Broken Blend Doors BigClassaction.com

[Deak]

Hey

To all of you X owners with a broken blend door, I was checking out bigclassaction.com and found this. http://www.bigclassaction.com/automotive.html I posted up my blend door problem a couple of months ago, on their site but I cannot remember if they were giving it any lip service or not. Now its mentioned on that webpage link I posted.
I would suggest anyone who has a faulty blend door go over and register your problem(whether its fixed or not) with the site. It can't hurt and if we can get everyone from this site who has had problems to register a claim who knows maybe thats enough to get the ball rolling.

lets stick it to Ford,

Deak

 

[keith h]

Cars aren't perfect, and the blend door thing is irritating but not terrible. I also have a 5-series BMW and it's family of cars have had the same sort of "common" failures, many of which are much worse than the blend door situation. 540's for instance very commonly have catastrophic radiator failures under heavy engine load - that can be very serious.

My Exporer has had fewer of these common problems than a much more expensive BMW so I am pretty happy. I don't see any reason to go class action on Ford.

 

[PghBill]

Perhaps....

Originally posted by keith h
Cars aren't perfect, and the blend door thing is irritating but not terrible. . . . I don't see any reason to go class action on Ford.

Perhaps you are correct. As one whose X experienced a blend door failure, it was irritating, but not the end of the world.

On the other hand, automotive heating systems have been around since the 1930s. And engineers have had experience with plastics and other similar materials for over 50 years. In the case of the blend door, the problem is two fold:

1. Design - replacement of a $10 or $20 part (the actual blend door) requires the removal of the dashboard instead of simply removing a panel to access this minor yet important part, and
2. Materials - the use of ABS plastic in the original blend door instead of the replacement nylon suggests the engineers at Ford gave little thought to the consequences during design. Maybe they saved $5.
   [/list=1]
   
   For me the bottom line is that, because of poor design and faulty materials, Ford turned a $50 repair into an $800 hole in pocket.
   
   This was clearly a manufacturing defect that can have safety consequences if one cannot defog/defrost the windows. Ford should cover it under extended warranty.
   
   If Ford wants to keep me as a customer, it needs to focus on quality and dependability. If there is a class action lawsuit, so be it.

 

[alphabets13]

not a big deal?? i paid $600 out of pocket to get the damn thing fixed and thats a deal. it's a pretty big deal to me when you think of all the other things that you can do with $600. like put it back in my savings account where it belongs.

 

[cdsl227]

While everyone is on this subject- I got a question!

Is this blend door the thing that SLAMS (!!!) shut when the heat comes on?? Every once in a while I got something that SLAMS (!!) open or shut after starting the truck with the heat or AC on high...I mean the first time it happened I thought I hit somebody backing up.

Now that's irritating! Backing up and Wham! Every time it happens I slam the brake and take a hard look around to see if I whacked something I didn't see in the mirror.

 

[alphabets13]

Originally posted by cdsl227
While everyone is on this subject- I got a question!

Is this blend door the thing that SLAMS (!!!) shut when the heat comes on?? Every once in a while I got something that SLAMS (!!) open or shut after starting the truck with the heat or AC on high...I mean the first time it happened I thought I hit somebody backing up.

Now that's irritating! Backing up and Wham! Every time it happens I slam the brake and take a hard look around to see if I whacked something I didn't see in the mirror.

geez man i don't know. i guess you can hear it open and close sometimes when you turn the blend knob, but never a slamming sound like you are explaining.

 

[Bill Kemp]

Read John Grishams book King of Torts.
The only people that come out of a class action happy are the attys.

 

[cdsl227]

The sound I get is like- Wham! Seriousely sounds like you whacked somebody and you can feel it in the truck, guess it's just one of those wierd things I'll find when it finally breaks or something comes throught he dash at me!

 

[PghBill]

Originally posted by cdsl227
While everyone is on this subject- I got a question!

Is this blend door the thing that SLAMS (!!!) shut when the heat comes on?? . . .

The blend door problem afflicts the early 2nd generation X ('95 to '98). Your '01 shouldn't have this design and manufacturing flaw.

 

[cdsl227]

One of these days something'll come flying through the dashboard- then I'll know exactly what it was.

 

[EBInterceptor]

I have also heard the slamming noise, in the 1st gen. X's though.

 

[PghBill]

Originally posted by Bill Kemp
Read John Grishams book King of Torts.
The only people that come out of a class action happy are the attys.

I agree with you about the lawyers. And I'm not suggesting there be a class action lawsuit. The best way to get the message of quality and dependiblity to automobile manufacturers is by voting with your dollars.

This happened before. In the late 1960's, Detroit's products were going downhill, quality-wise. At the same time, the Japanese were starting to import cars, the quality of which were the pits. A guy named W. Edwards Deming made the rounds of the Big Three, talking about quality and how to get it. The attitude of the Big Three was "We have the US car market now. Go away!" The Japanese listened, and soon were importing high quality cars. Detroit woke up and, although quality has improved, is still playing catch-up.

Prior to my experiences with the Explorer, I owned two Toyota pick-ups. The first was an '84 4x2 5 speed. I put over 200,000 miles on the clock. Did the normal maintenance items. Never touched the carburetor. Original clutch. The only problem was that it 'ate' the water pump about every 60,000 mi. But it was no big deal.

I traded the '84 on a '93 Toyota 4x2 5 speed. I put over 150,000 on it before selling it to buy the '97 XLT (Used - 56,000 mi - in '02). Did the usual maintenance. Aside from replacing the clutch at 130,000 miles, no problems to speak of. In terms of quality, dependability and longevity, Toyota lived up to my expectations.

On the other hand, the Explorer has not. IMHO, the stock Ford Explorer is a fragile and poorly designed piece of equipment. True, I like all the creature comforts and gadgets on the XLT. And it is comfortable. But the engineering design leaves much to be desired.

Much has been written in other posts about the transmissions. There is even a thread to the effect "How long did your transmission last!" Automatic transmission have been around for over 50 years! And we are asking this question? On my X, the blend door failed (See above post). Last February, a lower ball joint failed (lubed at the factory for the life of the vehicle, no less!). Last fall, the front wheel bearing failed (also lubed at the factory for life). Instead of a $100 bearing replacement, the entire hub togther with ABS sensor needed replacing.

Maybe its true - the X is only suitable for moms taking their kids to soccer matches and shopping at the grocery store and mall! Was the X designed for the lease market? (5 years, 50,000 mi and then on to something new?)

Back to the attorneys . . . lawsuits won't improve quality. Customers taking dollars elsewhere will be far more effective.

End of Rant.

 

[98BlackXSport]

well i registered at bigclassaction, who knows if it will do anything, but it is worth a shot.

 

[jimbo74]

so your heater doesnt work, i dont think you can get in on a lawsuit for that....... parts break over time...

can i sue a tire company if they advertise a tire has an 80k mile treadware warranty and i only get 50k out of them? nope, they can blame it on crazy driving or a lot of other things as well....

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by Bill Kemp
Read John Grishams book King of Torts.
The only people that come out of a class action happy are the attys.

That book is a great read.

 

[98BlackXSport]

I am not looking to sue, just trying to get something done about a design flaw that has the potential to be a major hazard.

 

[PghBill]

Yes, But . . .

Originally posted by jimabena74
so your heater doesnt work, i dont think you can get in on a lawsuit for that....... parts break over time...

This is not a case of a part wearing out. The part was defective to start with! Ford knew about this problem in November, 1997 when they issued a Technical Service Bulletin. Its only a question of time until the blend door breaks.

 

[explr1]

Everybody needs to quit the belly aching about the blend door. It's a 15 minute fix with a drill, number 3 finishing nail and a drop of super glue. I fixed mine that way.

 

[Deak]

Originally posted by jimabena74

can i sue a tire company if they advertise a tire has an 80k mile treadware warranty and i only get 50k out of them? nope, they can blame it on crazy driving or a lot of other things as well.... [/B]

but if your tires showed normal wear, (no suspension probs) you would be entitled to a pro-rated warranty.....

As far as the 15 minute fix, I tried it for an hour drilled 3 holes, and could not get any of them to work....Explr1 you are more than welcome to come out and fix mine... Also remember the 15 minute fix will eventually fail since there still is a broken door.
Over the years between my immediate family we have owned 14 new cars all from all three major US makers some were better than others but NONE of them had a problem with the heater. Maybe thats just good luck or the fact that heaters usually only fail at the core and maybe blower motor after years and years of use not four or five years of ownership.

Deak

 

[explr1]

Originally posted by Deak
As far as the 15 minute fix, I tried it for an hour drilled 3 holes, and could not get any of them to work....
Deak

Maybe yours is to gone for the nail to grap anything. My works great now. Did you drill the actuator shaft opposite from the missing piece in the blend door shaft hole? Remember, it's upside down when you take it out and look at it. Did you check to see if the actuator shaft moves when you change temp settings? That could be bad also. I've never heard of it not working. Also your right, sooner or later the other part will break off as well.