Hi, I have an issue with an 02 defrost/no go...

[Red 02]

Just found this forum, may be useful in the future. I have an 02 that recently shown a problem with the defrost. No not the typical stuck on defrost but the other way around, not much flow at all. I have taken a sections of the dash apart to have a better look at things.

The 3 vacuum motors and doors on the passengers side of the vehicle operate and or function and have no broken parts.

Also the blend door on the driver's side operates, no broken parts. Fan motor works in all speeds, took it out and checked, no debris up inside. No clicking noises from any of the doors that I can hear or see.

Heat or hot air comes out when dial is turned to that mode. Good flow to floor vents, dash vents, top dash vents on either side but very little flow to the defrost.

Truck has 15" of vacuum (5200' altitude) on the engine side, no leaks. No leaks near the canister on the passenger's side however there may be a small leak in the gray line that feeds the following unknown component.

There is one item I notice that has vacuum lines going to it but I do not know what it is. This piece is situated just below the lowest vacuum motor on the passengers side and has black and gray vacuum lines going to it. This thing is almost at the bottom of the large air box that sits in the center of the dash and is on the passengers side of the compartment. What is this?

What am I missing here? There should have much more flow to the vents that sit just under the windshield. Help and photos would be appreciated.

 

[gtyates]

The plastic arm to your defrost flap has broken. Sadly, a common problem... Mine has as well. So that my son has defrost I have run some metal strapping (like you use for pipes under a house) down trough the top defrost vents to keep the flap open. The negative to this is that when he tries to switch to floor heat it is also a mixture of defrost/heat, but for now it at least keeps him a defroster that "functions".. I am trying to find a creating way to run some sort of screw through the defrost arm to re-attached it to the broken tip, but for now my goal is for his safety.. This is a TERRIBLE design Ford... and they should be responsible for fixing this since it is a safety issue..

 

[Red 02]

Checked and all of the arms to the actuators as mentioned above are ok and functioning with full movement when the selector is moved around. I have a lot apart so I can see pretty well the actions of the arms and the blend door. Now are you saying there is some other door up by the vent openings by the windshield that is not operated by the top most actuator? Stumped on this one.

 

[mountaineer2004]

My defrost is weak too. I thought that's just the way it is.

 

[Red 02]

Mountaineer, I agree now. I have just finished reassembling the dash and related on my Explorer and it seems like everything is working as it should. There is however a noticeable difference as of late with regard to de-fogging and ice build up. I suspect that there is an issue with the a/c side of the unit. I will dig deeper into that next. I have a/c in the summer however it seems to randomly go from cool to warm on occasion.

GTyates, there are some good videos out there showing how to fix your issue if in fact the arm on your unit has broken at the end where the actuator attaches. You can see this one if you open the glove box and look up to the left. While the engine is running you can switch from floor to defrost or other functions to see if the actuator is moving or not. If you find that it is moving but the small plastic end where it attaches is broken have a look at some of those videos, there are some good creative fixes that can be done without much work.

 

[mountaineer2004]

I only say that because it was weak defrost from the beginning, even when the car was new. I sorta solved the problem by cleaning the inside of the window at least once a month. It helps a lot to keep the foggy window to a minimum. Yea, the a/c really helps in defrost, and should come on approximately 40 degrees and above. Maybe that's the problem (bad sensor...) Good luck!