Hi edwx....thanks for your advice on this. On my 07 XLT it became necessary a week ago to replace the blend door motor and the job was quite easy as I put myself through college as an auto mechanic and have most of my tools still. I went with the Dorman motor from Rock Auto. Dorman Products have been good to me over the years, so I'm loyal. I did a post-mortem also and found stripped teeth in the FOMOCO OE part. Anyway, while I was waiting for the part to arrive I got curious and wanted to see if my blend door was jamming (perhaps causing the blend motor to work harder). I used an Allen key that fit perfectly into the receptacle of the blend door and operated it by hand. It was free and clear and smooth in its whole range of motion....but interestingly the heat on the floor seemed hotter when I operated it to the full hot position by hand. It led me to theorize that the blend door motors for these manual climate control systems on a Gen 4 car perhaps don't operate the door as far as it can be operated by hand.....and in both directions (hot and cold). Any thoughts on that theory ? Because the motor is so easy to remove, I'm thinking about pulling it out next fall or winter and doing some "testing" with the Allen key when the temps get colder. Right now it's too late and too warm to really get a handle on it. If I'm correct I'll probably tape the Allen key in place for the winter and keep the blend door in it's full hot position.