Howdy All,

My Ranger decided to stop giving me heat just as the coldest air of the year moved in. My troubleshooting led me to the blend door since i verified operation of the actuator and could see where the piece was broken in the plenum. I attempted the fix outlined in the Blend Door Fix thread in the tech section at the top of this forum. After putting it back together I got heat. My problem now is that it won't go back to cold. I'm hoping that someone with experience with this fix might be able to give me some guidance.

Currently I'm blowing only hot air. Take a look at this link to see what my actuator and hole configuration are:

http://members.***.net/jayhawkfan2/blend.htm

I originally placed the pin in the position shown in the fix document. It obviously opened the blend door to give me heat but will not close it. Anyone have any suggestions on how i should place the pin. I don't want to drill too many holes in the post by trial end error.


Thanks

jayhawkfan

 

I had the same problem on my first '98. I tried the simple fix and it didn't work (I had turned the shaft into swiss cheese looking for the correct orientation), so I ended up replacing the plenum. For your sake, hopefully someone else has a simpler answer.

-Jim

 

Did the blend door fix on my friend's Explorer this weekend. Took all of 10 minutes and only drilled one hole thanks to the good instructions we found. The D-shaped pin should be at a slight angle down to the right when you are holding the box (with the D-shaped pin on your right and facing up) If you feel inside the hole that the pin fits into the point should be facing directly toward the front of the vehicle.

I'm not sure if we just got lucky and it worked on the first try or what. We used a finishing nail in the hole we drilled that was slightly larger than the 1/16 hole drilled so that we had to tap the nail in gently. That way we didnt have to glue it and it will still hold.

I guess my only advice would be to use the pictures here http://www.blenddoorfix.netfirms.com/ and pay very close attention to where the pin is placed as well as the position of the V shape

Does your A/C get cold still when you turn it on?

 

Thanks for the info. My pin is slanted slightly the other way. How far up the shaft did you drill the hole. I've already got two holes drilled and need to be careful of where I drill another one.

thanks

 

I would say it was about 1/8 inch or so above where the tapered part ends. take a look at the side view pic http://www.blenddoorfix.netfirms.com/Step5a.jpg

 

Thanks for all the wonderful info, I just got my heat and air back in my 1997 Explorer thanks to you guys.


I did have a slightly different setup. My broken recepticle was not at an angle in the the full hot position, so my pin had to be at an angle through the post. Also, I put in two pins to lesson the wear of only one pin.

 

I just completed this fix on my son's 98 Ranger this afternoon. The original problem on his truck was that it was blowing cold air continually, rather than hot air. He had a faulty blend door actuator that needed to be replaced. This was tested by checking to see if the actuator arm moves when the temperature **** is adjusted. The replacement part is YL5Z-19E616-AA and costs about $68. Once this was replaced, the actuator arm operated, but we still had the issue with the broken piece in the plenum. We drilled 3 holes into the arm to find the best location. Originally, we used a nail with about 1/8" on each end as suggested by some of the other posts, but we were never able to get it just right. Finally, I ended up using a sheet metal screw and left about 1/4" exposed to the area that opens and closes the door. The other thing that seemed to be important, at least in our case, was to drill the hole near the end of the arm (away from the casing) so it reaches down far enough into the plenum to open and close the door. The information I got from here really did help alot with the fix and hope this can also help others.
With a little patience, you can fix this problem in a couple of hours and save yourself big $$$.

 

Has anyone used the blend door repair kit sold by NAPA? Just wondering what all the extra parts are for. The kit included the blend door for the Ranger, another door and two steel plates. One of the plates has a hole that the top of the blend door "hinge" fits into (the hole that the actuator goes in).

Thanks

jayhawkfan

 

Hadn't heard of the Napa repair kit. Can you post a pic of the contents? It'd be interesting to know what it includes.

How does it say to reach the blend door? Taking off the dash to get to the plenum, or going in from the engine compartment side (I think this entails evacuating the A/C system)? Perhaps the steel plates are to cover up a hole you might need to cut in the plenum to access the door?

-Jim

 

I'll get a picture of it this weekend.

It has no instructions. Someone has told me the extra door is for a Taurus. Must be a universal kit for problem vehicles.

I plan on cutting a hole in the bottom of the plenum and accessing it that way. I found some real good instructions and pictures here:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...&albumid=12494

 

Sometimes the the "opening" at the top of the door hinge (the part where the BDA stem slides into it) can crack. Maybe the plate with the hole is meant to address that concern?

That's in fact what happened on my SHO. I ended up repairing the crack by using a little glue and a small zip tie for support, as follows:





I too would be interested in seeing some pics of the blend door repair kit.

 

Any info on that NAPA blend door kit? My 98 ranger's blend door broke before being deployed. I shoudl be back in a month or so, and i'd like to fix it first thing upon return.

Thanks!

 

Check out this thread:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...ment-part.html