No heat, and it's cold out!

[RFR2212]

Well right, first off, yes... I did do some searching and came up empty handed.... Well, last time in my truck, I had heat.... Now, it gets cold again.... and I want my heat! Well here it is... I go to turn it on.... Nothing... no air blowing what so ever... So, there is a slow trickle of air, on all settings.... It was doin this on all settings... I turned it to defrost, and the a/c clutch, er what ever turns on, came on... well, the whole heating unit was lit up, when my lights were on...

about 3 weeks ago, I tried to turn it to full vent.. and somethin was jammed... me bein pissed.... forced it. It's worked somewhat fine, just a lil stiff to get it into some of the different choices but it was all working...
Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks
Pete

 

[Big E]

I am confused about your problem but I will give some suggestions any way. If you are not getting any air when turing in all fan positions it could be the blower motor it's self. Take a test light and probe the connection that hooks to the blower. If it lights the light then you got power. Now take the ground wire from the test lead and probe the other wire while the probe for the test light is on the 12v side. If it lights now. You know you have a good ground and got a good 12v power source.

If you are having a hard problem moving the mode door lever you probably got a problem first of all. Next it could be in the cable, or one of the mode doors is messed up. You can try looking under the dash were the cable goes and maybe you can see what the problem is. Hope this helps.


Eric

 

[RFR2212]

Well right, I guess there are 2 problems... but the main one, is I get no heat... I was going to check the blower motor relay and fues last night, but it was icy rain, and that wasn't exactally my gig... As for the heater control sliding... that part I'm goin to look for a new heater control unit from a friends rig, or my project truck, cause I know I broke something there... but what I broke, I don't think would keep my heat from turing on or off... seeing as how my heat has worked since i had that problem.
Pete

 

[Triton46]

What is your temperature guage on? Have you felt the hoses to and from the heater core?

If the temp is normal (not cold) and there is heat from the hoses, you may have a bad heater core. There really easy to change on the Explorer. Remove the glove box and there it is.

 

[RFR2212]

Um, my truck is runnin at normal temps... And everytime I've had a heater core go bad, I've had alot of condensation on the windshield... none now... my guess is a blown fuse, tripped circuit breaker, bab blower motor... Cause there is nothing blowing what so ever... And I can feel warm air trickling out, once the truck is warm.
Pete

 

[Triton46]

Sounds like the heat works, but your fan doesn't. You can probably pick up a new blower motor from a junkyard.

 

[korysandman]

HEAT!

Hope this helps as I just got done doing this repair. First, turn key to "run", turn on heater and fan and then pop hood. Go out and try wiggling the connector at the fan motor. I had poor contact here and found that problem was with the worn out brushes in the fan motor. Those two connectors are actually the brushes themselves. If this still does no good, Test your orange wire for + and the orange-black for -. If power, you need to replace brushes or entire heater motor(Brushes are easy because you can arrange springs to push on brushes AFTER reassembly- by hooking them on a notch and then pushing a screwdriver thru holes in back of case to knock them back into position). If no power check for burnt fuses and/or a bad fan switch.
The trickle of air felt after warmup is only while moving. This is air coming in thru front and passing over heater core. I too did not smell antifreeze or have "fogging", but my heater core had sealed off much of the tubes until there was only minimal heat. This R&R is easy and only requires drainage of the antifreeze, removal of the two heater hose clamps (and hoses) under the hood, and then go in under the passenger side dash to remove one cover to access the heater core.Was about $20 NAPA. Also, on my 91, there is no warm-cold water valve, but instead there is a "blend door" that either shunts air inside in winter and outside in summer.This is what your temperature switch moves to adjust temp.Coincidentally, I used this opportunity to flush and rinse(6 times B4 water ran mostly clear)the cooling system. Now I don't get that famed huge temp. swing while driving down the road.
Good Luck!!!

 

[RFR2212]

Update

Just thought I'd add... My blower motor was shot.. I replaced it, and it worked great... Also, about the panel controls, that came from a cord getting jammed in the controls in the back of the unit.
Pete