jimborasco
Member
- Joined
- June 12, 2013
- Messages
- 31
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- middle of nowhere in the mountains of southwestern VA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2003 Explorer
Tired but Happy!!
Well, after having bought the part last fall and putting this off until my wife finally got tired of waiting on me and decided to do this herself, we got it done! I do mean WE. I did most of the work with the wrenches to remove the screws in the actuator and she removed the console and got the old piece out and the new one in. Her smaller fingers/hands came in very handy to wiggle that little plastic piece of crap out of there and put the new one in. We managed without having to cut the dash. The only difference from your writeup is in removing the console. Ours, a 2003 had pop out pulls/plugs at the front instead of velcro and for some reason the console/air vent was a bit different inside. We removed the actual storage compartment along with the back end of the console and it left the sides and actual vent in place. We removed only the driver's side of the console side from the front and it wasn't attached anywhere else by anything once the back/storage compartment was removed. She did have some trouble lining up the 'keyed' shaft end. She had it lined up but it was off just a fraction so as she held the actuator and shaft in position, I SLOWLY turned the temperature control knob and in just a second, it slipped right in and we turned it off. I was able to then put the screws in and now it's all good! It did take us a little longer than a lot spent on it, but in all honesty, we're both a bit short tempered and took breaks to keep from breaking something besides a sweat. All in all, actual time spent working on it was probably 3 1/2 hours, (not counting our breaks) and at least 45 mins of that was getting the new piece in and that shaft lined up. We would NEVER have been able to do it without this write-up. Thanks Big Rondo. Kudos to you and your excellent post!:notworthy
Well, after having bought the part last fall and putting this off until my wife finally got tired of waiting on me and decided to do this herself, we got it done! I do mean WE. I did most of the work with the wrenches to remove the screws in the actuator and she removed the console and got the old piece out and the new one in. Her smaller fingers/hands came in very handy to wiggle that little plastic piece of crap out of there and put the new one in. We managed without having to cut the dash. The only difference from your writeup is in removing the console. Ours, a 2003 had pop out pulls/plugs at the front instead of velcro and for some reason the console/air vent was a bit different inside. We removed the actual storage compartment along with the back end of the console and it left the sides and actual vent in place. We removed only the driver's side of the console side from the front and it wasn't attached anywhere else by anything once the back/storage compartment was removed. She did have some trouble lining up the 'keyed' shaft end. She had it lined up but it was off just a fraction so as she held the actuator and shaft in position, I SLOWLY turned the temperature control knob and in just a second, it slipped right in and we turned it off. I was able to then put the screws in and now it's all good! It did take us a little longer than a lot spent on it, but in all honesty, we're both a bit short tempered and took breaks to keep from breaking something besides a sweat. All in all, actual time spent working on it was probably 3 1/2 hours, (not counting our breaks) and at least 45 mins of that was getting the new piece in and that shaft lined up. We would NEVER have been able to do it without this write-up. Thanks Big Rondo. Kudos to you and your excellent post!:notworthy