How to: 2nd Gen Blend Door Quick Fix | Page 19 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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How to: 2nd Gen Blend Door Quick Fix

I have a 98 Sport SOHC, want me to send a pm? I have air on Max AC but heat in every other mode, so I guess my blend door is shot, correct? And no, I have the three dials, no thermostat here. (except for the one that shows outside temp)

Hey hi
Ummmmm I did the same thing that you did by Cutting a Hole in the big black plastic box in my glove box and then i put my arm inside and could feel a door but when i tried to open it or move it, It wouldnt move or do anything so am i doing something wrong?
I have a 1999 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer Edition 4.0 4wd suv any help from you or anyone be nice thank you and everyone..
 



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You have to remove the actuator to check if it's the door or the actuator. The rear bolt is a PIA, if you don't have the snap on box, but with a 3" extension on a 1/4" ratchet handle it's not too hard. Take the actuator apart and look at the small gear for missing teeth. Then take the gear that moves the door, try to install it in the door and turn it to see if the door works. It'll thump each way if it's good. Try a mirror and flashlight to see the top of the blend door. If it's the automatic actuator that is the problem you'll have to remove the battery cables and short them together to get it to work after replacing it. Mine is a '99 Eddie Bauer V8 AWD.
 






So guys this is a bit weird... sometimes when I start my car up, or take like, a hard turn, I hear kind of a "Whump" coming from the glovebox area. I know it's not something in the box, so is it possible for a broken door to just freely swing back and forth? And if that's the case, all I need is an actuator and then I'm good right?
 






It's possible for the door to swing freely even if the actuator is good. The actuator has a male "D" projection to interface with the female "D" receiver on the blend door, and the plastic on the "D" receiver can break. So the actuator works fine, but it has nothing solid to engage with on the blend door. That's what happened to mine...I'd be driving around and it would oscillate from hot to cold.
 






It's possible for the door to swing freely even if the actuator is good. The actuator has a male "D" projection to interface with the female "D" receiver on the blend door, and the plastic on the "D" receiver can break. So the actuator works fine, but it has nothing solid to engage with on the blend door. That's what happened to mine...I'd be driving around and it would oscillate from hot to cold.

Yeah, but the weird thing is that my heat and air work fine, I have AC on Max AC and every other mode puts out 100% heat, that doesn't make sense though if my door is going everywhere :(
 






Yeah, but the weird thing is that my heat and air work fine, I have AC on Max AC and every other mode puts out 100% heat, that doesn't make sense though if my door is going everywhere :(

Not weird at all...the only times the heater core is NOT full of hot coolant is when the climate control system is set to OFF or Max A/C.

Put another way, when you set the climate control to OFF or MAX, the heater control valve closes.
 






Not weird at all...the only times the heater core is NOT full of hot coolant is when the climate control system is set to OFF or Max A/C.

Put another way, when you set the climate control to OFF or MAX, the heater control valve closes.

Yeah, so thankfully I have AC when I need it, though I wish I could make AC work on other modes. Anyway, I guess I can try to replace the actuator, do you know how much it is and where to get it? And someone mentioned a little tab that kept them together, what if the issue is the door itself being broken and not the motor? Maybe I could like... I dunno, super glue them together so that it works?
 






Read through this thread, but you have to take it apart first to see if it's the actuator or the door that needs to be replaced. If you're lucky, you just need to replace the actuator. It's more commonly the door that's the problem, though. Either way, read through the first few pages of this thread to find the repair procedure. It's pretty easy once you have the procedure figured out.

You can get either part on Amazon or Rockauto. IIRC, the thread has advice on which part to order too.
 






Read through this thread, but you have to take it apart first to see if it's the actuator or the door that needs to be replaced. If you're lucky, you just need to replace the actuator. It's more commonly the door that's the problem, though. Either way, read through the first few pages of this thread to find the repair procedure. It's pretty easy once you have the procedure figured out.

You can get either part on Amazon or Rockauto. IIRC, the thread has advice on which part to order too.

All right, I think once the weather warms up and I get a job (hopefully), I can go out there and take a look at it!
 






I went through a lot of trouble replacing my blend door actuator and wanted to help others who might be in this boat so posting this in all the places I searched the topic -- it is mentioned in many posts but the SINGLE MOST important thing to know up front in my case: know which type of HVAC system you have (EATC/automatic has the digital screen with buttons for temp settings; Manual just has knobs you turn manually) and then ENSURE the actuator you buy matches that type of system. Duh! It's not super easy to clarify, so take the time to ensure it's a match. In my case both types showed up as a perfect MATCH for my vehicle on the auto parts site, and not knowing any better I bought the cheapest one (which it turns out was for manual, which I do not have). Both types of actuators look exactly the same and even have the same plug configuration so you'll hook it up and think it's a perfect match, but unless you get the right one it will not work! You'll check fuses and waste time thinking you've got a short somewhere and read a thousand threads when all you had to do was buy the right type! For my 99 Eddie Bauer, the Dorman 604-201 worked first try once I knew the difference (it's EATC). The 604-202 Did not work (it's manual -- and unfortunately that's what I bough first). To add to the confusion, the 604-201 had an extra plastic base fitting attached to the unit, so online and in person it looks totally wrong, but that base fitting just pops off and viola it's perfect! P.S. If you can swing the blend door when the actuator is installed, there's a problem with the actuator -- the "D" shaped post should not move manually. If it does, sounds like the teeth are all busted inside the actuator. If you force it, you will break said teeth.
 






The air flow from my 1999 SOHC V6 heater and cooling system is very weak. Assuming the blower is OK means the ducts are clogged. I've already removed the leaves from under the grill in front of the wind shield wipers.

Does anyone know how to clear all of the ducts the air must flow through.
 






Pull the blower motor out and make sure there is nothing in there.

To clean all the duct work the dash has to come out.

Sounds to me like you have a damper door issue somewhere.

Those ducts are pretty large and hard to clog up.
 






HA, i love it. Well, in my case, we just took the motor out and put a pin in there to keep the dorr from closing. I can use heat and AC this way and both blow really cold and really hot!!
Go into detail please
 






Hey hi
Ummmmm I did the same thing that you did by Cutting a Hole in the big black plastic box in my glove box and then i put my arm inside and could feel a door but when i tried to open it or move it, It wouldnt move or do anything so am i doing something wrong?
I have a 1999 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer Edition 4.0 4wd suv any help from you or anyone be nice thank you and everyone..


Hi, I'm working on my Mom's Explorer same yr, make, model & problem. Can you pm me what you did to fix your problem?
 






Hi, I'm working on a 1999 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer 4.0 SOHC. The vin comes back as valve tho, parts that fit are for the SOHC. The issue with heat. I replaced the electronic control head & the blendood actuator in the glove box but the new one wouldn't work even after reset so I put back in the old one & reset the electronic control unit & it started working/moving. Replaced the thermostat & the temp sensor for the computer however the heat is still barely warm. Then the blendoor started to bang/knock. I bought the other temp sensor & actuator but have yet to put them in. I read the whole dash has to come out for the 604-201 actuator. Is that true? Also am I missing something or does anyone have any other advice? Please help me save more time. Thanks in advance!
 






Make sure you read the whole thread from the beginning. It's easy to check if the actuator door is the problem. If it's something else, you should start a new thread with an appropriate subject name so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle.
 






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.
How else would I do this? I've been trying to restore this vehicle and cutting into it isn't what I'd like to do. Is there an official way to get it out out? Ik this post is ancient but if you see this, I'd like to know if there's another way. I know actuator still works because I tested it. So I'm pretty sure it's the actuator door hinge that broke.
 






Hi Valliance- I don't know how to do it easily without cutting. There used to be and probably still is a vedeo on youtube where a fellow shows the procedure on a heater box he removed from a truck (junkyard pick). Good luck
 






How else would I do this?...

Have you by chance checked underneath, where the repair may have already been made once? Seems amazing an OE blend door would have lasted this long. It would set the standard for longest-lasting! Or at least close.

Honestly, the soldering iron method (few extra notes here) is so much easier, and no one will ever know without looking from the floor up.
 



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