Defroster Door shaft broken, Need help getting to Pleunm Chamber

[Hawkeye61]

Me next in a couple of weeks. ... Man this is gonna suck.

 

[jakescars]

Me next in a couple of weeks. ... Man this is gonna suck.

Did you get yours done? Care to share any instructions you may have?

 

[jbwilli]

Tim, been there and done that. I had the exact same problem. The only way to get the upper plenum (defrost) unit out is to pull the entire instrument panel. Yes, the entire instrument panel.

I remember pulling out the center console, disconnecting the steering shaft pinch bolt (make sure the wheel does not spin freely else clockspring damage). There are bolts up high just under the dark trim panel on top of the dash. Deactive the airbags. The firewall wire harness needs unbolting. There was one or two bolts coming from the firewall side into the dash that would really mess you up unless you knew it was there.

You have to buy a new plenum assembly. It was $267 list but picked up for $177 from Tousley. I went ahead and changed out the blend door actuators while I had the thing that far apart.

If you have the will and courage, please snap a picture of the entire dash laying across the front seats, it's quit a scene. Fortunate for me, there was a kind sole on this site that provided me all of the necessary service manual pages to do the job. I have those still and will share them with you if you PM me your email address.

UPDATE: I know this is a very OLD post, but I too am there on my daughters 2007 Explorer XLT I I removed the air chamber assy an and did not have to pull out the entire dash! I pulled 1) console piece around the gear shift, 2) the radio bezel (do not disconnect the wire to the air bag!), 3) the radio and 4) the radio mount bracket. The radio mount bracket was the only hard part to remove. It has 1 bolt on left out board forward face to firewall and 2 bolts on right out board forward face to firewall. You will need a 1/4 metric socket set, long extension and 1/4 inch universal (flex joint) adapter to remove them! DO not drop the bolts (they may fall into no mans land!). This bracket is trapped between the firewall and dash. At the rear dash location, there are 2 'pins' that protrude thru the bracket to align it. You will have to pry between the bracket and the dash carefully flex the bracket back and to the center to clear these 'pins'. Yes will have to bend this metal bracket slightly, but yes it will come out and is 1 of 2 tricks to save yourself from removing the dash! Once you get it out, you can 5) remove the black upper air duct that runs from left side to right side. It is a soft plastic tube and has no attaching hardware. It will flex and you can slide it left and right and it will unplug from each end. Now for trick 3! The removed tube will be loose and you can move it all around behind the dash, but it will not have clearance to come out! Trick 3, is to cut that 1/4 wide vinyl strap at the lower opening of the dash. It blocks the removal of the air duct. It is not structural and is covered by the radio dash bezel (maybe it shows on some models, but not the 2007). I cut a slit on the left end and did not cut it all the way out, (although you could). It flexes and you can easily remove the air duct. Now remove the 2 bolts securing the air chamber assy, all vacuum lines and wire bundles and the entire duct will come out thru the opening in the dash! WA~LA!

 

[kepler2]

The Defrost/Air Chamber Assembly (5L2Z18471AA) is no longer available for purchase. Can the electric motors on the 2006-2010 version of the part (7L2Z18471AA) be removed and replaced with the vacuum cylinder from the older part? Is there a way to bypass the vacuum cylinder entirely and wire the newer assembly directly to the dash control?

 

[mountaineer2004]

These cars are so old now that it's not worth the time/money removing the dash to repair, at least to me.

Defrost is actually necessary for safe driving, so if something like this happens to me, I'd make it defrost mode permanently and move on.

I've seen vids on the net how to do this.

 

[jbwilli]

The Defrost/Air Chamber Assembly (5L2Z18471AA) is no longer available for purchase. Can the electric motors on the 2006-2010 version of the part (7L2Z18471AA) be removed and replaced with the vacuum cylinder from the older part? Is there a way to bypass the vacuum cylinder entirely and wire the newer assembly directly to the dash control?

Google your pn. Ford Parts Giant (and others) have
this part in stock now! 5L2Z-18471-AA 5L2Z18471AA Genuine Ford Part

 

[jbwilli]

The Defrost/Air Chamber Assembly (5L2Z18471AA) is no longer available for purchase. Can the electric motors on the 2006-2010 version of the part (7L2Z18471AA) be removed and replaced with the vacuum cylinder from the older part? Is there a way to bypass the vacuum cylinder entirely and wire the newer assembly directly to the dash control?

See my post on how to remove the part WITHOUT removing the dash! Once removed, I repaired the broken shaft end. My daughter still has that 2007 Explorer
and my fix is still working fine!

 

[kepler2]

Google your pn. Ford Parts Giant (and others) have
this part in stock now! 5L2Z-18471-AA 5L2Z18471AA Genuine Ford Part

They actually don't. I purchased from them and what appears to be another storefront run by the same folks. They told me three separate times they could ship it and then cancelled the order once it was placed.

 

[jbwilli]

They actually don't. I purchased from them and what appears to be another storefront run by the same folks. They told me three separate times they could ship it and then cancelled the order once it was placed.

I buy parts from this site all the time. I have never had an issue with a part showing in stock not being delivered, but I guess there is a first time for everything. What year and model Ford Explorer are you having the issue with? I removed the one from my daughters 2007 XLT and fixed it with ingenuity and a short piece of coat hanger wire and some JB weld. It has been working like new for years now. (note: ensure you have a vacuum supply and that the little black and white one way Ford vacuum check valve (one engine side of firewall behind glove box area) is working properly - flows in one direction only. Remove your glove box and you can see the vacuum motor and the vacuum line that operates it. As I recall, you can see the end of the shaft that the blend door swings on. The small plastic ear where a control rod attaches was broken! I did not need the entire part, only a simple repair fix! GOOD LUCK!