anotherPassword
New Member
- Joined
- June 7, 2020
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 2
- City, State
- Wylie, TX
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2007 Sport Trac Limited
Picked up a 2007 v8 with 117k miles on it the other day. While negotiating, notice it had some dye around low side port, so thought AC issues. Got it home, put uv light on it, no sign of leaks. Noticed AD does blow cold BUT the air is kinda humid, so that usually means crap all over evaporator. Pulled blower motor to see if can see evaporator, of course not. Had some leaves in screen on blower motor but not that bad. Also there is no cabin air filter for those wondering.
I have a cheap usb endoscope my kid was messing with for science project, like $20 amazon. Taped it to a bold one of those flexible things with magnet on end, put it up through blower motor hole and towards center of dash, and guess what?
Nasty. Not sure what it is, but 1. It's causing the issue, and 2. It's really nasty.
Looked around on google and here for an post on dash removal for this year, none found, so here we go.
I am attaching pdfs that I followed with the main one being instrument panel removal, and the specific shifter, console, seat, and a-pillar ones that it references. There is also on for 'depower srs', I just disconnected the battery and shorted the positive and negative cables together to depower everything, but THIS IS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!
I will say that I got all the way down to actually disconnecting the evaporator. I was able to get my line disconnect tools to release the lines, but was unable to separate them in the tight space behind the engine. So I purged the system per EPA regulations of course, and pulled a vacuum on it. I let it sit overnight and no leaks. Next day I took some large trash bags and made some troughs on the floor from the evaporator on the firewall to direct water out of the vehicle, then I douched the evaporator thru the fins thru the front with a water hose every which way, let it sit to soak, did it again, then blew compressed air through the fins. Alot of crap came out. You can put your hand under and around the evap so it is up off the case and really clean it out.
I then put it all back together and it works great. I have done this on a jeep where I pulled evap completely and was not able to get it much cleaner than what I did here.
Anyhow, here are some pics where I had issues or for clarification on removal.
First up, this gem. It is the clip that holds the shift selector cable to the housing. There are 2 ears in red. They have to be pried gently towards back of vehicle then the whole clip slides out.
The cable just pops off here, I used one of those pry tools for door clips
You'll run into a few version of these, the grey plastic hinge does the work.
Document says disconnect these connectors, does not mention 1 is a vacuum connector.
If you have power pedals, this connector on the gas pedal SUCKS. Note the red tab must be slipped back and it is hard to remove. Just pull hard.
When you get to removing the dash bolts, it recommends making a tool to support the dash. Reason is there are 3 connectors connected to a module that is bolted sideways to the back of the dash and are un-reachable without the dash swung out. I highly recommend you do this if you can (10mm threads), or you will end up balancing it on your knee, which I had to do after discovering the tool I made was not long enough. Also, he-man, you WILL need 2 people to get the dash out of the vehicle. I put a heavy towel on the passenger seat so my assistant could rest his end on the seat without damaging the seat as we are-positioned to get the dash out the door.
YAY
I have a cheap usb endoscope my kid was messing with for science project, like $20 amazon. Taped it to a bold one of those flexible things with magnet on end, put it up through blower motor hole and towards center of dash, and guess what?
Nasty. Not sure what it is, but 1. It's causing the issue, and 2. It's really nasty.
Looked around on google and here for an post on dash removal for this year, none found, so here we go.
I am attaching pdfs that I followed with the main one being instrument panel removal, and the specific shifter, console, seat, and a-pillar ones that it references. There is also on for 'depower srs', I just disconnected the battery and shorted the positive and negative cables together to depower everything, but THIS IS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!
I will say that I got all the way down to actually disconnecting the evaporator. I was able to get my line disconnect tools to release the lines, but was unable to separate them in the tight space behind the engine. So I purged the system per EPA regulations of course, and pulled a vacuum on it. I let it sit overnight and no leaks. Next day I took some large trash bags and made some troughs on the floor from the evaporator on the firewall to direct water out of the vehicle, then I douched the evaporator thru the fins thru the front with a water hose every which way, let it sit to soak, did it again, then blew compressed air through the fins. Alot of crap came out. You can put your hand under and around the evap so it is up off the case and really clean it out.
I then put it all back together and it works great. I have done this on a jeep where I pulled evap completely and was not able to get it much cleaner than what I did here.
Anyhow, here are some pics where I had issues or for clarification on removal.
First up, this gem. It is the clip that holds the shift selector cable to the housing. There are 2 ears in red. They have to be pried gently towards back of vehicle then the whole clip slides out.
The cable just pops off here, I used one of those pry tools for door clips
You'll run into a few version of these, the grey plastic hinge does the work.
Document says disconnect these connectors, does not mention 1 is a vacuum connector.
If you have power pedals, this connector on the gas pedal SUCKS. Note the red tab must be slipped back and it is hard to remove. Just pull hard.
When you get to removing the dash bolts, it recommends making a tool to support the dash. Reason is there are 3 connectors connected to a module that is bolted sideways to the back of the dash and are un-reachable without the dash swung out. I highly recommend you do this if you can (10mm threads), or you will end up balancing it on your knee, which I had to do after discovering the tool I made was not long enough. Also, he-man, you WILL need 2 people to get the dash out of the vehicle. I put a heavy towel on the passenger seat so my assistant could rest his end on the seat without damaging the seat as we are-positioned to get the dash out the door.
YAY
