blend door and another from Jan 2003 for replacing the blend door. He paid over $900 the first time and almost $600 the second time.

I'm hoping the second one was the new improved version.

I am wondering if mine is the same problem with the Blend Door issue.

I notice that you all have your blend doors stuck on HOT AIR and on mine it seems to be stuck on cold air only.

So nope I am not getting any heat :( .


About 7 months ago,,, I came with this same issue of the problem I am having once again and I replaced the heater core... and now 7 months later,, the problem occures again. Do any of you think mine is the same issue with maybe a Blend Door issue?

Thanks

Failed on hot around 55K on my '96.

Mine started blowing hot air in all positions other than Max A/C when my truck had 99k miles on it. Now I have 105k miles on it and have yet to take it to get it replaced.

If you're tight on money, just use the windows. In cool weather like now, I usually have the setting at "Automatic" mode so air will come out from the floorboard and defrosters instead of the panel air registers while having my sunroof tilted so the temp inside the cabin doesn't get very warm. In cool rainy weather, I use the "Automatic" setting and have my side windows cracked (I have ventshades) so water doesn't fly in. In warm rainy weather, I use Max A/C for a while with the side windows cracked. I'm doing this is because I don't have the money to pay for the repairs yet so... that's the only way to go for me.:(

Here's how I fixed my blend door.
The recess in the blend door that the actuator motor shaft engages is deeper than the shaft reaches. My blend door still had some undamaged hole depth left in it. So I made an extension for the actuator shaft so it could reach the undamaged part of the hole and move the door.
This extension is made from 3/8" aluminum rod, 15/32" long. I drilled and tapped the center of the end of it to take a piece of 2-56 threaded rod. A bit bigger would be better, but that's what I had on hand. Then I filed and belt sanded the extension to match the "D" shape of the actuator shaft. It has to taper down quite a bit to fit into the door hole, which has a taper. You can see this with a mirror.
To keep the extension from rotating out of alignment, I made matching shallow razor saw cuts in the ends of the shaft and extension and upon assembly, inserted a small piece of thin sheet metal in the cuts to lock them into alignment.
I failed to measure the length of the threaded rod I used. I just made it long enough to stick out the top of the actuator shaft (it's hollow) far enough to get a washer and 2 nuts on it. (jamnut)
I used loctite where the rod screws into the extension and epoxy where the shaft and extension join to keep that little piece of sheetmetal in place and for additional strength.
I'm hoping this will make a permanent repair because the material at the bottom of the hole is thicker than at the top, so maybe it won't break.
If any of this isn't clear, say so and I will try to clarify it.
:D

Originally posted by c96drumm
Here's how I fixed my blend door.

If any of this isn't clear, say so and I will try to clarify it.
:D

I don't suppose that you have any pictures of this? ;)

Did you have to remove anything to get access to the rod? How long did it take to make the repair?

The biggest pain with this problem is the need to remove the dash to get to the rod. Does your repair eliminate the need to remove the dash?

http://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery/sizeimage.php?&photoid=17474&.jpg

http://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery/sizeimage.php?&photoid=17475&.jpg

http://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery/sizeimage.php?&photoid=17476&.jpg

Try those for some very bad pictures.
Didn't remove dash. The actuator can be pried out of it's clips gently with a screwdriver. You just need to disengage the top of the glove box so it hinges out all the way to expose the actuator and top of the plenum.
You need a mirror to see down into the hole where the actuator shaft engages the door. Once you have the actuator out and look at it and look into the hole where it engages, my description of this repair will be a bit clearer, I hope.
Good luck!:)

Cool.

So, if I understand correctly, you removed the actuator rod, devised a method to extend it enough to engage the unbroken part of the door, and then reinstalled the longer rod in place of the original.

Much better than removing the dash :)

Yes. I did this in April and it's still working. (knock on wood, cross fingers) ;)
Any more questions, please feel free to ask!

More info on this subject:
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24962&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

Just happened to '98 XLT, (126,000). Problem was new to me, but after internet search found that this is a prevalent problem. Dealers quotes $950 - $800. Will probably try one of the fixes from this forum.

Yup did this too. Last fall it seized (truck had 70k-75k on it at the time). Had it replaced in the spring (it was stuck on heat). I forget the damage, but it was more than $500 and less than $800. It was the last straw for this dealer. I don't take any work to them anymore.

I just got a quote to fix mine...at Firestone, I was quoted $139 installed....they said it'd be ready today. After reading about all the problems with the blend door I was expecting to drop anywhere from $700- 1,000...so when he called and told me the problem was the blend door (which I was sure was the problem after reading this forum) and told me it was $139 installed, I was more than happy to tell him to get all over it!!!!!

Oh man! I'm guess I'm not in Kansas anymore! :) You said Firestone? As in, a tire dealership?

I'm pretty completely convinced, after reading here for a few months, that DIY is my best route...

Yep...good ol' Firestone! This group is great though, I've had them do some other things for me - general stuff like thermostat, replaced my oxygen sensors, etc. They always do a great job for me and much cheaper than a dealer. It might be worth making some phone calls out where you're located to some local places and see if they can give you an estimate on replacing it for you...

After serious depression over prospect of $900 plus job to repair the blend door, I had decided to just deal with either all heat or Max AC. Then I started to read through these internet posts and discovered that some clever people came up with a fix - in particular "jfrank". Many thanks to jfrank - the fix worked. Total time for fix was less than 2 hours. I did have some doubts and feared that the line up wouldn't work, or that i would be unable to get the controller back in the correct position. It was, however, no problem. I did study the mirrored image of the door shaft receptor for a long time just to try to make sure that my brain was in gear.

**** many thanks to jfrank et al *****

My moms 96 has NO problems
My 96 has NO problems

My dads 98 has a broken BLEND DOOR

Started '04 with no ability to control temperature. For a couple months, the door was making a rubbing sound when I adjusted the temperature. Today, only hot air. 86K miles. Oh, well, it's winter and its stuck on heat. From reading all the posts, the options seem to be:
[list=1]
Pay lots of $$$ to someone to have it fixed
Try one of the low cost/no cost "fixes"
Never buy another Ford because of too many factory/design screw-ups
[/list=1]

sorry to hear that... I had a pretty bad start to 04 as well. Was watching my year old big screen TV and it blew up on me!!!!!!!!! good thing for a warrenty.

On a good note... I fixed the broken blend door today on my sisters truck.

Took me less then an hour!!!! give it a shot- you have nothing to lose.... this is the site I used and followed it exactly!

http://home.earthlink.net/~kandc1/ford/blenddoorfix.html

95 with no problems, im assuming its a 96+ problem ?

to have mine fixed - '96 Eddie Bauer.

I don't get why Ford doesn't recall this for safety reasons (can't defrost if you only have AC in the winter in New England)

I dont know why you people dont call ford customer service about this. In order for it to be a recall it either has to be a safety issue or a certain percent of the vehicle population has to have the problem. If I remember correctly its like 1%. If you ask me, I think manufacturing defects should also be recalls, but why would they want to do that and lose all kinds of money. I've said it several times and I'll say it again... I called ford customer service about mine and they paid for 80% of mine. All it takes is a phone call. It cant hurt.

I just called Ford Canada about this problem last week. They gave me the same BS about it not being a recall but if there is one in the future they will refund me. They also said they have never heard of this problem before...ya right. All I can ask of anyone who has or had this problem is to at least call Ford so they at least have a record.