How to: Cold air in glove box -OR- No air flow from vents on Max AC - Here's a workaround

[Shanek]

I don't have any pix of blocking the air off outside...But its not difficult.
Pop the passenger wiper arm off.
Pop the cowl grill off (its just snapped on but requires a good pull)
Under that you'll see a triangular shaped cover thats sealed in place, you can pry it off carefully so you don't damage it.

Here's where you get your wife as she hopefully has smaller arms than you
I used a quality clear packing tape to seal up the opening that pulls in outside air. The opening is inside up under the bottom of the windshield.
You should be able to cover 80-90% of it, or more depending how far you can get a hand in there.

I used a few dabs of black silicone to stick the triangular shaped cover back in place. Snap the cowl grill back in, and install the wiper arm. Done!

Will this make the a/c blow colder since it's letting hot air in ..? If you seal the opening off that is

 

[Coolhand20th]

Are you sure, because what I'm seeing is the fresh air intake, but covered up, just like the pic in post #100 .

My 2003 XLT has that exact same setup as yours does as I just looked. I am going to have to drop the blower motor to see if the door has fallen as I hear no difference when I go from normal a/c to max a/c. Temp wise it is nice and cool during the summer in the vehicle and winter time it is warm without any issues. But I know there is supposed to be a difference in air flow when I switch to Max a/c regardless if the fan is at 1 or 4.

 

[mountaineer2004]

^^^ Good luck, but if it's cool in summer and warm in winter maybe just leave everything as it is?

 

[Coolhand20th]

Normally I would but I haven't gone through a full summer with this vehicle yet. I bought it last Sept when temps were winding down a lot around here. So I wanna double check kinda thing and since it is easy to look into I figured why not while it is still in the 70s around here.

 

[gtyates]

THIS...is a great thread, thanks Curtis! Simple, yet effective!

The problem with mine is slightly different. I dropped the glove box and looked up in there and can see my recirc door move when I switch it to MAX A/C. Switch to normal and it brings in outside air as it should.
Problem occurs at random and without any reason I know of. Will have MAX A/C blowing on a hot day through the vents and all of a sudden it stops flowing out of the vents and comes out the floor vents? As we drive along a bit further it switches back to the upper vents...all by itself. Has anyone here seen or heard of this one before?

Driving the wife crazy, which in turn makes me even crazier. If that's possible, that is. ; )

Did you get an answer to your issue of the airflow switching from vent to defrost under acceleration? I had the same problem. It is a vacuum check valve that has gone bad. The valve is located in the engine compartment along the firewall. There will be a black vacuum line running to and form it. Cost about $10 and takes 1 minute to replace. Take note of the black and white sides of the vale as the new valve needs to be installed exactly the same.

 

[IIGood]

I'll need to try and tackle this. My '03 has good temperature and good vent position, but the pressure coming out of the vents is horrible IMO. If I have the fan speed set on 4, I can't feel any air flow from the vents if I place my hand at 6" from the vent. But it sure sounds like it's pushing air!

It's awful, particularly in summer when I've got the A/C going.

When I bought the truck, there was a vacuum line under the hood that was broken which stopped the vent mode actuator from working. I just "spliced" the two ends together with some tubing but maybe that's not working as effectively as I thought.

 

[viperocco]

Thanks to the OP for providing the background to accomplish this fix. This is my solution to keeping the door in place. It is a chop stick. I did trim the end of it before putting the glove box in place.

 

[we87]

Thanks to the OP for providing the background to accomplish this fix. This is my solution to keeping the door in place. It is a chop stick. I did trim the end of it before putting the glove box in place. View attachment 165884 View attachment 165885

Can you please let us know how this is holding up?

 

[Mark WF]

Thank you Curtis for posting this, I have had the same problem on my 03 Mountaineer and will try this remedy and hopefully have full air flow. I have some air flow now but is not where it should be, it feels like the blower is always on 1.
Update, I did remove the door and now I have heat and the blower is working at max (4).
Thank you again Curtis for this post.

 

[AldoEmmerth]

I have a question, I removed the blower and checked the door. The door is not out of place, but when I change from regular AC to Max AC there is no difference in sound. Would removing the door improve the air flow? My air flow is as bad as everyone talks about, level 3 is a slight breeze and level 4 is kind of decent but way too loud. Thanks in advance