New 2004 Owner with questions

[skammer]

Greetings all:

I just picked up a 2004 Eddie Bauer 4WD with a 4.6L and quad seating with third row. It has 143K on it, but is very clean overall. i have a few easy questions I was hoping some of you could chime in on. I think I know the answer to some of them but lets see what you all have to say. I am hoping with the right care and feeding, I can get another 100K out of it.

1. The AC seems to be weak. What is strange is that the vents don't blow that strong up front. The back ones do. Also of note: the temp at the side vents is slightly warmer than main center vents. Does this sound like the blend door problem?

2. Heated Seat Driver side no worky...Is the likely culprit the switch? I haven't had a chance to test yet, but I would think the switch would be more likely to crap out than a resistive heating element.

3. Door switch assembly...Do these things just get goofy over time? I had to jigger with it a bit, but the only thing that now does NOT work is the LOCK position on the driver door.

4. Quad Seating: I want to swap the dual buckets out for a bench...I tried a couple of local junkyards, but no luck...any suggestions? Is it as simple as just removing the center console and splicing in a third bench?

5. Rear liftgate crack...If I even decide to fix this, is there a good way to stop this from re-cracking? I am told by the previous owner this is a common problem.

6. Rear Wiper...the owner said this acted erratically...Is this probably the Multifunction switch that is mentioned as a sticky? If so where is the best place to score this part, and what should I expect to pay?

 

[swetrid]

#1-recirc door breaks off inside heater box and causes poor air flow
#2-elements burn threw and cause no heated seats
#3-broken wires in driver door boot area
#4-not sure
#5-very common and probably will happen again in couple of years
#6-usually the motor

 

[skammer]

Follow up to questions

#1-recirc door breaks off inside heater box and causes poor air flow

***Haven't had a chance to investigate this...is this behind the glove box?

#2-elements burn threw and cause no heated seats

***Is there a reasonable way to get to the elements to test them?

#3-broken wires in driver door boot area

***I think this is the case here, I swapped switches from driver to passenger and got the same behavior. I will take the door trim off and investigate.

#4-not sure

***Will continue to look for a swap in via trade or a parts recycler

#5-very common and probably will happen again in couple of years

*** Thanks


#6-usually the motor

***I put the fuse back in today and turned on the rear wiper turned on and squirted windshield cleaner, but didn't turn back off. Does this seem more indicative of the motor or the switch?

 

[skammer]

More Follow up

I checked the blend door, and it actuates properly. The action seems solid. The only thing I noted was that one of the vaccum ports (the top one) on the vertical vacuum manifold was open.

It's possible that either my expections on how the AC should blow are too high or that it just needs a charge of coolant.