How to: 2nd Gen Blend Door Quick Fix

[mgar123]

Hi Mike, sounds like the actuator on top of the heater box has stopped in the cold position. My blend door was fine, the actuator stopped working when the system was set for AC. Remove the actuator. That should let the door swing freely.
jim

Hi Jim,
Thanks for your post! I was playing with the door and then when I stopped I heard a thump sound of the door closing and now we have heat! That was a while back when I first did my post. Now that the weather will be warming up, at least that's what the calendar says I may try to remove the actuator so the door will move freely. I haven't really messed with it since it closed. I just figured I'd be happy with the heat! Especially since this is my wife's vehicle and she does not like the cold!
thanks again, take care.
Mike

 

[ford4220]

replacing blend door

Dorman makes a replacement blend door ($10). Just remove the evaporator housing in the engine compartment and pull the old blenddoor out and put the new and improved one in. Takes about 2 hours if you take your time.

It took about 3 hours (the bottom bolt is inside the truck) No resone to cut or dremel anything. How ever when you pull the box back oil will leak out of condensor. Nice fix bets cutting stuff up!!!!

 

[Kwthor]

I just pulled the actuator out and turned the blend door from where the shaft went in!!! and as long as you don't turn your blower motor speed all the way up at first it works fine

 

[Pip]

95-01 ford explorer blend door quick fix (5 minutes)

Worked like a charm! I added a Youtube video and included your forum post and directions! Thank you so much!

My Youtube Video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpsul3ynEyA&feature=youtu.be

 

[okokokford]

Thanks, everyone! After reading above and watching some YouTube videos, I cobbled together a solution that works for my '02 Explorer Sport (either the Sport is slightly different behind the glovebox, or I am clueless -- not sure which).

I wrote this up so that I could link to it from the helpful YouTube videos -- I realize that most of you are far better mechanics than I am and that this is dummy stuff for you!

Problem: cold air works fine, warm air doesn't.

Note: the actuator (the lever that touches the sliver button near the left side of the glovebox) should be in the up position for cool air, and down position (almost touching the button) for hot.

Step 1: Unhinge the glovebox as shown in numerous videos. Then unscrew it from the car (three screws, hex head). Makes what comes next easier.

Step 2: Set the temperature dial to max warm and start the clicking noise -- the actuator lever is in the down position (it wants to go up).

Step 3: Make a loop in a long plastic cable tie (also called a zip tie) and lasso the actuator lever. I had one of my kids do it because my hand is a little too large (and I have small hands for a guy). Cinch it very tight. Have a few extra ties on hand -- took us three tries.

Step 4: Leave the end of the zip tie in easy reach of the glovebox area.
When you want heat: unhinge the glove box (no need to unscrew), turn the temperature dial to max warm, carefully pull the actuator lever up using the zip tie (taking care not to un-lasso the lever -- don't pull to the side), and you should hear the blender door move (I don't know if it moves up or down -- I'm guessing up, since the actuator lever goes up?). Heat!

If the noise continues, dial back a little bit from max heat until the clicking stops.

When you want cold: just turn the dial to max cold and the blender door should move (down?). If not, adjust the fan speed from low to high and back -- you should then hear the door move. Worst case (I haven't had to do): use the zip tie to pull the actuator lever down.

Tip: While you're there, pull the glovebox bulb straight out to the right so that it doesn't drain your battery if you accidentally leave the glovebox open a bit. Been there, done that. There are no catches -- the bulb pulls straight out with a little wiggling. If the bulb is too hot, depress the switch to turn it off while you wiggle.

 

[james smitha]

ive got heat ,thanks alot bro

for those of you who like me, dont want to shell out 1200$ to fix this blend door issue, you can do this. im writing it in as simple a way as i can for those, who like me, arent very mechanically inclined.

open glove box, and push the sides in to drop the box down as far as possible. you will see a big black plastic box. inside of that box is the blend door, and your heater core (looks like a miniture radiator).

take a razor knife and on the farthest left side of that box, cut a square hole big enough to get your hand in (only cut 3 sides of the square though so that you can just bend the plastic down out of your way and put it back in place when finished). now that it's open, you can see the heater core, but not the blend door. the blend door is located around the back left side of the heater core. reach your right hand in, with your thumb down, so the palm of your hand is facing the passenger side of the truck. when you reach behind the heater core, you will feel the blend door, and you can swing it open or closed. if you want your air conditioning to work, open the door all the way. if you want your heat to work, close the door all the way. after you have adjusted the door how you want it, blend the plastic you cut to get your hand in, back to it's normal position and tape it up with some duct or thick masking tape.

unfortunatley you can only have hot or cold doing it this way, but it saves you 1200$ and a lot of headaches trying to fix this by pulling the dash.

for where i live, i need only a.c. in the summer, and only heat in the winter, so i just go in and change the door position twice a year. the original job takes about 5 minutes, then at the beginning of summer or winter when i go in to change the door position, it takes me about 3 minutes, and most of that time is spent removing the tape and retaping it.

i hope this helps someone.

 

[bill06447]

I used one of these on a Windstar with great results, if it works as well on the Exploder I'd definitely use it http://www.heatertreater.net/magento/index.php/ford/explorer/ford-explorer-95-02.html

Bill

 

[TISHA34]

a serious thank you

for those of you who like me, dont want to shell out 1200$ to fix this blend door issue, you can do this. im writing it in as simple a way as i can for those, who like me, arent very mechanically inclined.

open glove box, and push the sides in to drop the box down as far as possible. you will see a big black plastic box. inside of that box is the blend door, and your heater core (looks like a miniture radiator).

take a razor knife and on the farthest left side of that box, cut a square hole big enough to get your hand in (only cut 3 sides of the square though so that you can just bend the plastic down out of your way and put it back in place when finished). now that it's open, you can see the heater core, but not the blend door. the blend door is located around the back left side of the heater core. reach your right hand in, with your thumb down, so the palm of your hand is facing the passenger side of the truck. when you reach behind the heater core, you will feel the blend door, and you can swing it open or closed. if you want your air conditioning to work, open the door all the way. if you want your heat to work, close the door all the way. after you have adjusted the door how you want it, blend the plastic you cut to get your hand in, back to it's normal position and tape it up with some duct or thick masking tape.

unfortunatley you can only have hot or cold doing it this way, but it saves you 1200$ and a lot of headaches trying to fix this by pulling the dash.

for where i live, i need only a.c. in the summer, and only heat in the winter, so i just go in and change the door position twice a year. the original job takes about 5 minutes, then at the beginning of summer or winter when i go in to change the door position, it takes me about 3 minutes, and most of that time is spent removing the tape and retaping it.

i hope this helps someone.

 

[TISHA34]

there was someone who posted this video on youtube of course giving u the credit...my heater had been acting up off and on...i live in ga and have a 7 yr old lil boy who has been sick with a cold or smthing for a day or so..it was soo cold yesterday and i drove him to school bundled up.i always do work on my truck but was clueless as to what could be the problem. well yesterday i knew it was gonna be down in the 20s last nite.i went on youtube and saw ur video abot 730 last nite i went out with a pocket knife and did what u said with alot of determination.it was hard to do with my tool of choice.lol..but IT WORKED!!!! i was so thankful to u bc this morning in frost my lil one stayed warm..THANK YOU with all my heart truly....and always

 

[tamip]

My door seems to be stuck om AC it won't move more than about an inch. Any suggestions on how to free it up? TIA !

 

[4rd Xplora]

Well got the cursed clicking sound from the dash last week and with all the info available on the subject of course I picked the wrong fix. I went the route of this thread and cut the box and set the blend door last night. Later I read another thread that suggested it was simply a stripped gear in the actuator that was the culprit (the clicking sound). This am I removed the old unit(no easy task) looked inside it, found the bad gear and ordered a new one from "The Rock", shot a little lite grease on the blend door's pivot points and sealed the box using Gorilla Tape and a healthy coat of black silicone. Don't get me wrong, this is one heck of a quick fix . Just saying for some of us, make sure it's the right one before you go cutting. Will save your arm from looking like its been run thru a meat grinder...and some jokes from the old lady.

 

[250k+ Ranger]

I ended up making two cuts. First I cut the red area then cut the yellow area leaving the back part attached. I folded down the hinge socket to get old door out and the new one in. I folded the hinge back up then hot glued around the hinge socket where I made the cut.. Did a test then closed it up using a plastic plate I made.

I got my kit off ebay.

EDIT: With the original cut in red there was not room enough to get the door out so I did the additional yellow cut.

I could not agree with EvilleDave more. I am not the world's best mechanic by any stretch but I am an aircraft mechanic and do not subscribe to the "get a bigger hammer" school of fixing things rather I follow directions to the letter and carefully work my way through repairs.

I ordered my replacement door from eBay and the kit came with door/tape and instructions that said NOT to cut where Dave recommends by the yellow lines. After much wrestling with a door that was all but impossible to remove (I blindly cut it with flex-dremel). I quickly discovered that it was going to be equally as difficult to install the new one and I did not have the option of cutting it in half. You definitely want to carefully cut the recommended yellow lines but DO NOT REMOVE the hinge housing. The more attaching "meat" you can leave the better off you'll be.

A few observations here that I did not realize until I got inside the plenum. I pass them on only as personal observations that may help the next person who tries this repair.

The heater core sits between the blend door and the glove box. It sits in a location that you cannot see unless you do some poking around with an inspection mirror. Use great care when cutting the plenum and even more when trying to remove the blend door. A slipped screwdriver/pry bar or other tool can really ruin your day.

If it is not too much trouble remove the passenger seat. My comfort level was somewhere around a minus 5 on a 1 to 10 scale. I am unable to remove the seat at this time due to a stripped Torx head bolt so I had to try and get my 51 year old body to bend the wrong way at every joint. I will suffer for days. It is also much easier to do this if you can get 2 hands in there. I found it a little easier to hang my butt out the door and lie on my right side to do this but everyone will have their preferences.

If you have replaced the old blend door actuator remove the drive shaft from the old unit. This makes it an easy task to test the movement of the blend door following replacement.

My new door had a China made drive socket at the top of the door. I removed the flashing/slag around the socket diameter prior to trying to install it. I feel that this made the installation go much easier.

If you cut the plenum with any tool that makes small shavings (I used a Dremel) be prepared to have a shower of particles when you fire up the fan motor!

Finally I replaced the removed pieces with a glue gun. I had wanted to use JB Weld but opted for the hot glue due to ease of application, speed of application and the ability to remove it should I need to get back in there again. Again - everyone will have their preference.

Good luck!

 

[gdgiordano]

Ok so I am going to attempt replacing the door. I know the actuator is good because I can I hear it move.
Does anybody have a video made for the replacement of the door not just pictures? I also saw a previous post about possibly being able to go through the evaporator housing? I just would like to know if there is a video for either.

 

[250k+ Ranger]

I searched YouTube and found a few videos but all show about the same thing which is not much. The reason for this is that this operation is perform standing on your head with barely room for 1 hand. You're hard pressed finding a video of the actual cutting unless someone filmed it through the massive hole they cut in the floor of their vehicle.

The best photo I could find of the cut is here: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=66133&stc=1&d=1318974236

The neater the cut the better because you'll have to cobble this thing back together after the door replacement.

 

[JimMadsen]

2000 Mercury Mountaineer, 163k miles on it. Wife been complaining that every vent setting gets her a max heat, coming out really hot. Maybe I shouldn’t have flushed the heater core over the winter!
Various vent settings, defrost pnl flr all seem to work fine.
Cut open the box and felt inside. Door stays stuck closed I believe. Door is behind the radiator running parallel to the side of the car, creating a box inside the box. Door is all the way to the right and stuck there. Unable to move with my fingers. Cycled from temp setting of 60 to temp setting of 90 with the car running. Door did not move at all, no clicking heard.
The outside temp was 58 degrees at the time of the test if that matters. Thank you overhead console fix!
The ac is not really working, think I have a major leak somewhere, but at least want to have the cooling aspect of the fan blowing and make sure that works before I look into the ac more.
Dead actuator? I should be able to pull it off tonight, but wanted to get opinions.

 

[WncLee]

My version of fixing it

I went out & got the blend door actuator from Advance $40. When I went to go put it in adjusting the temp wouldn't make the new actuator move at all. It was late at night & I was hurting bad as just having major surgery & this is what I ended up doing. Since my actuator was clicking & the new one was so cheap I opted to take it apart & use the white plastic piece that goes down into the housing to keep it open. The actuator comes off with an 8mm socket, it will fit to get the screw in the back which lines up with the connector in the front, the front 2 screws I used a tiny pair of vise grips. Once you have it off,break the tabs holding it together & open up the unit,pull out the piece that goes down into the housing. Take that piece & put it down in the hole, I then put the back screw in 1/2 way, I then took a rubber band from asparagus/broccoli & hooked it on the back screw,loop it over the gear from the actuator, after it is around that gear twist it 180 degrees & loop it onto the post for the front screw on the right. Now you will have A/C, if you need heat just take the rubber band off & the first bump in the road you hit you will hear a thump, your heat is now working. I did this as I was leaving the mountains & going to Charlotte for Dr appt, of course with my luck it was 42 degrees in the morning & she was saying "Why won't the heat work?" Quick opening of the glovebox,reach in & off with the rubber band & thump we have heat, 1 1/2 hours later & off the mountain "It's hot, why won't the A/C work?" making the A/C work is a bit harder going down the road,not being able to bend over because of my surgery it was time for a pit stop to get rid of that big cup of coffee & getting switched over to A/C LOL. Where I live I need to easily switch because it can be pretty chilly in the morning & by noon you are needing A/C,plus I didn't want to go cutting my box up. Hope this helps someone that needs to have easy way of changing temp until fix can be made for good. I am guessing I need a climate control panel also, I didn't get around to that as sway bar link broke,water pump & today was thermostat. I was pretty frustrated constantly having to work on the truck this week, I looked up to the sky & yelled at Henry Ford & said "Why the hell is my Explorer doing this to me this week?" He yelled back WTF is an Explorer LOL

 

[tinkering]

Somebody about 14 pages ago suggested using a manual choke cable to actuate the door back and forth. That seemed like a good idea to me; I am going to EXPLORE that idea when I get in there.

Someone asked about cutting the heater core out from under the dash too. I didn't see any reply on that.
I am going to start another thread on that subject. After reading 'heater core woes' http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=215965&highlight=heater+core+shortcut I think someone should must make another courageous attempt at a radical shortcut; lets call the thread 'Explorer Heater Core Shortcut/Finding the NW Passage'
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3320664#post3320664

 

[rcl9]

blend door fix

I have an 03 explorer will this work for me thanks

 

[udmsvt]

Hey ya'll, I know it's been a while since I posted on the boards...but after some searching I think I found the right thread.

Currently I've got a 97 Limited 5.0 with the auto climate crap (I just got done upgrading the plug so I could replace the blower motor module).

Anyway, while running the antenna/harness for an aftermarket radio to the back, I noticed someone hacked up my box behind the glove. When I looked closer, i see a pair of vice grips in there.

I'm guessing that someone did this to fix the door inside to a certain position. Couldn't tell ya if a/c works because it won't hold a charge and hasn't been cold enough to really test heat.

Can anyone shed some light on what may have been done before I reach in and remove the grips? PM or post would be great.

 

[tinkering]

Hey ya'll, I know it's been a while since I posted on the boards...but after some searching I think I found the right thread.

Currently I've got a 97 Limited 5.0 with the auto climate crap (I just got done upgrading the plug so I could replace the blower motor module).

Anyway, while running the antenna/harness for an aftermarket radio to the back, I noticed someone hacked up my box behind the glove. When I looked closer, i see a pair of vice grips in there.

I'm guessing that someone did this to fix the door inside to a certain position. Couldn't tell ya if a/c works because it won't hold a charge and hasn't been cold enough to really test heat.

Can anyone shed some light on what may have been done before I reach in and remove the grips? PM or post would be great.


Hi UDMSVT.
This thread explains this whole issue better than I can alone but I will summarize.
The top hinge post on the control door was manufactured sub-grade. It breaks and jams and it stops traveling from heat to AC. There is an inexpensive replacement door kit available that is built to serve. That kit is listed in this thread.
Some guys by-passed the designed workings in a number of different ways, from using a manual choke cable to vise grips I see now.
When you read the thread you see a number of good pictures, and will have a number of ways to solve the problem, including your own.
I have the same problem to fix when I get back to my 98. Sometimes it's just the actuator that attaches to the top of the black housing but it sounds like sooner than later the door problem will manifest. This repair can be completed without removing the whole black 'coffin' (I call it).