Need help on which blend door actuator - 2015 Ford Explorer

[jdpimp]

Hi everyone! I need some clarification that my google-fu has been unable to help. My 2015 Ford Explorer (Limited 3.5L AWD Dual Climate Control), while trying to blow HEAT, it is only blowing heat through the driver's side vents (one in the middle and one near the door). The passenger side remains cold. If I switch to defrost or to floor, I can hear what sounds like vents changing but the air still only comes out through the "face" vents (only driver side hot) even though it sounds like it is trying to blow air through the defrost vents. I understand this is probably a blend door (or vent) actuator most likely but they all look like a pain to replace and I'd hate to do the wrong one. On this forum, I saw a diagram that was not helpful (to me)... Can anyone narrow down which actuator? Is it possible that it is the passenger side actuator only? Will FORScan narrow it down (I am not familiar with it but it seems useful?)?

Additional info that may or may not help: During the summer, the A/C would stop blowing cold on hot days when I was stopped at a light or whatever. If I was driving, the air would get cold again (refrigerant pressure seems within range) Also, recently, sometimes the dash "hisses" like air is being passed through a narrow passage. It seems to occur when the car might switch (automatically) from one set of vents to another. Maybe I have heard some quiet clicking as well.

Thanks in advance!

 

[EC90]

Hey there, my wife and I had the same problem in ours. The passenger side vents would not blow hot air and we could not change to defrost either. Living up in the mountains where it snows a lot made this a real big issue one year. The issues you describe sound very much like a failing/failed blend door actuator. Unfortunately, it would also be two actuators that need replacing. The passenger heat is a fairly easy one as it basically just requires basic tools and the removal of the glove box to gain access to that one. The defrost one (or the one that controls vent position of front, defrost, and feet positioning) is a pain in the butt. That one is behind the dash in a complicated spot requiring additional tools and lots of patience. General quotes for the vent positioning one can range from $1200-$1600 to repair. In my opinion, it's definitely worth the time to do it yourself as the part and tools needed cost less than $100 but it'll probably take around 3 hours to complete. If interested, I can post the videos I used to follow and do the repairs myself.

 

[TotalCarnage]

AS a heads up. It may be a combination of things. I had the actuators replaced in our 2015 because it sounded like it was always in defrost mode. My son had the truck in college in Kansas so it wasn't a big deal to him. When he's in Florida I found it hot and he was running it on max ac. Got both actuators replaced and it was better, but it still wasn't right in my book. After he graduated from College he took it to a dealer and it turned out that the door seals were bad. Keep in mind that this is a 2015. So in my case, the actuators were bad and the seals had also failed. Works like new once I got the seals replaced.

 

[texsn95]

Weird, which door seals exactly? How did that dealership determine they were bad?