rockauto blend door question

[po-po 5.0]

I'm about to order parts to fix the A/c on my truck from rock auto. They only seem to have one blend door listed for a '98 explorer, and the description says for manual A/C. its Dorman part 902202 Ford OE Part YL5Z 18471-FA. Will this work correctly with the auto A/C as well?

 

[Joe Dirt]

If you check out the vendor section, there is a RA Q&A thread, you might get a quicker response there...

 

[RickOTR]

Yes it will work. The only difference is the actuator on top the heater plenum.

 

[scvfd1202]

The belnd door on my 98 Mountaineer broke last year, so I cut a slot in the bottom of the plenum and pushed it all the way over to full cold air.

Can the Dorman 902202 be installed without taking the enitre dash an air plenum apart? It looks like (in the photos of the kit) that you just cut the shape out of the bottom of the plenum remove the old door, install the new door and place the flat metal pieces on teh bottom of the plenum and seal it up.

Does that sound about right to anyone that has done this particualr fix?

 

[RomeovilleIL]

The belnd door on my 98 Mountaineer broke last year, so I cut a slot in the bottom of the plenum and pushed it all the way over to full cold air.

Can the Dorman 902202 be installed without taking the enitre dash an air plenum apart? It looks like (in the photos of the kit) that you just cut the shape out of the bottom of the plenum remove the old door, install the new door and place the flat metal pieces on the bottom of the plenum and seal it up.

Does that sound about right to anyone that has done this particualr fix?

Yeah, that's pretty much how to do it without the following the proper service procedure of removing the dash and top cover of the airbox. I'm sure there are threads here on the forum which have photos & step-by-step for both the quick and the proper methods.

I did the cut and replace method myself. I think it was maybe 20 minutes with a dremel. Other people use a utility knife. Whatever tool you use, do not cut anywhere outside of the triangle area or you may put a hole in the heater core.

When you look at the bottom of the plenum on the left side towards the firewall you will see a triangular section with a round nub sticking down in the corner of it. That nub is where the bottom hinge of the door rests. Your best best is to cut starting behind the nub all the way to the opposite side of the triangle. Cut a slot an inch or more wide, but do not cut the nub area free of the airbox! You want to create a flap you can carefully bend down which includes the nub at the end. Pop the actuator off the top of the airbox so you can freely swing the door with you fingers to have it drop through the slot you have created. Simply slide the new door back up through the slot, align the hinge ends in the top hole and the bottom nub. Place the actuator back on top, slowly move the door side to side until it the hinge lines up and the actuator can pop back down. Push your plastic flap closed on the bottom and tape or epoxy back in place. Be careful not to push the flap past flush or the door could hang up on it. Check operation by turning on vehicle and turning temp control from full cold to full hot a few times.


Napa and Oreilly's/Murrays usually stock the HVAC blend door kit (plastic blend door and directional door together) for less than $15. It's Dorman - Heater Blend Door Part Number: 902-202. Quick and cheap assuming you are okay with another plastic door which will last about as long as the OEM original.

 

[scvfd1202]

I successfully completed the repair this evening. I purchased the blend door repair kit from a local Advance Auto Parts store for 11.99.

Since I had already cut the triangle shape out last year in order to maintain hot air for heat which was changed to full cold air this past spring, i just cut the area around the little "pivot nub" slightly, popped the acuator off the top of the box, pulled the old door out and put the new one in place and reseated the actuator. The actual replacement only took me about 15 minutes to complete.

As I did this past spring when I switched over to cold air, I resealed the flap I cut from the bottom of the box with a gutter sealer tape from Lowe's. It has a very sticky and thick bottom and an aluminum coating on the non-sticky side. It works great for sealking these plastic boxes back up, and with a little elbow grease and a razor blade you can remove most of it if you have to open the box up again.

Now if I could just find a set of decent quality aftermarket wires where the heat shields/insulators actually fit into the tubes over the back 2 plugs on each side I would be set...but one can only dream at this point.

Yeah, that's pretty much how to do it without the following the proper service procedure of removing the dash and top cover of the airbox. I'm sure there are threads here on the forum which have photos & step-by-step for both the quick and the proper methods.

I did the cut and replace method myself. I think it was maybe 20 minutes with a dremel. Other people use a utility knife. Whatever tool you use, do not cut anywhere outside of the triangle area or you may put a hole in the heater core.

When you look at the bottom of the plenum on the left side towards the firewall you will see a triangular section with a round nub sticking down in the corner of it. That nub is where the bottom hinge of the door rests. Your best best is to cut starting behind the nub all the way to the opposite side of the triangle. Cut a slot an inch or more wide, but do not cut the nub area free of the airbox! You want to create a flap you can carefully bend down which includes the nub at the end. Pop the actuator off the top of the airbox so you can freely swing the door with you fingers to have it drop through the slot you have created. Simply slide the new door back up through the slot, align the hinge ends in the top hole and the bottom nub. Place the actuator back on top, slowly move the door side to side until it the hinge lines up and the actuator can pop back down. Push your plastic flap closed on the bottom and tape or epoxy back in place. Be careful not to push the flap past flush or the door could hang up on it. Check operation by turning on vehicle and turning temp control from full cold to full hot a few times.


Napa and Oreilly's/Murrays usually stock the HVAC blend door kit (plastic blend door and directional door together) for less than $15. It's Dorman - Heater Blend Door Part Number: 902-202. Quick and cheap assuming you are okay with another plastic door which will last about as long as the OEM original.