Blend door questions

[maagk]

No Heat/new thermostat, out of ideas NEED HELP!!!!

Hello, I have a 96 Ford Explorer, 6 cyl. Last month my husband said that my antifreeze was low, so he flushed out the radiator and put all new in. I got into the car and drove to get groceries and no heat! Before he did the flush I had HEAT all the time, I have owned the vehicle since it was new. The next day it started to blow warm air and it by the next day all was back to normal. He said it was an air block and worked its way out. Monday of last week it did it again, no heat, and this time the outside temp was 3 above 0. Needless to say, it was a cold drive to work!!! My husband said that it was probably the themostat and today replaced it. Well, I still do not have any heat. He also said that he has been smelling antifreeze around the car for the last few months, but I cannot smell anything, and do not notice any leaks. He is at his wits end. He is a trailer truck mechanic and welcomes any and all ideas as it is driving him crazy! Since i posted this last week on another site, this is what we have done. I made an appointment with my local reputable mechanic. (not a dealer) he said that it was the temp control valve on top of the engine. It was leaking, so he replaced it and refilled the system, this was on Thursday. I had sporadic heat but not like previous. Mechanic said it was probably a bad new themostat and told me to go to a real auto parts store to buy another themostat. I went to Napa and got a new one. On Friday it finally gave me heat late in the afternoon, I had been out on sales calls all day. Saturday No Heat. Today, Sunday, my hubby installed the new thermostat and we ran the system to bleed off the air bubbles. I still do not have heat. HELP 911, I am running out of money trying to fix this thing, I LOVE my red explorer and do not want to have to buy a new one, I own my own business and cannot afford a car payment. Thx in advance.

 

[LStoudenmire]

I'm not sure about the '96's however on the '94's there is a heater control valve located on the heater hose near the firewall, passengers side. You may want to make sure it is not stuck closed. It is vacuam controlled and should move open and close as you change the control from heat to A/C.

I replaced my heater control valve because mine had deterioted, after I installed the replacement, it has a tendency to get stuck and the heat will not work until I fully open it by hand. Once I open it, it'll usu. stay open.

Hope this helps.

 

[Robb]

Try this as a test. Next time you are in it and have no heat, try switching to Max A/C and wait about 30 seconds, then switch to full Heat and wait about 30 seconds. Try this sequence a few times and pay attention for 1) a clunking noise coming from behind the dash on the passenger side, or 2) the heat kicks on at some point in this process. This is a test to determine if your A/C Blend Door is broken, which is a VERY common problem on '96/'97 Explorers.

 

[BradE.]

Your blend door on the heater case might be stuck , it's a pretty common problem on Explorers. Do you get heat in defrost mode?

Edit: Dang it Robb, beat me by 3 minutes.

 

[maagk]

THANK YOU GUYS! I am going to go out and try this, Hubby is at work. Is the blend door a fix that my husband can do himself? Is it easy? Where can I get the info?

 

[maagk]

Hi Robb, my system bliped and i do not know if the last message reached you. anyway if it did not I will start over again. (darn it!) anyway i went out to the garage and turned on the engine. i waited about 15 minutes and then went back out and turned on the heater. Cold air. I then opened the hood and opened the glove box door. I pushed on the catches on the glove box door to open it up so that i could see behind it. i turned on the max a/c and i saw a large door on the right open. when i switched to heat (90degrees) it closed. I did as you suggested and went from max a/c to heat a few times, leaving it on each setting for at least 1 minute. the large door opened and closed with the max a/c but when i just lowered the temp from 90 to 60 the door did not open, it stayed closed. I did notice that when i switched to heat that the air would not blow as cold but then I would hear the engine click and the air would come out COLD. I also felt all of the air tubes in the engine and they are hot. I also have had this loud whining noise coming from the engine, it has been doing this for a few years and no one has been able to tell me what it is. It did it's whining thing for about 15 seconds and then stopped and the engine seemed to lose a little power but came back right away. Is the blend door fix something that i can do myself or do I need my husband or mechanic to do it? Is is just a short term fix or will it last at least until spring when i am going to trade it in for a new one? I really love my red truck, so much that that is why I still have it, and really do not wnat to get rid of it, but hubby says that if it is causing trouble, i have to sell it.

 

[Robb]

Well, your hubby sounds mechanical enough to fix the blend door with a proven "jerry rig." This procedure isn't perfect, but for those that have done it (including myself), the heating and ac has worked great since doing it. For the dealer, or a mechanic, to truly "fix" the problem requires removal and replacement of the ac plenum, which includes removing most of the dash, and will cost many hundreds of dollars. This fix will cost you nothing if you have a few household tools sitting around. And the great part is that it will take less than an hour to fix.

http://www.blenddoorfix.netfirms.com/ one sorta correction to the procedure. place your controls in FULL HEAT BEFORE removing the actuator



And on a side note, does the whine under the hood sound like this?
http://homepage.mac.com/dogfriend/iMovieTheater14.html

edit: I just got your email, but I see you found where the thread went. Good Luck!

 

[maagk]

Hi robb, the noise is similar but higher pitched. Also another question, how will the quick fix affect the a/c? will it still work?
Thanx, maagk

 

[maagk]

Hi again, in previous thread i think i have narrowed it down from everyone great advise,to the blend door. i printed out the directions for the 'quick fix' and then realized i have some additional questions.
I my a/c heater is one of the ones that has the automatic on it. It has 6 buttons(i think, i am counting them in my head from memory) for heat contol, I can set temp from 60 - 90 degrees and i can turn off the back seat heater. When i was looking at the blend door directions it states for cars that have only 2 heat settings, heat and max a/c. Will this quick fix work for my explorer? Also if this will work for mine, how will it affect the a/c this summer? I am going to my trusty mechanic tomorrow morning and show him the quick fix directions and see if he can do it. I am really tired of freezing when I am driving.

 

[Robb]

Yes, it will work on your EATC (digital) system. Just be sure to put it on at least 80 (full heat) before starting the fix. Mine, personally, has EATC and I did this fix on mine, and it has been great for months.

If done correctly, your heat and a/c will work exactly as it came from the factory. Think of it this way. You have an actuator motor that has a driveshaft shaped as a "D". This actuator drives a damper (the blend door) that is controlled by a "female" round shaft that has a "D" shaped opening in the middle of it. The actuator D shaft fits into the blend door D opening. Now, what has happened to yours is that the female D shaft on the blend door has split in two, and all that is left is a half-D (I can't illustrate a half-D ), but what you are left with, at the blend door end, is a half circle. With this fix, all you are doing is manipulating the actuator D shaft into a shaft with a pin through it so it has the ability to turn the, now present, half-cirlce shaft of the blend door shaft. In theory, it should work forever..............then again, in theory, the factory shafts should have worked forever.

 

[maagk]

The heat just mysteriously came on!!

!! Yesterday i was out all day and all of the sudden I heard like a shutting noise and the system just started to blow heat!!!! The evening before my hubby took out the acutator just to look around, and then put it back until he could work on it this weekend. Do you think that doing that shut the blend door? If I leave the heat on all the time, do you think the door will stay the correct way for heat, or at least for 2 weeks until I get back from New York?
PS, hubby found me an Excursion!! IT IS SO BIG!!!! It is a really good deal so we may test drive it this weekend. IT IS SO BIG!!! but better than the suburban he has wanted to buy. It is a 2000 with only 55,000 miles and a 2 year full warrenty. Any problems that I should be looking for?
see ya!
monica

 

[Eneurb]

If the Excursion has a gasoline engine, make sure that the spark plugs have been replaced with the new (updated) Motorcraft spark plugs. The plugs have a longer thread to prevent the dreaded "spark plug blowing out of the cylinder head" problem.