3rd gen Explorer Blend Door Actuator Replacement

[ummduh]

Did mine last night. Wasn't all that bad. Wish I woulda had a better selection of tools available to me (they're pretty much all in storage right now) but I got it done with nothing but a 1/4" drive ratchet 18" worth of extentions and some sockets. And a little skin.

here's the reason for all that. Ridiculous.

You can see one of the teeth laying inside the case right under my thumbnail too.

 

[Sleb]

That's exactly the same way mine looked as well........Ford has very good engineers to design a piece that is meant to break after 3 years!! More money in the bank for them

 

[04silverghost]

blend door actuator

thanks for the thread sleb! i appreciate it. i figured out my problem to be cheap part from advance auto (2 actually). got a ford part on the cheap and all is well. thanks again.

 

[BajaXplorer]

I wonder if you could match up teeth count and replace the gear?

 

[dcorwin822]

Blahh same gear stripped out of mine. I have to wait 24-48hrs till my dealer can get me one and its freaking FREEZZING out! Nothing like stripping out the interior with it snowing out.

 

[ummduh]

bah... it's not that bad of a job.. just close the doors and crank the heat... oh.. wait.

 

[jaydamn]

repacing the blend door actuator

I finished installing the damn thing. It was easy but the only hard thing is screwing it back in on my 03 mountaineer. I got my part from autozone for $15.99 only. the dealership would of cost me alot mor because of how long it would have taken to remove the damn thing and installing it.

Thanks for the info...

 

[justchecking]

Replaced mine today. Took about 2 hours from when I got the first tool out to when I put the last tool away. There weren't that many screws, so why it took 2 hours, I don't know.
I paid $70 for part at Ford. Didn't know Autozone would have it for $16! Argh.

 

[millerzoo]

first I need to know if you have manual or DATC Climate Control System?








Take the steering column off (3)





Get on your back on the drivers side floor and you will need to take out the 3 screws on the actuator. There hard to get at but it can be done. Pull the power plug out of the actuator and then just wiggle it out. When you reinstall it you will only be able to get 2 screws back in but they hold it just fine.

The images did not come through in this post. Can someone repost the directions on this again? My husband is going to try to replace it this weekend and we have snow coming!!

 

[justchecking]

ooow. That is going to be a little tougher without the drawings (there are two). I threw my copies away after I fixed mine. Drat. Hopefully, someone can repost them.
Assuming you have the single control (not dual), then turn it all the way cold before you shut off the motor and disconnect the battery. Take out the center console. THere are only a few screws. The Hanes manual will help there. (Hint: Under the front little rubber mat there is one screw, take that out. THen at the back of that piece by the storage compartment grap hold and lift up. It will come out. That exposes four screws (two at the front and two in the middle. Take those out. There are also two at the back at the bottom of the console behind two little easy to snap out covers. Take those out. Disconnect all the electrical connectors.)
Then remove the plastic panel under the steering column, there are only two screws. DO NOT remove the steering column.
Then remove the brace to the right of the gas pedal. There are two nuts and two bolts.
Now you can look in from the bottom of the center console and see the actuator and a screw, and also in from the side where you removed the brace and see another one. There is another one at about 8 oclock you can't hardly see but have to feel for (the other two were at about 5 and 11 - THESE TWO ARE EASIER TO REMOVE/REINSTALL WITH A RATCHETING COMBINATION WRENCH). Remove those three and wiggle the actuator out. It seems like it won't come out, but it will with a little finesse (not force). Same way going in.
Good luck. I'm goin' huntin' and won't be back til Monday. You may want to wait til someone can repost the drawings.

 

[Danilo]

is there a sticky anywhere here regarding "Blend Door Actuator Replacement"?

 

[mmodena]

I have a 2003 can't find the blend door actuator. I have the lower dash, center console and front dash off. Is it the color white or black? Any help is appreciated

 

[Sleb]

Its white .........................and I'll repost the pics as so as I have time

 

[millerzoo]

Thanks so much to Justcheckin, my husband got it fixed in under 2 hours (that included a few coffee breaks to warm up) and it works. Just in time for the really cold weather!!

 

[mmodena]

thanks Sleb, pics would work great.

 

[ummduh]

you can't see the two pics at the top of the thread?

thats the part. it's white.

 

[Fairfaxexplorer]

Here are a few pictures I took to help out you guys.

Here is the actual blend door actuator. Pretty tight fit between the AC/Heater unit and the dash.

The actuator itself is right behind where my finger is (sorry for the cheep graphics)
The red circle shows a small opening where you can get a socket with a 6-7 inch extension in to get the top screw in and out.

here is the view from the top, behind the stereo/vent/temp control plate. I hat to remove that to get to one of the top screws

good luck guys! Its a lot of work just trying to take things out and get them back into place.
On a scale of 1-10, 10 being a hard job (like rebuilding a transmission) I would say its about a 3.

These help?

 

[papo020]

Hi everyone, I'm having the same clicking sound and want to get this fixed today (even it's just temporary with me closing the door). I wanted to know if someone could post up the step by step directions & the pictures that everyone is talking about that were posted. I don't see them. I've looked at all the pages & read every step. Please help as soon as you can! It's starting to snow & I have to take my 14 month old son with me. Thanks guys!

Roberto

 

[papo020]

Ok I'm seeing the pictures in the post up above mine now; but someone said in a previous post that there were step by step instructions on what to remove to get to it but I don't see them. Can someone please tell me what those steps are? Thanks it's getting really cold now!

 

[crx_ef8]

first I need to know if you have manual or DATC Climate Control System?








Take the steering column off (3)





Get on your back on the drivers side floor and you will need to take out the 3 screws on the actuator. There hard to get at but it can be done. Pull the power plug out of the actuator and then just wiggle it out. When you reinstall it you will only be able to get 2 screws back in but they hold it just fine.

anychance you can rehost it?