has anyone fixed broken recirculate / fresh door

[Curtis]

All,
Here is my summary of actions regarding this problem.
1. First I verified that the door was off its hinges and laying in the bottom of the duct box. I was able to stick my fingers into the grill on top of the duct box and feel and move the door. I also removed the squirrel cage fan motor from its housing and was able to see the door laying on top of the mesh grill.
2. There are 8 screws (bolts) in the duct box. For reference purposes I label them clockwise from the right rear around the front to the left rear. Rightside rear #1, right side front #2, frontside-right #4, frontside-center #5, etc. These screws provide three functions. Six (6) of them hold the lid on the bottom. One of them holds the bottom of the duct box to the fan enclosure. The last screw is a brace between the duct box and the center console. I removed all of the screws except the frontside-center. I then was able to pry up the lid and was able to remove the recirculate door. The I closed the duct box and installed all of the screws. The rightside-rear was the most difficult to get out and to get back in. Patience and perserverence won.
3. I then taped off the air inlet using the procedure described by Curtis. I removed the passenger side wiper arm making sure that I marked the location of the blade before removal. I then removed the passenger side cowl grill by pruying up at the end and the middle where it joins the driver side cowl. Once the cowl grill was out of the way I used a putty knife to go around the triangular cover to loosen the sealant. Note that the cover has a lip. You only have to go in approximately 1/4 inch to free the edge of the cover. Once the cover was removed I sealed the inlet using UL118 foil a/c duct tape. The foil tape is ideal for this application. I then reinstalled everything and resealed the cover with the UL118 foil tape along its edges.
4. It took me about an hour and half to do everything including an operations check after completion.
5. The system is now permanently in the max a/c mode and works terrifically. Lots of air flow and very quick cool down.

Curtis, special thanks to you for your pioneering work and sharing your results with everyone.

Nice job! tks for reporting back

 

[esclamada]

I'm wondering what made the door fall off? is the motor broken or the part that holds it to the motor is broken/worn because it's made of plastic?

Is it possible to just glue some metal rod pushing that recirc door back and securing that rod? probably just J-Weld it. It will be always in MAX AC mode which is probably fine, I seldom use fresh air anyway.

 

[esclamada]

I just realized that when in defrost mode to prevent fogging of the windows, the recirc door will open up to let outside air go to the defroster vents. This is similar to opening up the windows to clear up the fog.

So shutting this recirc door may not be the best temporary solution at all or somebody that did this fix doesn't have any issues at all?

Shame on ford engineers for a very cheap design, I also read about that shifter made of pot metal, butt crack applique and rear axle seal leaks! Are we running out of engineers from ford and cars were designed by bean counters?

 

[Curtis]

Northern'ers may run into that problem, but any air blowing on the wind shield should clear off the fog.

Here in the south the fog occurs on the outside when the glass becomes cold enough from the AC, then the wipers can wipe it off.