Another HVAC problem...

[fixinMyInLawsCar]

Hello All,

TLDR: Poor face vent airflow, broken plastic arm looking for solutions.

I'll start by saying this is my first post on this forum. I am trying to help my in-laws fix a few small problems with the Ford while I am here on vacation. I'm a BMW guy by nature and no stranger to auto repair, but I am not a professional mechanic.

I have done a lot of searching and I think there are a couple of problems that are getting confused here. I need help figuring out the best way to fix one of them.

Problem #1: Click of death (no heat). I found this most excellent sticky on that particular problem and I don't think I'll have any trouble doing that one : http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=294140

Problem #2: The face vents blow very weak. After googling I found a bunch of threads about weak air flow but I am not having the same problem. A lot of people seem to have broken recirculation doors. I may have that problem but I definitely have another that I really need suggestions on. Also it is not the blower motor. The flap actuator is no longer connected to the flap because the plastic flap arm is broken.

I opened up the glovebox (I have pics and will post if I can) and looked inside at all the vacuum actuators that control the HVAC flaps. The uppermost one on the front console stack is broken. When I say broken I mean the plastic arm coming out of the plenum assembly is broken. The actuator is functioning perfectly and I can see it moving when I change the selected vents. The actuator is no longer connected to the flap via the arm that sicks out the side of the plenum. I assume that this is also a common problem and I am just wondering how other people have solved it. I can actuate the flap by hand, it seems to naturally fall to the "vents closed" position where there is very little airflow coming out of the face vents and all the airflow comes out of the floor and defrost vents. If I rotate the broken plastic flap arm towards the back of the car the face vents open and I get really good flow out of them.

The ideas that I have come up with for fixing this are :

Can someone take a picture of what that attachment is supposed to look like?

1) drill a hole in what is left of the broken arm and use string to attach it to the actuator. This should work to close it when the actuator opens the face vents. I'm worried that under air flow it wont close when I switch it back. If there is no air flow the flap will naturally fall to the closed position so maybe I can just turn the air off and back on, but that seems really rigged.

2) ... I'm out of ideas.


HELP

http://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4FCnz78QHKXM3F3M2ViRlNtWlk
http://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4FCnz78QHKXUjVuT09rR01oTHc
http://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4FCnz78QHKXZ1VSZHc2b2N1cXc

 

[icepickjazz]

Problem #2: This broken actuator is a very common problem. My Ex has same problem. Checked with one of the favorite ford parts dealer on this forum and they said the only way Ford sells that part is with the whole plenum. For my 04 EX it was $351.37 plus shipping (MSRP 532.38, P/N 4L2Z-19850-EC). Have to pull the Dash as well.

They thought Dorman might make a repair kit (they do for the older ones) , but dash still has to come out for repair. I never followed up on that and I still aven't fixed my problem. I wonder if pick-a-part junk yard might be an option?

Here's a couple of postings with some temporary fixes the for the broken actuator:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=323586
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249624

 

[fixinMyInLawsCar]

Ok. I wasn't sure what to call all of these bits. The actuator is working fine so when I see all these people replacing actuators I assumed I was looking at the wrong threads.

The links did not work for me....

 

[icepickjazz]

Ok. I wasn't sure what to call all of these bits. The actuator is working fine so when I see all these people replacing actuators I assumed I was looking at the wrong threads.

The links did not work for me....

Links are fixed. Sorry bout that.

In hindsight, you are correct. The actuator is working, there's nothing for it to actuate.

 

[Exproblems]

Hello All,

TLDR: Poor face vent airflow, broken plastic arm looking for solutions.


Problem #1: Click of death (no heat). I found this most excellent sticky on that particular problem and I don't think I'll have any trouble doing that one : http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=294140

Problem #2: The face vents blow very weak. After googling I found a bunch of threads about weak air flow but I am not having the same problem. A lot of people seem to have broken recirculation doors. I may have that problem but I definitely have another that I really need suggestions on. Also it is not the blower motor. The flap actuator is no longer connected to the flap because the plastic flap arm is broken.

The uppermost one on the front console stack is broken. When I say broken I mean the plastic arm coming out of the plenum assembly is broken. The actuator is functioning perfectly and I can see it moving when I change the selected vents. The actuator is no longer connected to the flap via the arm that sicks out the side of the plenum.

The ideas that I have come up with for fixing this are :

1) drill a hole in what is left of the broken arm and use string to attach it to the actuator.

HELP

]

Welcome to the forum!

On Problem #1: Very common problem and the repair is do-able. You have the correct web link for that repair job. Some in here recommend using a Ford replacement "Blend Door Actuator", will cost around $80-$90 from a Ford dealership or supplier. Use your VIN number when ordering the Ford part, it ensures you get the exact part for your Explorer. Aftermarket part will cost less, but no garauntee on exact part.

On Problem #2: I think you have the right idea of a way to repair the broken arm, based upon past posts I have read on people repairing those broken vacuum vent actuator arms behind the dashboard that control the dash vents. If I remember right, someone used a plastic zip tie to re-connect the armature after drilling out a hole in what was left of the arm. I haven't had that problem myself, but have read up on posts regarding that problem. Can't give you any more info on it than that.

On the possibility of having a bad "air recirculation door" blocking the blower air flow to your vents, you'll know if you do once you get the vents working again. Once you get the vents working again, select a few different vents and turn the blower on high fan speed, if the air flow seems blocked, the air recirculation door has most likely fallen down on top of the blower housing box. It falls off of it's hinge point and actuator armature. There are posts in the forum on how to either remove the broken "air recirc door" from the blower box or to attempt the repair of it, which the older repair post involves pulling the dash out half way on the passenger side, kind of swinging it out like it's on a door hinge. I also think I read more recent posts where someone repaired the air recirc door without pulling the dash out. I think they removed the blower motor and re-attached the air recir door thru the blower motor hole at the bottom of the air box. Not 100% sure of that one, but think so. Someone else even clipped off the perforated plastic fencing/grate in the upper, behind the glove box area at the top of the blower box housing to get at the air recirc door and re-attach it thru there. To simply remove the broken air recirc and leave it out(this is what I did), which will restore your blower air flow to your vents quickly, only involves removing 4 screws and splitting the blower box open at the middle and removing the air recirc door panel which should be laying on it's side in the box. You can do this one from behind the glove box, just roll the glove box down and out of the way. It's easy. Good luck!

 

[fixinMyInLawsCar]

Thanks guys. Those replies were quick and complete. I'm sorry for repeating a very common question, but I just didn't see that specific one before.

And thanks for welcoming a BMW guy to the Ford forum. I'll try to keep it simple, topical and do a search first.