How to: 2nd Gen NO AC ( or heat) FROM VENTS!!! A "How to" what to look for thread

[sevenservices]

I edited your post. This is not the thread for selling your truck, use the classified forum

not trying to sell my truck here, just shared for the sake of pics. I am having the same problem as listed in this thread and am trying to actively participate. I'm sorry if I shared to much information... No need to post in classifieds, plenty of local advertising already done. People in other states prob. don't want to drive to Michigan to pick it up! Especially this time of year! Brrrrrrr

 

[sevenservices]

I searched, pulled the fender apart underneith and I don't have one. But, it looks like I should. The inner lining was flapping loose, I think it got lost at some point and it was bypassed by the local mechanic. Not sure, still trying to figure it out.

Can't find any leaks, but I also don't have the res. like it is supposed to.

 

[NintendoKD]

hiss

I am currently tracking down a potentially serious problem. I believe that it may be vacuum related, to that effect, I have checked and sprayed starting fluid everywhere under the hood with no success. I am now pursuing the issue in a different direction. Is it possible my vehicle running crappy issues stem from a vacuum leak in the HVAC? I also have blend door issues. coincidence?

 

[Turdle]

I am currently tracking down a potentially serious problem. I believe that it may be vacuum related, to that effect, I have checked and sprayed starting fluid everywhere under the hood with no success. I am now pursuing the issue in a different direction. Is it possible my vehicle running crappy issues stem from a vacuum leak in the HVAC? I also have blend door issues. coincidence?

Hmm, could be, or, it could be the vacuum issue is sufficient to affect the HVAC operation. Do you have a vacuum gauge?

 

[NintendoKD]

I do indeed, but will have to wait till tomorrow to get it

 

[NintendoKD]

Reads right around 15 inches at idle, funny thing though, with a large vacuum leak it runs better.

 

[rose1hr]

2000 explorer limited , how do I check/test the auto climate controller? I have no ac or heat front vents . fuses , relay ,blower motor good.Rear blower works ? Thank for any help
Michael

 

[Turdle]

2000 explorer limited , how do I check/test the auto climate controller? I have no ac or heat front vents . fuses , relay ,blower motor good.Rear blower works ? Thank for any help
Michael

On our 2000 I thought the blend motor was dead, but when I disconnected and re connected it , ( after removing it grrrrr!) all of the sudden it was running in my hand. You might try this, or the reset procedure, which is somewhere on the forum. I never got an answer when I asked in another thread where this procedure was documented, but did not press the matter when my actuator motor started working.

 

[mustang6878]

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has posted notes, this was a problem with my '03 Sport Trac when I purchased it in July. I went through the summer with AC coming out of the defrosters and finally broke down today and spent about 20 mins. tracing vacuum lines. My problem? The "Schwetty ball" was shot. A trip to the local bone yard had me up with all air controls working a 1/2 hour later. Cost to me? Zero.

Why? The kid who took me in the yard said he has seen hundreds of them, but had no idea what the were for. I sounded like an expert, ( thanks to this forum) and he gave me the vacuum ball for the knowledge I gave him. Pretty good deal , eh?

Again thanks to all...I owe you one!

 

[vsromero]

Hey Turdle, I'm new to this forum. Since this thread is for 95-01, then where can I find the same info for a 2002 Ranger truck? All I need to know is if there is actually info for the 2002 that I have not yet run in to.

Thank you in advance.

BTW, GREAT THREAD!

 

[Turdle]

Hey Turdle, I'm new to this forum. Since this thread is for 95-01, then where can I find the same info for a 2002 Ranger truck? All I need to know is if there is actually info for the 2002 that I have not yet run in to.

Thank you in advance.

BTW, GREAT THREAD!

I am not sure. I kinda thought the ranger and explorer were similar. Maybe one of the Ranger owners will chime in, or possibly the information you seek is inside the ranger sub forum.

 

[vsromero]

I am not sure. I kinda thought the ranger and explorer were similar. Maybe one of the Ranger owners will chime in, or possibly the information you seek is inside the ranger sub forum.

OK, thank you. At first I wasn't quite sure what you meant by the 'Ranger Sub Forum', and then I went back and did some more searching and I ran into that specific forum. So I'll check into it and see what I can come up with.

BTW, I went out to my 2002 Ranger and beat the crap out of it for not being a 2001.

Anyway, thanks again.

 

[skeeter123]

2002 XLT V8, fix to vacuum heater valve

My 3rd-gen XLT had the heater control valve burst about 2 years ago, I replaced it but couldn't figure out why the new one wouldn't open/close when it should. I finally got around to it yesterday after reading this thread. I'm sure that for even more than 2 years my heater valve has been stuck open, so that the coolant is always circulating and even on max-ac the air is being heated and then cooled. Since I just had the AC compressor replaced (it was shot after 177k miles), I wanted to get this heater valve fixed.
Picture of dashboard apart, with red/yellow/blue/white vacuum control lines, and black supply line (from vacuum reserve):

Now, on my 02 XLT, the black supply line comes in thru the firewall, goes to the vacuum reserve, then joins the other multi-colored vacuum lines on the back of the mode-selector switch. However, on its way there there's a tee-off, and another run of black vacuum line goes off behind the air vents to parts unknown. That second black line is accompanied by the grey heater valve control line. See yellow-ish tee and grey line in this picture:

It seems as though the second black supply line and grey line go off to some sort of control-switch mounted behind the vents, and very hard to get to. I don't know what the design is supposed to be or do, but for years now it hasn't worked. So I came up with a work-around to tee off the white vacuum line (which has vacuum when Mode is Off or Max-AC, but no where else). I used a small (5/32nd) vacuum-line tee and 90deg elbows as shown here:

I first cut the second black vacuum line coming off the tee in the black supply line and sealed it off with a rubber cap. Then I cut the white line, and used the tee and 90deg elbows to join the grey heater valve line on to the white line as shown:

Then I put it all back together and tested it. see valve open:

and valve closed:

and yes, it seems to me that max-ac is colder now that the valve works. I don't know why Ford didn't do it this way, or how they intended the grey line to get vacuum, but I'm calling it done.

 

[Everhat24]

I Have a 97 Ford Explorer Sport! No matter where I set the Heat/AC Controls nothing but hot air comes out the defrost! If I put it on AC max the condenser is getting cold and compressor clutch is kicking on & turning on and off and when i turned the temperature control knob some times it sounds like the door is working for the temp door any suggestions? I was thinking it has something to do with the vacuum lines but when it comes to vacuum lines I'm lost PLEASE HELP!!!

I unscrewed the 3 Knobs that control the heating and A/C I used my test light on all the Cables on the back side of all the knobs and they all have power but the 5 Vacuum lines Yellow, Red, Blue, White, and Black and I don't Feel anykind of sucksun or blowing from the lines

My A/C Compressor & Condenser work fine, it gets cold & the clutch turns on & off so I took out the switches in the cab for all the different setting & used my test light on all the switches on the back side & all the hot, cold, defrost, vent, floor,& fan speeds Ext.& all the electrical seams to work fine but there were also 5 vacuum lines Red, Blue, Yellow, Black, & White behind the Def/Vent/Floor switch & I don't feel anything from them vacuum lines so I'm guessing its a vacuum line

 

[Phx4life]

Where do the black and grey lines connect?

I have a 1998 xlt with a eddie chassis and it is 4wd with the 4.0. I had the 2 lines disconnected and now cant figure whats the best way to connect them? I currently have the black tube connected to the red tube thats right by the valve cover on the passenger side and the grey tube connected to the thing under the altanator. I get cold air thro my front vents and a small amount of air through the rear. If I switch the tubes around I get air only through the defrost vents and more air through the rear vents then if it were connected the other way... I do have the black globe out and if I hook the globe up then the small red tube will not be connected to anything. Im not sure what to do with the tubes. I am lost. Does anyone have pics of where the red tube connects and where the black and grey tubes go? any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks

 

[hndgnr]

Turdle Thanks for this thread

Once again this forum helped me tremendously. this thread was invaluable in finding and fixing my ac / vacuum leak problem As far as locating the problem. And finding the components.My manual was not at all clear on were the vacuum ball was or how to get to it. thanks again I also finally figured out how to get to that last pesky spark plug passenger side against the fire wall while I was fixing the vacuum leak. Jerry

 

[hndgnr]

skeeter123 I can't tell which black line you caped your finger is blocking the photo

 

[eazuaje]

7 year old post still helps enthusiasts! I'll check this over the weekend and post some pics. Thanks!

 

[4rd Xplora]

Been wrestling with this for a week now. A/C blows thru the vents until you accelerate, then thru the defrost till you level off on speed.(it's so hot in Texas right now, you feel the change) Have traced the vacuum lines from the intake to when they disappear under the blower motor, then from behind the glovebox to the hvac control head, found nothing. Today I replaced the vacuum canister with a new Ford unit, no change. Late this evening, I pulled the right front inner fender lining (took a while longer than "5 minutes") and will check the lines from under the blower motor thru the firewall tomorrow. Got a feeling I will find nothing. My unit has the auto climate control head, so I may as well ask this, is there a way to check the control head? Oh yeah, Turdle,

 

[eazuaje]

I´ll tell you about my experience; I have a 2000 explorer sport that everytime I accelerate, air conditioner only blowed through the defrost vents; I read a lot and found that some vacuum lines were broken, others were sealed by the previous owner and the truck had a CEL light caused by EGR fault because of those vacuum lines missing, so I found here a 4.0l vacuum diagram and follow it to the tee. I didn't replace the vacuum tank because it's impossible to find those specific spare parts here in venezuela, to replace the broken and missing lines I used a 5mm FESTO vacuum hose; about 5 meters to change the whole thing, I used the same fittings and placed the 4mm ford vacuum line into the 5mm festo lines, they fitted perfectly. After that, I checked into the dash, and also found that I had plugged the vacuum tank backwards, so I plugged it correctly and under the dash followed the black and white vacuum lines, one goes to the defrost solenoid, and the other goes to the vacuum tank, check that also.
In the vacuum tank the check valve must be in the side of the engine so that vacuum is held even if the engine is off.

You'll find all you need in the forum. Just google 4.0l vacuum ford diagram.
I'm sure you'll figure it out.

I fixed my problem in a 3 hour process, please feel free to ask as I'll answer as soon as posible.

Eiber.