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02 Explorer no defrost

adambrock

New Member
Joined
June 20, 2010
Messages
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City, State
Clinton, MS
Year, Model & Trim Level
'02 XLS
I heard a click and clanking noise from the area below the center console when I was changing the A/C from "off" to "max A/C" this evening.

Now I noticed that no air will come out the defrost vents when in defrost or floor & defrost mode. It seems like 90% of the air is blowing out the A/C vents, and about 10% is blowing out the floor vents. The amount of air blowing out doesn't change when you switch between modes.

I found several threads about air only coming out the defrost, but I could only find one thread on this issue, but it wasn't very helpful.

ETA: The best I can tell, no hot air will come out. I let the vehicle run for about 10 minutes with the temperature dial all the way to the right, and the air still felt just as cold as the outside. I do not notice any clicking noises when I switch from hot to cold.

Can anyone offer some advice?

Thanks.
 






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I heard a click and clanking noise from the area below the center console when I was changing the A/C from "off" to "max A/C" this evening.

Now I noticed that no air will come out the defrost vents when in defrost or floor & defrost mode. It seems like 90% of the air is blowing out the A/C vents, and about 10% is blowing out the floor vents. The amount of air blowing out doesn't change when you switch between modes.

I found several threads about air only coming out the defrost, but I could only find one thread on this issue, but it wasn't very helpful.

ETA: The best I can tell, no hot air will come out. I let the vehicle run for about 10 minutes with the temperature dial all the way to the right, and the air still felt just as cold as the outside. I do not notice any clicking noises when I switch from hot to cold.

Can anyone offer some advice?

Thanks.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It sounds like you may have a few things wrong behind your dashboard. No hot air coming from the defrost vents could mean a bad "blend door". This door opens and closes from the hot and cold sides of the temp air box when you adjust cabin temp on your dial. If this door is bad itself, you'll need to repair this door. There is product sold called "Heater Treater", which is a cheaper way of repairing a bad blend door. The Ford dealerships want around $400 for a new blend door box, part only. If you do not have a clicking noise coming from behind the dashboard when switching from cold to hot air temp, then your blend door actuator motor should be okay.
The reason you are not getting blower air flow through your defroster vents is "most likely" from your air recirculation door" fell off it's hinge points and is laying on top of your blower housing blocking the air flow to some or most of your vents. One of your vacuum lines to the vent control knob "may" have popped off it's nipple also, causing you to lose air flow to certain dash vents. The vacuum lines are behind the center dash console and you can see them through the glove box opening. 5 different colored, small air hoses. The air recirculation door is located behind you glove box and is located inside the top part of the plastic housing you'll see in there. Push the tabs in on the sides of the glove box and let the glove box roll down towards the floor to gain access. There are plenty of posts with photo's in here on the problems you are currently having, very common problems on these Ex's. Type a brief explanation of your problem into the search bar at the top of the web page and it should pull up the past posts and repair instructions people posted on this issue.
On my Ex, I had a bad "blend door actuator motor" repaired a month ago, mine was "clicking" and not blending the air temp door, and just last Thursday, I removed the "air recirculation door" that failed thru the glove box opening. It was blocking the air flow through some of my vents, mostly the defroster vents, but not anymore. Great air flow now thru my vents. To correctly repair this air recirculation door, it's a big job, right side of dashboard has to be opened up and pulled outward to gain proper access. Ford wants around $1100 for the job or do it yourself. I'm not reinstalling the air recirculation door I removed, I don't need Max AC where I live. I need heat and defroster vents working the most. To remove the air recirculation door, it took me 1 1/2 hrs to do, but most did it in an hour. Just have to remove the 4 screws (2 each side left and right) to the front edge of the air box at the top, and split open the 2 halves of the air box and keep it wedged open, easier said than done. From there you can use needle nose pliers to grab the air recirc door panel and pull it out, it should be laying loosely at the bottom of the air box. This air door panel is approx. 11in long by 5in high, kind of flat in thickness. Turn it slightly and pull it out by the narrow end, it's easier. Hope this info helps!
 






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