New Member.. Heater Question!

[Turbo306]

Hello All!!.. I have a question on my Mercury Mountaineer (2005 6 Cylinder AWD).. Not an explorer but close

The heater has gradually been going out and the last two weeks it stopped working completely... It makes a bunch of clicking noises when I turn it on and seems to stop if you play with the climate control or just let it do it for about a minute (It sounds like the door is stuck or something).. The A/C seems to still work and the air blows fine just no hot air!..I read a few posts about the Blend door (Cutting a hole in your heater core box).
Does this sound like my problem..
Here is what I have done so far..

Checked the Heater control valve that is inline on the inlet heater hose and it is not leaking and seems to be moving fine.
Checked the vacuum to the actuators behind the glove box and they seem to be working..
The noise almost sounds like it is coming from the center counsel behind the radio??...
I am stumped... Any help would be much appreciated..

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

welcome

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! It sounds like the blend door.

 

[fontuckydick]

Clicking from dash center

Hello, I am in the middle of repairing the same problem in a 2005 Explorer. Your's I am sure is the same but the parts location may be different. It is the AC/Heater actuator motor assembly. The gears inside are stripped and or the actuator shaft is broken. You have to remove center panel and under steering column panel and locate the actuator. heatertreater.net has pics on how its done. Goodluck

 

[Turbo306]

Hello, I am in the middle of repairing the same problem in a 2005 Explorer. Your's I am sure is the same but the parts location may be different. It is the AC/Heater actuator motor assembly. The gears inside are stripped and or the actuator shaft is broken. You have to remove center panel and under steering column panel and locate the actuator. heatertreater.net has pics on how its done. Goodluck

What is the Actuator motor assembly?... Did you buy a new one?..

And I did a ton more searching on the Blend door and all the info was for 1996-2002 cars... I heard that they changed the system in 2003... So will the blend door fix of cutting the bottom and moving it over manually not work for me (I got under there and it looks nothing like the pictures I have seen of people cutting the box to access the Door)...

And I removed the stereo and center counsel and got the noise to start and it seems like it is coming from directly behind the center vents behind the dash. Is this where my Blend door is?.. and is there any other way of fixing it minus removing the dash?..

Thanks for the help guys!!..

 

[kingdong6515]

Turbo306,
You ever get yours fixed? I too looked at the kit after buying it on RockA and reallized it won't work for your cars. My Mounty is an 04 and has the EATC and after removing and checking both actuators, they seem to work fine. I have no heat. The heater core lines are fine. I just removed the dash thinking for sure it was the blend doors and all appear fine I am at a loss....

 

[fontuckydick]

The noise coming from the center of the dash is in the actuator on left of center. The plastic gears inside are broken causing the teeth to jump in and out of mesh making the noise. Plus on the oposite side there is a contact switch the cuts the power when the vent door bottoms or reaches the end of its travel. Make sure that is adjusted correctly after you replace the actuator. There is also another blend door assembly (closest to firewall) that I found broken on mine. The shaft was broken and hard to view when installed. I managed to pull half the shaft out and insert a fabricated metal tube and shoe goop adhesive to bond it back together. With that done and a new actuator from Ford (about $35.) mine works like a charm. This is for the 2005 Ford Explorer. Without removing the dash it is next to impossible to get a good view of both trap door mechanisms located in center dash and one in front of the other. If you don't have a 2005 I can't say that your repairs will be the same. Get a manual for your year to see the photo layout and then as I did examine the construction, remove all parts and see if you can do it without dash removal. If dash has to come out then then study it closely and as I did, it should be clear on how to do it. I had to, because dealer wanted to disconnect AC and heater core like manual states. That was $1500. in labor alone. A little common sense and mechanical ability and it cost me $35. and one day to complete. Let me know if this helps, good luck.

 

[kingdong6515]

Thanks for your help guys. After putting it all back together (new actuators can only help since I already had the dash out and now that annoying clicking is gone) I attempted to remove the heater control valve and bam! the linkage was rusted (one stupid single screw!) popped off! I can't believe that was it. So problem fixed. It was stuck half-way open so that is why the heat worked initially but cooled as the vehicle was operated. Thanks you guys were a great help - this is better than my Mustang forums I belong to