Blend door actuator troubleshooting. | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Blend door actuator troubleshooting.

adaemke

New Member
Joined
June 15, 2009
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Year, Model & Trim Level
2001 XLT
Hello all. This is my first posting here and I must say, because of this site I was able to repair my AC situation of my 2001 Explorer XLT 4.0.

Noticed the problem three years ago, AC would blow out only hot air. Was informed by the Ford Dealership that my BLEND DOOR had broken and the cost of repair was over $1,000.00. Naturally I opted not to repair due to the cost. Note that MAX AC still worked only because it does not rely on the BLEND DOOR.

In reading posts about BLEND DOOR problems and possible ways to repair without the overwelming cost I learned how the AC temp control unit, BLEND DOOR and actuator actually work. Here's the deal...

In reading several posts regarding potential ways of repairing the BLEND DOOR - they all said to cut the Plenum behind the glovebox to access the BLEND DOOR. Much opposed to spending over a grand to repair, I highly agree with the mentioned repair methods involving cutting the Plenum. However...BEFORE you cut anything....insure that the problem is infact the BLEND DOOR and not the Door actuator or something else. In my case, it was the actuator - a fairly easy and inexpensive part. The actuator sits ontop of the Plenum behind the glovebox. If you drop the glovebox down and look under the Actuator with a flashlight, you are able to see the actuator servo. While looking at the servo with a light:

1) Start the vehicle
2) Hold flashlight in a way so you can visably see the white plastic servo (Link) connect to the big black box (Plenum) Blend Door
3) While looking at the servo, turn the temp control nob from hot to cold.
4) Note - the actuator turns very slow so don't be looking for a fast turning unit. Watch carefully.
5) If the unit does NOT move - you most likely have a bad Actuator.

Ford sells a new Blend Door Actuator for about $75.00 bucks (part number YL5H-19E616-AC) but they sold it to me at their cost of $36.50 because I threw a big fit because I have not had a proper running AC unit for the past three years when the vehicle was under the used vehicle warranty that I purchased with the vehicle. In other words - the Blend Door was not covered by my warranty but the Blend Door Actuator was and was never repaired. Either poor or lazy mechanics that don't really get to the root of the cause. Parts changers I like to call them.

Point of this post is this - Don't cut or severly alter anything stock until you have either diagnosed the problem corectly or completly understand the project at hand. Note that had the Blend Door been the culprit, I would have taken everyone's repair method of cutting the Plenum and repairing the door that way. Because of you all I was able to solve the problem. Thanks so much,

Anthony
 



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Hi and welcome to the forum. As you learned first-hand, there is some really good information here but sometimes you have to follow your own path in diagnosing the issues you may have with your truck. Some symptoms could have one, or more, related or unrelated problems and some detective work is involved in locating the actual cause.
 






Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread to the stock 95-01 section. Thanks for making your first post useful for everybody. Could you update your post with the Ford part number of the actuator?
 






Added the Ford Part Number to my original post. Let me know if I can be of any more assistance.
 












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