3rd gen Explorer Blend Door Actuator Replacement

[onlyonthursford]

HEy people! i just signed up cause my wife's 1997 ford explorer lost heat last night. Im in San Antonio, TX and it has been unsually cold this winter (it was 29 last night!!! i know thats nothing to you northerners ).....anyways my wife is freezing her butt off and at first i thought it would be the heater core...now that i found this site i think its that blend door/actuator that all you guys are having issues with. From what it looks like like we have no Heat at all but the a/c works fine...ill check more in depth tonite when i get home from work. Nice site you guys have here.....i personally own a 1982 Mazda RX-7 (i love the rotary engine!!) and a 1962 Impala so doing work my self is something i do frequently (especially with the rotary haha!)....... wish me luck in finding the no heat problem and fixing it

 

[LowSpeedChase]

Just replaced mine today. Heat works great. I tried using the cheap one from Advance Auto and after hooking up two of them that didn't work at all, I went to Ford and bought the real one. Costs a little more, works great, just buy it if you have this problem.

 

[praetorian63]

currently i am in the middle of doing this with it snowing right now, one statement is all....def def definitly a pain in the arse, def definitly! "a little rain man"

3 hours later and all done.....works like a charm!

 

[Ejectr]

Not no heat...I have max heat

Here's a problem with my wife's 2002 Explorer XLS. There is max heat, no AC in Max AC.

If I turn the temp adjust, I can feel the air temp cool down slightly from max position back to 1 o'clock position and I can hear the blend door moving. After 1 o'clock back to cold, there is no more change to the air temp, which is still pretty hot, and no further noise from the door. It is not a clicking noise I hear but a moving noise. If I rotate back to max heat, there is no change in temp nor door noise until the knob reaches the 1 o'clock position. The temp gets hotter after passing the 1 o'clock position until it reaches max heat where it is very hot and again I can hear the door motion after passing 1 o'clock on the temp dial.

There is no max AC. The air is hot throughout the whole travel of the temp control.

Does this sound like a broken actuator gear? I sure hope it's not the blend door axle. What ever possessed those Ford engineers to move this plenum from behind the glove box to behind the console, I'll never know.

 

[Ejectr]

Here's a problem with my wife's 2002 Explorer XLS. There is max heat, no AC in Max AC.

If I turn the temp adjust, I can feel the air temp cool down slightly from max position back to 1 o'clock position and I can hear the blend door moving. After 1 o'clock back to cold, there is no more change to the air temp, which is still pretty hot, and no further noise from the door. It is not a clicking noise I hear but a moving noise. If I rotate back to max heat, there is no change in temp nor door noise until the knob reaches the 1 o'clock position. The temp gets hotter after passing the 1 o'clock position until it reaches max heat where it is very hot and again I can hear the door motion after passing 1 o'clock on the temp dial.

There is no max AC. The air is hot throughout the whole travel of the temp control.
Does this sound like a broken actuator gear? I sure hope it's not the blend door axle. What ever possessed those Ford engineers to move this plenum from behind the glove box to behind the console, I'll never know.

Not a very cozy feeling when you notice the only green meatball lit up on the forum is your own.

 

[asurotc206]

Add me to the list..$80 bucks, 3 hours and a few cuss words later...my heat works. even though its 73 out today...

notice the teeth in and on the white gear...thanks Ford

 

[jakedrew]

add another one to the list.

left for work this morning, seen the wife had the heater on cold ( been warm out) , so i switched to over to hot and it starting making clicking/ thumping noises. Like a stripped gear, where it would catch, lift the blend door and the hit the stripped spot and drop the door.

Hopped on the forums, and going to ford to pick up my blend door motor deal!.

I swear, reading on other sites like car complaints and just doing a search on google about this issue got me so confused. Damn people talking about taking it in and 1500$ later.

I always ask the ford parts guy " how many of these do you sell" , that gives me a good indicator on common problem stuff and he says " Sold 2 last month, one the prior month, 2 in decemeber and we try to keep these in stock" .


i love you guys!. i will post back when my project is done. wish me luck!

 

[Ejectr]

I'm confused. everyone seems to be talking about no heat. I have just the opposite problem of max heat and can't turn it down.

I don't hear the clicking at all when I turn the temp knob. I'm thinking I have a broken blend door axle more than a acctuator.

 

[jakedrew]

Ya, my problem is I have no heat and I hear the clicking noise.

I can actually get heat, just turn the dail to hot and turn the fan to # 4/ high and it will blow the door open and stay there.


I will keep this post updated, I am picking up the part tonight and plan on doing it here soon.
wish me luck.

 

[jakedrew]

Ok. GOT it done. I got heat!!! and my little gear was stripped out just like in the picture.

Cant thank you guys enough for the instructions! made things easier!


I too had trim the dash a little bit to get the actuator out. you will see when you are down there. No way that motor was coming out with out a little bit of trimming with the utility knife. only I know where it was trimmed, as the center consoul covers it up. Sucks trimming a little, but beats removing the dash . ..

I plugged in the new one and watched it move/ made sure it was on cold.

I can see if you dont turn it on, put it in and the motor goes to hot/ cold and the blend door bottoms out and probably would snap another little gear.


3 HOURS start to finish, took a break in between. Took my time. If you are a bigger person i can see this job being extremely tough.

I am a smaller guy ( 6 foot/ 170lbs).

Hardest part for me was getting to the actuator screws and removing it/ putting it back in.


but thanks again for the instructions!

 

[jakedrew]

forgot to add.

A 8mm racheting wrench helped with getting the actuator bolts off.

 

[Mitch Roberts]

Another successful repair. Mucho thanks to all the contributors!! Saved me a pant load of money, and it wasn't all that hard. Only $68 for the OEM part at my dealer.

Having the console out allowed me to vacuum up all the crud that had accumulated between the seats in 7+ years. I think there were enough bits and pieces to make up a McDonald's Combo Meal. LOL

Oh, and I checked my records - my first actuator gave it up back in '05 at about 47K miles (dealer fixed under warranty). I now have about 130K, so a little better service life out of the second unit.

Mitch

 

[jakedrew]

did anyone else have to cut /trim a little of the dash pad to get the actuator out?

 

[gmben]

Thanks to all

Hey everyone,

It is good to have safety in numbers when it comes to these types of problems. I too have to face the prospect of changing my actuator. Just noticed on Monday, during one of our early Wisconsin warm days that I kept feeling heat coming from the floor even thought the temp was set on cold.

Now I as, honestly, why the world did the not use a stronger gearing. Looks like the worm drive is made of brass. I can understand from a noise standpoint, but this is a disgrace. I sure wish I had read the reviews before I bought this vehicle. I know now why they unloaded it at 74K.

Two new front bearing hubs. Tranny is starting to do what they do (long pause to get into reverse and drive). What's next?

Well no more rambling, but everyone needs a big thanks!!

 

[JDMDrift]

Maybe someone could help me with my problem then. I have a 2001 Explorer Sport Trac with no heat or ac up front but the heater in back works just fine. Is that the blend door or something else

 

[Justin B]

I'm planning on trying this myself. I do have one question though. If we have the automatic climate control, do I need to set the blend actuator to a particular blend before I install it?
Thanks.

 

[jakedrew]

^ I do believe so. I know mine is a manual .


Best bet is go to the ford shop, they will plug in your VIN # and you will get the right part.

On the box mine came in it said manual. just something to look at when you pick your part up.


good luck.


keep us updated on how it goes!

 

[BigRondo]

Looks like you can add me to the list.:thumbdwn: Not that I mind being in such fine company (lol). Mine is making all kinds of clicking noises when I turn the heat on (it was about 30 here last night) and I can hear the door slam shut when it finally goes. The A/C is working good so I may have to put this one on one of the open back burners as there are some other things I want to do know that the nice weather is coming. Hey I have a question: every Ford I've ever had has blown like crazy with the MAX A/C on and my X blows the same on A/C or MAX A/C. Could this be related? Thanks.

 

[mikeinri]

Not sure, the main difference is that on Max AC, you will be recirculating cabin air, vs bringing in outside air. I think you should hear a door move when you switch between the two.

Mike

 

[BigRondo]

Yeah, no doors,: no recirculated air. Also no 3rd speed on the fan. Guess I can add that to the list.