Vent Selector Switch not working - Easy Fix!!

[Basket Case]

I've seen several threads describing the exact problem that I had with my 2003 Explorer XLT. No matter what setting I put the selector on, air only came out of the vents. Previous threads pointed me in the direction of a broken connector under the dash. I dropped the glove box down and looked up to see if that was the problem. I found that the metal arm from the vacuum had broken off the plastic arm. I'm assuming that there was a plastic clip where the red circle is that was supposed to be in the hole circled in yellow. The vacuum arm seemed to be working fine so it looked like all I needed to do was connect the 2 parts together.

I grabbed my drill, tapped a small hole where the clip had broken off, and screwed in a small square drive sheet metal screw. Once I had the screw tapped in, I backed it out, lined up the hole in the metal arm with the screw hole, and sank the screw. Pro tip: Do not tighten the screw all the way. the metal arm needs to pivot so leave it loose enough to move.

Final result:

Happy to report that I can now select between vents, floor, and defrost! I was fortunate that more of the plastic was not broken so this was an easy 15 minute fix.

 

[ROBinGa]

Good fix and pics. Yes you are fortunate that you had so much plastic to work with. If the rest of that plastic end breaks you can rig up some other way to connect

 

[LoKo498]

Maybe get a screw with a Teflon nut to hold it so the screw won't back off?