2003 Ford Explorer no heat

[cleanfreak]

Hello good folks,
I have read the stickies and such and I have a question after the search has yielded no results.

I thought my 2003 Explorer was in the same boat with the blend door actuator issue. I have A/C, but when I change to heat, I get no heat, just luke warm air. The problem is, I do not hear that all too familiar "clicking" sound. When I look behind the glovebox, I do not have the flap clicking or anything.

When I change the temp to heat, I see the a actuator moving correctly with no issues and no clicking. I then place my focus on the actuator on the drivers side. I hear no clicking there, but I decided to go ahead and replace this one. (I followed the step by step thread found on this forum). It was a 2 hr process, but I managed nonetheless. After the replacement, I had heat for 2 days and now it is back to nothing again.

I then pulled the center vents, radio, etc. and looked thru the vents to see what I think are the blend doors. When I change the temp to hot, I can see the doors shut completely and when I change back to cold, they open up. Everything seems to be working normally.

So I am stumped,
First, why did changing the driver side actuator give me heat for only 2 days?

And 2nd, if that was not the problem, what could it be?

I might add, I have the digital temp changer (no knobs) and it has dual climate control. I might also add, I do not have any heat in the rear, and I hear no "clicking" either, but it does have a knob overhead that controls the temp for the rear.

Any help is appreciated
Thanks
Jason
2003 Ford Explorer Centenial Edition.

 

[FordFool2]

Jason I would be certain to check the 3-way heater control valve in the engine compartment. This valve is vacuum controlled to provide heated water to the heater core when determined by the Electronic Automatic Temperature Control (EATC). It is near the firewall on the passenger side. Trace hoses to find.

 

[BoodaRebel]

Check vacum lines for cracks?

 

[cleanfreak]

Thank you for your replies.

I will have a look at these on Saturday and report back.

 

[danblackwood]

Another possibility...what about the actuator itself? The one for manual control is different than the one for automatic. My 02 has manual controls and I got the actuator for automatic. It would not work and I had to take it back to advance and get the one for manual. The plug is the same but located on the back for automatic and on the edge for manual. The same connector fits both.

 

[cleanfreak]

Another possibility...what about the actuator itself? The one for manual control is different than the one for automatic. My 02 has manual controls and I got the actuator for automatic. It would not work and I had to take it back to advance and get the one for manual. The plug is the same but located on the back for automatic and on the edge for manual. The same connector fits both.

Thanks for your reply.

I was very careful to get the correct actuator for automatic controls. I even had to go to several different part stores to find one. Oreilly's had the one I needed.

I opened up the 'old' actuator and all gears and teeth were intact. So I was a bit skeptical after I replaced it anyways.

After more research on the heater valve, I think this might be my issue. I did notice a lot of water on the garage floor compared to what is typically there and this now makes sense if the valve was leaking.

 

[danblackwood]

Makes sense. On my old actuator, the teeth were gone on the little gear. I opened the automatic one to see the difference, and the gear set is completely different. The auto one has an extra gear.

 

[cleanfreak]

Is there anything special I need to know about before/during installing a new heater valve?

 

[FordFool2]

You should check the heater valve for proper operation. Switch between heating and cooling and see if the valve reposition. It is either one direction or the other, it does not throttle. It could be a bad vacuum line or vacuum module also. If you need to change out the valve, then at least partially drain your coolant system through the radiator drain.

 

[rrgone]

I would install a new thermostat too. Might be sticking open which makes it hard to get the coolant hot enough to make heat this time of year. Make sure you get all the air out of the cooling system when you are refilling. Air can stop coolant flow thru the heater core which also means no heat.

 

[cleanfreak]

Heater valve has been replaced, but no luck.......and FYI:
On the V-8 4.6, changing this will make you lose your religion. There are only 2 hoses attached , but there is a metal brace that holds it as well. This brace connects to the valve with 2 Philips heads screws. The head of these screws face the engine and there is no way possible to get a screw driver to reach. Why Ford did this for a such a light weight valve still has me scratching my head.

I literally had to break the old valve into small pieces until I got all of it out of the way. The part attached to the bracket remains. I installed the new one, hooked up the hoses and tested it. It moves as it should when changing the temp, but still no heat.

I wish I would have checked back to this thread to see the post above about testing the valve first. This would have saved me $20.00, blood, and 2 hrs of frustrations......,And I still do not have heat.....

On to the thermostat in the morning. Looks to be a simple change, but I will check back here in the morning just in case someone has some other wisdom on the matter.....

I have no clue about the vacuum lines some of the post speak of.......

Thanks
Jason

 

[FordFool2]

Jason, the temperature gauge is an accurate measure of the heat in the system. If your gauge is well in the middle of the "normal" range then your thermostat is probably fine. You should be able to check the temperature of the heater core hoses with the system warmed up. If no flow, the temperature will be lower than the radiator hose. If heater hoses are hot, then it has to be more along the lines of the blend door.

 

[BigRondo]

Heater valve has been replaced, but no luck.......and FYI:
On the V-8 4.6, changing this will make you lose your religion. There are only 2 hoses attached , but there is a metal brace that holds it as well. This brace connects to the valve with 2 Philips heads screws. The head of these screws face the engine and there is no way possible to get a screw driver to reach. Why Ford did this for a such a light weight valve still has me scratching my head.

I literally had to break the old valve into small pieces until I got all of it out of the way. The part attached to the bracket remains. I installed the new one, hooked up the hoses and tested it. It moves as it should when changing the temp, but still no heat.

I wish I would have checked back to this thread to see the post above about testing the valve first. This would have saved me $20.00, blood, and 2 hrs of frustrations......,And I still do not have heat.....

On to the thermostat in the morning. Looks to be a simple change, but I will check back here in the morning just in case someone has some other wisdom on the matter.....

I have no clue about the vacuum lines some of the post speak of.......

Thanks
Jason

Jason, if you PM me your email address I will send the Troubleshooting Steps from my shop manuals.

 

[cleanfreak]

Thanks for your offer Rondo.

I changed the thermostat today as it was only $12.00 and a 3 minute change. I added coolant as I was a bit low and whola! I have heat!

Who would have thunk it? The most simple, cheapest thing was my issue. I hope this has been a help for others.

If something changes in the next few days, I will take you up on that offer Rondo.

Thanks again fellas!

 

[Mr Dubya]

When I merely read the title for the thread, I somehow knew it was going to be the thermostat. For some reason, experience has always told me to blame the thermostat. Time and time again it seems to be the culprit on nearly everything I see.

No heat? Change the thermostat.
No AC? Change the thermostat.
Transmission shifting hard? ...Change the thermostat...


-Dubya

 

[cleanfreak]

Ok fellas. I think I have more than a thermostat issue. Like I said, I changed the thermostat just because it was a 2 minute fix and only $10 or so.

I believe the real issue was caused by not having enough coolant/water in the system. It seems I have a leak that is possibly coming from the water pump. I filled the reservoir on Saturday and it lost half it's fluid by Sunday.

When I start the vehicle it seems to pour out from underneath until the engine warms and then it will stop. It does this each time it starts after it has time to cool off. From my research, it seems this is the first sign the water pump is going out.

I found a step by step thread here on how to replace the water pump:

http://www.fordf150.net/articles/idx.php/0/022/article/How-to-replace-a-water-pump.html

Before I proceed, are there any words of wisdom from the more experienced?

Big Rondo--You have a PM