How to: Quick and Easy 2nd gen Blend Door Replacement Tutorial

[rysted]

Expedition Blend door

Is it possible to use this blend door/actuator repair on a 2001 Expedition? Similiar access to the plenum through the glove box?

 

[DFHcomputer]

Glad I found this forum - spent the $12 for a new blend door - guess I got lucky, but I didn't even need to remove the actuator, and didn't need to remove the glove box to get to the top/side of the plenum. FYI - a box-cutter/craft knife (Stanley knife for the European readers) makes a much neater job of cutting the triangular flap out at the bottom of the plenum - my little hands got in there ok, removed the old door (which was broken in exactly the same place as the photographed example) - it took a little 'jiggling' to get the new door seated correctly with the 'D' shaped spindle on the actuator, but if you adjust the heat setting, and exercise a little patience, new new door works fine. I left the flap open while I changed the heat settings, and verified that the door was moving correctly. FYI - the 'full heat' setting is when the door is swung fully towards the driver's side (on a left-hand drive USA-type vehicle). The advantage of the nice neat lines cut by the box knife makes the flap repair to the plenum much easier - I just used a trickle of crazy-glue/super-glue, with the flap held in place temporarily by some scotch tape while the glue dried. Took me 45 minutes, and you gotta look real close to see it was repaired at all. Great site guys - thanks for the inspiration!

 

[Fast911ray]

I'm thinking this must be the problem affecting my 97' Explorer's a/c quality. The system is fully charged but air flow temperature is not really cold..just sort of cool. My thought is perhaps the blend door is stuck partially open. Any thoughts about that would be appreciated.

 

[DaExplorer]

Blend door replacement

Thank You Magicland for your great how to instructions for replacing the blend door with the great photos. Just got a 97 Explorer 4x4 and couldn't understand why I could only get a little heat. After research and reading your thread my son and I took a trip to the junk yard and found some donor parts, best thing is you can tear things up and figure out how to do it right on your vehicle. I uesd one of the new fangled multi tools with a plastic/wood blade. They cut while vibrating. Made my cuts in no time and fairly straight and clean. Old Blend door dropped right out along with the broken pieces. Replaced door and closed up bottom. Then used some 60 sec epoxy that had a long piece that mixes the two parts as you push. Be Careful not to glue the door. Sets fast then used some metal foil duct tape to finish up the bottom. Took one hour including looking for tools. Now I have heat (HOT) and the AC gets real cold. Thanks again

 

[WA_Nate]

I tried the nail in the accuating shaft first, did work.

My solution was also by cutting through the bottom cutting bit on my cordless drill. I too was worried about cutting too close to the circle and struggled with trying to get the new door for an hour before I lengthened the cuts so I could bend down the circular area, after that it went right back in. If I was to do it agan I would make a triagular cut with the tip closest to the tip receptical (cirle) going about two inches past it. I would make sure to leave a wide enough gap between the cuts so that the plastic has enough strengh not to break whet is pulled down.

This job was still a pain. Tomorrow I have to get some epoxy to fix the plastic.

It's not pretty but it works and it got fixed for under $20.

 

[WA_Nate]

How did you get to the top/side of the plenum???

 

[jennyd]

Tried your procedure, have two problems

Hi, Magicland. Thanks for the info on replacing the blend door. However, I am having two problems. One, neither the old or new actuator motor moves when I plug it in and cycle the a/c and heat (my Explorer has automatic climate control). I checked fuses and found all ok. What else could be causing the problem? Two, after cutting the bottom of the plenum and reaching in I can feel the blend door but can't seem to be able to push it up enough to remove it. What's the trick you used?

Thanks again,

jennyd

 

[Magicland]

Is it possible to use this blend door/actuator repair on a 2001 Expedition? Similiar access to the plenum through the glove box?

Not having an Expedition manual, I've got no idea. If it uses a similar setup, it's likely, but you'd have to verify it.

 

[Magicland]

Hi, Magicland. Thanks for the info on replacing the blend door. However, I am having two problems. One, neither the old or new actuator motor moves when I plug it in and cycle the a/c and heat (my Explorer has automatic climate control). I checked fuses and found all ok. What else could be causing the problem? Two, after cutting the bottom of the plenum and reaching in I can feel the blend door but can't seem to be able to push it up enough to remove it. What's the trick you used?

Thanks again,

jennyd

Are you testing the actuator with it installed? If there's some issue with the blend door, it might be preventing the actuator from moving if it's installed. If it isn't installed (but just has the wires plugged in), you might need to reset the EATC before the actuator will work. Start by running the self-test.

With the car running, press the OFF button. While you're still pressing the OFF button, press the FLOOR button as well. Then let go of them, and within 2 seconds, press the AUTOMATIC button. If you did it correctly, a little rotating line should appear in the display. It might take a while to run. When it's done, it'll either give you error codes (if it has any in its memory), or display an 888. At this point, press the DEFROST button, which will clear the memory, and reset the EATC.

If you got any error codes, here's what they mean:
022, 024 - Blend door actuator shorted
025 - Blend door actuator not responding properly
030 - cabin temp sensor shorted (either wiring or bad sensor)
031 - cabin temp sensor not connected or failed (open circuit)
040, 042 - outside (ambient) sensor shorted (wiring or bad sensor)
041, 043 - outside (ambient) sensor not connected or failed (open circuit)
050, 052 - solar radiation sensor shorted
115, 125 - bad/no data from vehicle network (you'll get this always testing outside the vehicle)

After resetting the EATC, see if it operates normally (ie., the actuator moves when you change the temperature settings).

 

[jennyd]

Magicland!

Thanks again! I just plugged the motor in and turned the setting back and forth from Automatic, Max A/C, Heater and stuff. I will try the test tomorrow and see if it works. I also figured out my other problem of getting the door out after rereading earlier posts- I was not cutting a flap around the bottom door mount to bend it down. I'll let you know how that words too!

Thanks again, Jenny

 

[Mirge]

Add me to the success list. Thanks a ton for the write-up. I had to read it several times to make sure I knew what I was doing... overall took me 3 hours, including parts runs and running back to the computer to look at the writeup again lol.

Total cost: $10.99 + tax.

Shop was going to charge over $1,200 + tax and take 12-13 hours.

Saved me a ton of cash (that I couldn't spare) and gave me the satisfaction of having done the repair myself. Thank you!

EDIT: And I tried a box cutter at first... that grew old fast. Got out the trusty ol' dremel and took care of business.

 

[Heuster]

Should I do the blend door now?

I have a heater core that is leaking - bypassed that several months ago. I also have a blend door that needs replacing. Since I have to tear everything apart to get to the heater core, should go through the trouble of doing the blend door replacement through the bottom of the plenum or just wait until I have the dash and HVAC out to do it?

Does the HVAC come out on the heater core replacement? If not, doing the blend door now is a no brainer...

 

[morley1024]

Just adding to this, i have been fixing blend air boxes for years now on
Freightliners which means cut and plastic weld back together.

i just would like to add that you can use a butane torch, to warm the plastic up to be able to bend it down and back up again with less of a cut and a lot less likely to break the flap off. hope this helps.

 

[morley1024]

also you can use a hot razor blade heat it up until red and keep cutting the plastic you can even cut at an angle so the flap lays better in there and there won't be as big of a gap to fill back in when you are gone either.

 

[jbox1073]

well i have already torn apart my dash! looks like i'll be putting it back together! lol! thank you i'm definitly sure this will work!

 

[jbox1073]

well i have already torn apart my dash! looks like i'll be putting it back together! lol! thank you i'm definitly sure this will work!

 

[viking4949]

Thanks for the great post, I just completed this process on my 1997 XLT. I used a utility knife to make my cuts as my rotary tool was too tall to fit. I was not able to cut around the bottom door "pocket". This made removing the old door a little difficult. I finally used a long craftsman screwdriver standing straight up, and a small crow bar wedged underneath to push the top of the plenum up a bit. The door slid right out. I then was able to insert the new door, with the bottom pocket still intact. When putting the actuator back on, make sure to seat the pin first and then the clips. I put mine back together with HVAC aluminized tape.

 

[nowings]

Thanks Magicland

Thanks to your detailed instructions, I was able to make the repair in under 1 hour. Including the purchase of the Dremel tool, I have less than $60 in the repair. A far cry from the $750 the dealer estimate.
Thanks again!!

 

[bajadog]

Cheers and thanks Magicland!

Worked like a charm $14 door kit at Oreillys, $5 epoxy stick, 2.5 hours with epoxy cure.

Only thing that scared the _ out of me was, as I was trying to get the new
door top post thru the upper actuator hole, I bend the "flap" too much, and
snap. So I had the whole triangle piece in my hand. It still worked with duct
tape and epoxy.

 

[bajadog]

One more thing I forgot to mention.

TAKE OUT the passenger's front seat. 5 bolts, one electrical connector, and
you can lie on your back and dremel away.