Blend door or vacuum line?

[RicketyExplorer]

Is this it? if it is it's 18.99 at autozone.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/pa..._/N-jg9hpZ91sh0?itemIdentifier=933612_0_9975_

 

[radford]

Wire tie fix

Just wanted to add that I have a 2003 Explorer that had the same issue. I popped out the glove box, and found the broken plastic arm. I was able to drill a hole in the plastic arm, and looped a wire tie to the existing hole in the metal arm, and managed to tighten up the wire tie. It took some time and effort (and a band-aid), but I fixed it. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Pang]

The best and most permanent fix i have found was just to directly screw my AC bend doors shut so that the AC only blows out the front. I hardly use defrosters, so I thought why not?

Anyway, just something to consider.

 

[bradley1]

Broken "axel"

I have this problem too. Only mine has broken not where the vacuum powered actuator rod meets the plastic, but the "axel" that goes into the plenum chamber broke as seen in the picture!

Anyone have any ideas? I have my Explorer half taken apart in my garage now. I think I want to take off the dash to make life easier. Have you seen a good how-to anywhere?

Hello, 8yrs ago I realize. But were able to find a repair procedure or parts to/ make a repair? I have the same issue. Any response would be much appreciated!

 

[SouthernCharm]

Broken plastic arm

Just wanted to add that I have a 2003 Explorer that had the same issue. I popped out the glove box, and found the broken plastic arm. I was able to drill a hole in the plastic arm, and looped a wire tie to the existing hole in the metal arm, and managed to tighten up the wire tie. It took some time and effort (and a band-aid), but I fixed it. Thanks for the advice.

This is exactly the problem I am having (2002 Explorer XLT), and my husband's fix is the same: drill a hole in the broken plastic arm and run a wire.

Problem is.....the plastic is very brittle, so I'd like to get a new plastic arm. He's going to a lot of trouble getting to this in order to fix it (he's trying to remove the airbag to prevent from removing the entire dash). Can I just buy a new plastic arm somewhere? Or does that arm come attached to a part I can buy, and if so, what is the name or part number of the part? Thanks for any help you could provide.

 

[SCoup]

Easy Fix

I drilled a hole through the left over nub on the lever. Then connected to lever to the vacuum rod with a wire tire. Worked like a charm!

 

[balgame03]

Blend Door not fully closing for Heat

I've read all of the threads on this chain and cannot seem to figure out my issue. I just replaced the blend door actuator on my 2003 Ford Explorer. It seems to be working as the door moves when switching between hot and cold. However, when I switch to full hot/warm, the door does not close all the way, causing only room temperature "heat" to come out. Does anyone know what is causing this issue, or how to fix it?

Here is a link to a video I shot of what can be seen from inside the glove box door. There are tons of youtube videos of the temporary fixes for broken blend door actuators by just pushing down the tab to the door within the glovebox, and then sometimes zip tying it down or some sort of temporary fix (just youtube ford explorer blend door actuator, and you'll see what I'm talking about). My door doesn't click or anything, it just does not shut all the way as you'll see in the video. I did not narrate the video, so here's an explanation.

First, the video is essentially upside down because of the way I had to hold the camera phone. The video starts with the thermostat in full heat mode. I then turn it to cold, and you will see the arm start going and then sort of flick up then continue on to rest against a little silver metal "nipple" looking thing. You can hear it still working, and it takes about 2 seconds for it to decompress that nipple. I then turn the switch back to full heat, and as you'll see, it takes about 2-3 seconds for it to start engaging, even though the motor is working. When it starts going, it only goes about halfway of what it's supposed to go to fully close the blend door. I then stick my hand down, push down the lever so it's fully closed. Then I turn the switch back to full cold, and you'll see that it pops up again like it did in the beginning.

Any ideas what this might be? Broken door, bad actuator, bad heater valve, etc.? Any insight is much appreciated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ANLJXg5UCQ

 

[Hoju1313]

No air from defroster

I seem to have the opposite problem from everyone else I have seen so far. I only get air from the vents on the dash and get nothing from the defrosters. From what I have read, if there is an issue with the vacuum hoses it defaults to defrost, so is my problem the actuator door behind the glove box? My wife is on me about this every day. Thanks.

 

[IIGood]

Thread from the dead...

I've recently developed this issue as well. In watching the operation of the actuator arm, it seems it only has two positions: fully extended and fully retracted. Yet there would seem to be five positions for the vents, at least by my count: defrost only, defrost/floor, floor only, vents/floor, vents only. Correct? How does it divert to the floor vents if the arm doesn't move to a different position for that?

Anyway...I digress...I had just spent 20 minutes "studying" this from under the dash and trying to come up with a fix. It doesn't look like much of the vent arm breaks off but I do see how it would get over-extended from the actuator arm when it fully extends. I dunno...I guess I was just trying to recreate how it's actually supposed to look and "reverse engineer." Me and my overthinking mind...LOL.

I think I'm gonna try the zip-tie fix in post #19 here. It seems effective.

 

[IIGood]

I took a stab at this last night and was unsuccessful initially. I was going to pattern mine after the method in post 19 in this thread...I got the zip tie through the metal actuator arm, and then tried wrapping it around the vent door's plastic arm. It wouldn't quite stay in place and that alone was rather tricky to get. I'm not sure how I would tackle wrapping the second zip tie around it to keep it in place. I may try it again tonight or I might try the double-side tape/electrical tape method in post 18.

 

[J Michael]

Have the same problem. The end of the door arm broke off . Drilled a hole through the stub of the arm and threaded a zip tie through. For best results, thread the zip tie through the plastic arm first and push it almost all the way through.
Then, use a needle nose pliers and pull the threaded end back and push through the hole in the vacuum link.
Only tighten the zip tie part way. Then, switch the vent control back and forth between vent and defrost to see how long the zip tie needs to be.
Once you know the length, tighten the zip tie to this length.
Works great and passed the spouse test.

 

[Broke(n)]

Interesting. Wa

I've just repaired mine two days ago with the exact symptoms. if you can push the door gently then the door is not attached to the vacuum motor (if it's attached it will resist pushing because of its spring). in this case the henge of the door is broken as it was on mine.
to confirm, drop down the glove box and look up inside and you'll see the vacuum motor arm hanging free and the broken henge is obvious there as well.

see the image below.

This just happened to me today. Glad I found this thread. Already had a solution, but wanted to see what everyone came up with. I think I like the 'drill small hole and thin wire' approach.
Does anyone know if removing the radio gives more access to all this?

 

[Stephen M]

Does anyone have the part number or name of the plastic black arm? Mine is broken as well and I may try to pull the radio and replace it.

 

[seanauff]

Hi All, I created a 3D printable part that fixes this problem: 2004 Ford Explorer Blend Door Lever Fix by seanauff

 

[BrooklynBay]

Thanks for taking the time to model a replacement part. Do you think that nylon would be more durable or is regular pla good enough? I don't see much of a difference between the Inland pla, and the newer pla +.

 

[KevN2009]

Thanks for taking the time to model a replacement part. Do you think that nylon would be more durable or is regular pla good enough? I don't see much of a difference between the Inland pla, and the newer pla +.

I have the same issue, but air will blow randomly thru the front vents, sometimes when braking, so I thought it had to do with the vacuum. Would that also happen with the broken lever? I replaced the check valve at the firewall and that didn't help. Thanks!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Check the vacuum reserve canister. Does your cruise control work?

 

[KevN2009]

Check the vacuum reserve canister. Does your cruise control work?

Yes

 

[FrankInDE]

I used the wire tie fix and it worked great. Cheap and fast fix.
I used a hot center punch to make a hole in the arm and two pairs of needle nose pliers to thread the wire tie through the hole in the arm and the servo rod. I bit tricky given the space but this fix works great.