03 Rear air problem

OK I got the side cover off, now what? Does the whole assembly have to come off? It looks to me like it is all one assembly. Any suggestions?

/Richard

OK I took it apart today and found the actuator has a small gear inside that is broken. It has two teeth sheared off, which is making the ticking sound when the broken gears mesh. I suppose the gear can not be replaced so it will have to be the complete unit. I called the Ford store today and they said about $75 and it would have to be ordered. Does online parts places have them or is $75 a fair price? I could not find the part with the numbers listed on the actuator:

Thanks

"Debbie Grimes" wrote in news:IYzSi.39288$ snipped-for-privacy@newsreading01.news.tds.net:

Go here:

Look under for your year, make and model: Air conditioner and heater Condenser compressor and lines Evaporator and heater components Actuator No. 1

I need the same part I believe for my 2002 Mountaineer. Let us know if it works out.

Could you explain how you were able to "get at" the broken part?

The same thing happened two years ago on my 2002 Ex while it was under extended warrantee. The overall cost was around $400. My part was $50.

Less than two years later it's broken again (parts made in China?). No warrantee now.

Thanks,

WLW

Yes, that is the correct part. Thank you for the link and how to find it. I searched yesterday and must have "walked" all around it. The exploded parts diagram REALLY helped. Ironically the Ford guy asked me which one it was on the phone yesterday by saying " is it the one closest to the rear or the front?" Just like the picture! I ordered the part, shipping and all came to $45.85. Looks like I saved approx. $37. Thanks again for the link.

First of all I don't know if 2002 and 2003 rear air is the same. The part I needed (if you look at the parts diagram that linked to) is Actuator #1. As far as I know #1 controls the blend door where as #2 controls the air flow head/floor.

It's pretty simple to get to on the '03.

1. Remove just about ALL the rear sidepanels. They just snap off, no screws involved. Well except the lower seatbelt bolt need to come off.

1. Two 10mm fasteners hold the housing cover onto the vehicle. If you have a 10mm deepwell socket life would be much easier.

2. GENTLY slide it away from the vehicle just enough to get your hands behind the housing. Remember it is still connected to the hoses, so be VERY careful.

1. Three screws hold the actuator in place and are easy to remove. The actuator has a shaft that fits inside the blend door arm and just pulls away from the housing.

2. Throw that sucker away

I don't know if the parts and location are the same for 02 and 03 put my part says for years 03-08

good luck and let me know if what little I know will help

/Richard

Richard, thank you, thank you , thank you!!!!!

That's just the info I needed. I used to get all the manuals on whatever vehicle we had and did all kinds of repairs - "used to". At

A word of caution: about six months after the rear blend door broke, the first time; the front one broke. Wouldn't it be nice if Ford did something about these failures?

I read somewhere on the net that NOT setting the temp control as far as it will go to cold might prevent these failures. Here in Florida we always had the nob maxed out. Not anymore.

Let us know how your repair turns out.

Thanks again,

WLW

"Debbie Grimes" wrote in news:3LRSi.39312$ snipped-for-privacy@newsreading01.news.tds.net:

Your welcome. Only "payment" I ask is that you report back after you receive and install the part and let us know how it worked out, if solved the ticking problem and if there were any difficulties with ordering or installation. Like I said I have to do the same job. Thanks in advance.

Well here goes:

Tools needed to make the job easier: 10mm deep well socket 7/16 deep well 1/4 drive socket or short extension allen wrench (for lower selt belt bolt) flashlight 1 medium bag of M & M's (optional)

1. Ordered part at 10:00pm Sunday night
2. Part arrived Tuesday afternoon
3. Put part on Wed. afternoon
4. Fixed problem!

When you take off the paneling you can unplug the electrical connector to see if that stops the "clicking" noise. That should tell you if it is actuator #1 or #2 causing the sound. #1 is the blend door and is located towards the rear of the truck. When you determine which one it is you might want to take the housing loose by removing the two 10mm bolts. Be very careful that you do not just yank it away from the frame since ti is connected by heat / cooling hoses. When I got the actuator off (three bolts) I checked to see if the blend door was stuck (hence the broken actuator), mine was not tight and moved very freely. After the new part was installed everything worked terrific. Hopefully this should fix it for a while

Thanks for all of the help

/Richard

innews:3LRSi.39312$ snipped-for-privacy@newsreading01.news.tds.net:

Congratuations, Richard - how long did this take?

Two years ago, the Ford dealer charged almost $400 for this job - just about all of it was labor.

WLW

innews:3LRSi.39312$ snipped-for-privacy@newsreading01.news.tds.net:

About an hour, not counting the M & M's

/Richard

innews:3LRSi.39312$ snipped-for-privacy@newsreading01.news.tds.net:

Thanks! I know what I'm doing this weekend; going to check which actuator is bad and order it. I unplugged it about two years ago and can't remember which one. All I remember is that it was alternating between hot and cold (hence the clicking) so I just waited until it got to cold and unplugged it, as we don't use the rear heat, but the rear a/c is important. The hot/cold thing makes me think it's probably the blend door (Actuator 1) but I figure I ought to check to make sure.

BTW, does anyone out there know if my problem might not be the actuator? This is the second one to go, the first was replaced under warranty with exactly the same symptoms. I remember reading somewhere about an electrical issue with the hot/cold control knob that could cause a similar problem.

Richard wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@50g2000hsm.googlegroups.com:

I bet you are correct with it being #1 . #2 just seems to deflect the flow from overhead to foot. Just a thought: When you take the actuator off insert a screwdriver into the hole and see if the door opens and closes smoothly. You dont have to worry which position you leave the door in because the new actuator is keyed to fit. It might be clicking because it is the most sorry, cheapest design for a motor I have ever seen. I disassembled the actuator and looked at the little offending gear. It's a wonder it works as long as it does. Good luck this weekend. It took about an hour taking the covers off because I did not know if there were screws in any of it. (there is not) . It took about 45min finding the 10mm deep well socket. Puttting it back together was really just a "snap". Have fun!

/Richard

innews: snipped-for-privacy@50g2000hsm.googlegroups.com:

Did it! Took it apart on Saturday in probably 20 mins (only because I was being careful), found clicking #1 actuator, ordered it from Team Ford parts that day along with another part I needed for an unrelated job. Parts shipped on Monday, were at my door on Tuesday. Put them in on Tuesday evening. No clicking, everything works great. Snaped it all back together. Done Tuesday night! Thanks for the all of the pointers.

BTW, I too took apart the actuator and the failure sounds to be the same as yours, that little blue gear that sits between the motor and the bigger blue gear. The splines had sheared off on one side of the smaller end. The clicking must come from it rotating in place, sliping back, and trying to rotate again, over and over. What a crappy design. Since this is my second replacement (first under warranty) I have no doubt it will crap out again. I'm hoping they upgraded the little offending piece of s--t gear, but why do that when you can sell millions more of the whole part!

Richard wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@50g2000hsm.googlegroups.com:

Great! Glad to hear it solved your problem. Thanks again for the web site address and part location.

/Richard

innews: snipped-for-privacy@50g2000hsm.googlegroups.com: