Blend Door Actuator Issue Thread

[Joemammacycles]

I have been going back and forth with ford about this. My car is 497kms over the bumper to bumper and they will not cover this. I'm needless to say disappointed. What's more agrivating is that this problem has been going on for so long and they have not recalled it. Seems to be quit common.

Has anyone else contacted Ford directly (not a dealership). I encourage you to.

The 800 number in Canada was useless but I got a quick response via Facebook when I posted a video of my car on ford Canada's page.

 

[Ken34]

ive just started having this issue as well, everytime i start the car up i get that clicking noise from the dashboard, i hope this is covered under warranty

 

[thenag]

I am warming up my garage to replace this actuator right now. I have a 2015 Fiesta SFE 1.0, with the automatic climate control. There seems to be some confusion on which part to replace it with. I ordered both the YH-1896 and the YH-1935 from Rock Auto. The YH-1896 was $5.99, the YH-1935 was $38.99. The YH-1935 is what rock auto listed as the correct part.

YH-1935 made in France, the YH-1896 made in China.

Both have 5 electrical terminals

The 1935 has an additional gear that just slides off. The body of the 1935 is thicker than the 1896, my guess is fatter gears. This thread claims the greenish gear is an upgrade which the 1935 has and the 1896 has a white gear. (I don't know that it is improved, it might be some other reason for the greenish tint)

It looks like posts# 73, 137, and 188 cover the install of this part pretty well. I will add any info or tips after I install mine. I am also doing a cabin air filter, so I will be upside down all day...

Nathan
2015 Fiesta SFE 1.0

 

[BradApples]

I am warming up my garage to replace this actuator right now. I have a 2015 Fiesta SES 1.0 with the automatic climate control. There seems to be some confusion on which part to replace it with. I ordered both the YH-1896 and the YH-1935 from Rock Auto. The YH-1896 was $5.99, the YH-1935 was $38.99. The YH-1935 is what rock auto listed as the correct part.

YH-1935 made in France, the YH-1896 made in China.

Both have 5 electrical terminals

The 1935 has an additional gear that seems to just slide off. The body of the 1935 is thicker than the 1896, my guess is fatter gears. This thread claims the greenish gear is an upgrade which the 1935 has and the 1896 has a white gear. (I don't know that it is improved, it might be some other reason for the greenish tint)

It looks like posts# 73, 137, and 188 cover the install of this part pretty well. I will add any info or tips after I install mine. I am also doing a cabin air filter, so I will be upside down all day...

...

Nathan
2015 Fiesta SES 1.0

It's possible that the 1935 is a new and improved part with greater durability while the 1896 is an exact replacement. I've had the 1896 in my car for a while now and haven't had issues, but the last actuator did take about 2 years to go bad. Let me know how the install goes or if you have any questions.

 

[thenag]

Ok so after doing this job, I am fairly good with a wrench and have a decent selection of tools, it took me about 2 hours.

A couple of things to add to the good writeups in this thread;

As said before, disconect the car battery.

Remember to carefully unplug the wires while removing the seat. I highly recommend removing the seat.

Here is a picture of the air bag connector, the red dot has to come away from the connector and the connector pulls straight away from the knee airbag.

When installing the new actuator I had to turn the gears on the blend door by hand to get it to line up with the key on the gear. (that probably makes no sense, but when you do this job stick your other hand under the dash you can move the gears by hand, everything will eventually line up.

The part that came out was a YH-1896. So that part is a direct replacment, and quite a bit cheaper than the YH-1935. There is a slight difference on the mounting.

In this picture you can see there is an "X" that is not fully cut out, it is different between the two parts.

Here under the dash you can see there is a little tab that goes through that hole. (the tip of the screwdriver is touching it)

So either modify the tab (break it off) or as I did, I drilled out the "X" on the new part so the tab would fit.

Here is another shot of the thicker, more expensive YH-1935 and the YH-1896 that was removed from the vehicle.

Oh and this is my controls, I believe this is the same as the ST's

So far no clicking and controls work properly

I hope this helps

Nathan
2015 Fiesta SFE 1.0

*edit one year later still working properly)

 

[alex7]

I just wanted to add ...my 15 has been great for 30k miles now and this has just begun for me, and I hate it. thats all.

 

[Cligedy]

It's possible that the 1935 is a new and improved part with greater durability while the 1896 is an exact replacement. I've had the 1896 in my car for a while now and haven't had issues, but the last actuator did take about 2 years to go bad. Let me know how the install goes or if you have any questions.

Be careful with that assumption. My dealership had my car for 2 weeks fixing this problem. In the end they had the wrong part, and told me the two types looked almost identical.

Does it look like the gear itself can be replaced on the unit? Plastic may not be a good long term choice. Maybe there is a metal OTS gear out there that could solve the problem once and for all.

 

[Intuit]

Noticed that the system is constantly making minor adjustments if you have it on automatic.

If you wish to maximize the lifespan of the part, it is likely best to keep the setting on "LO" or "HI".

I'm most comfortable around 93 degrees so for me it pretty much stays on HI anyway.

 

[VuDoo]

Just replaced mine today. Took about 2+ hours and it only took that long because of the one airbag screw located right by the break sensor. That was a nightmare. The deep 10mm socket was too long and butted up to part of the metal frame not enabling me to connect the ratchet and the three shorter sockets didn't work because the screw was too long and going through the center of the socket, again not allowing me to connect the ratchet. If it weren't for that damn nut it could easily be a 45 minute fix.

 

[DEss]

Just replaced mine today. Took about 2+ hours and it only took that long because of the one airbag screw located right by the break sensor. That was a nightmare. The deep 10mm socket was too long and butted up to part of the metal frame not enabling me to connect the ratchet and the three shorter sockets didn't work because the screw was too long and going through the center of the socket, again not allowing me to connect the ratchet. If it weren't for that damn nut it could easily be a 45 minute fix.

How were you able to get that nut off?

 

[VuDoo]

How were you able to get that nut off?

I ended up using the smaller socket with an adapter for a pass through socket. I would put the socket on the nut and there was just enough room left to put the adapter on, but not all the way in because of the screw. Then using a pass through wrench I was able to get just enough of the wrench on, again not all the way on, to start working the nut off. Because none of the pieces ever really lock on to each other there was a lot of slippage.

Looking up at the metal bracket that holds the plunger sensors on the gas and break pedals that prevented me to really get any tools in, I did notice that there was a bolt that looks like you can loosen and move the bracket, but I didn't want to mess with that as I didn't want to get the sensors off.

 

[thenag]

I ended up using the smaller socket with an adapter for a pass through socket. I would put the socket on the nut and there was just enough room left to put the adapter on, but not all the way in because of the screw. Then using a pass through wrench I was able to get just enough of the wrench on, again not all the way on, to start working the nut off. Because none of the pieces ever really lock on to each other there was a lot of slippage.

Looking up at the metal bracket that holds the plunger sensors on the gas and break pedals that prevented me to really get any tools in, I did notice that there was a bolt that looks like you can loosen and move the bracket, but I didn't want to mess with that as I didn't want to get the sensors off.

I had that issue too, my 10mm deep was too long and my 1/4 inch 10mm was too short for the bolt, but I had a slightly longer 1/4 inch 10mm that would jut get it. So try to find the longest short 1/4 inch 10mm socket you can

Nathan

 

[Autonomous]

So tomorrow morning I'm going to drop my car off for the second time to replace the Blend Door Actuator... Once around 10,000 miles and now at 40,000. So they are good for 30k at most it seems.

 

[sdewolfe]

My 2015 ST just started the broken gear tooth popping noise yesterday. I spent several hours last night and this morning researching the problem which brought me to this thread. I haven't read all (currently) 24 pages but I have noticed here and elsewhere that there seems to be a lot of discussion about part numbers and slight differences between the part removed and the part installed. Too, there is a lot of discussion about almost immediate failure of the new part.

My car has 45K miles on it so a warranty repair is not possible. I know from the amount of work to get to the defective part that hiring someone to do it will cost north of $200. I cannot justify spending that kind of money even once, let alone repeatedly. I will have to do it. Being old and fat, I have no desire to do this more than once. I will continue my research. This is what I know now.

There are actually three blend door actuators on the Fiesta. See the diagram on this page:

http://www.tascaparts.com/oe-ford/be8z19e616b

Items 19, 20, and 21 are all blend door actuators and all are very similar but slightly different:

19E616C
(YH-1896)
HVAC Blend Door Motor
With Automatic Air Conditioning Manual Air Conditioning ; Mode Control
Item 21 on the Tasco diagram

19E616B
(YH-2016)
HVAC Blend Door Motor
With Automatic Air Conditioning Manual Air Conditioning ; Temperature Blend Door
Item 20 on the Tasco diagram

19E616A
(YH-1895)
HVAC Blend Door Motor
With Automatic Air Conditioning Manual Air Conditioning ; Inlet Door
Item 19 on the Tasco diagram

As I say, I have not finished my research yet. I have to go to work now so I won't be able to continue until tonight. But what is obvious to me is that a lot of people are ordering parts that might or might not be what they need.

If this information has already been provided in the dozen or so pages I haven't read, just spank me and send me home.

 

[BradApples]

My 2015 ST just started the broken gear tooth popping noise yesterday. I spent several hours last night and this morning researching the problem which brought me to this thread. I haven't read all (currently) 24 pages but I have noticed here and elsewhere that there seems to be a lot of discussion about part numbers and slight differences between the part removed and the part installed. Too, there is a lot of discussion about almost immediate failure of the new part.

My car has 45K miles on it so a warranty repair is not possible. I know from the amount of work to get to the defective part that hiring someone to do it will cost north of $200. I cannot justify spending that kind of money even once, let alone repeatedly. I will have to do it. Being old and fat, I have no desire to do this more than once. I will continue my research. This is what I know now.

There are actually three blend door actuators on the Fiesta. See the diagram on this page:

http://www.tascaparts.com/oe-ford/be8z19e616b

Items 19, 20, and 21 are all blend door actuators and all are very similar but slightly different:

19E616C
(YH-1896)
HVAC Blend Door Motor
With Automatic Air Conditioning Manual Air Conditioning ; Mode Control
Item 21 on the Tasco diagram

19E616B
(YH-2016)
HVAC Blend Door Motor
With Automatic Air Conditioning Manual Air Conditioning ; Temperature Blend Door
Item 20 on the Tasco diagram

19E616A
(YH-1895)
HVAC Blend Door Motor
With Automatic Air Conditioning Manual Air Conditioning ; Inlet Door
Item 19 on the Tasco diagram

As I say, I have not finished my research yet. I have to go to work now so I won't be able to continue until tonight. But what is obvious to me is that a lot of people are ordering parts that might or might not be what they need.

If this information has already been provided in the dozen or so pages I haven't read, just spank me and send me home.

The YH-1896 is the correct part.

 

[thenag]

My 2015 ST just started the broken gear tooth popping noise yesterday.

I will have to do it. Being old and fat, I have no desire to do this more than once. I will continue my research. This is what I know now.

I recommend pulling the driver seat out, I am 5,10 250lbs and not that young. The only real hard part is the one knee airbag nut.

The YH-1896 is the correct part.

I covered this extensively in post #225. YH-1896 is the correct part, it is also the one that fails every 30,000 miles or so. The YH-1935 fits with a slight modification and has a noticeably thicker gearbox, it is about $20.00 more expensive but to me $20.00 is worth the gamble that it may last more than 40,000 miles.

It has worked flawlessly for 3 months now in my 2015 SFE

Nathan

 

[Business6]

This started happening a week after I picked it up. Annoying as hell but generally it won't happen if I keep the footwell vent on. Obviously with summer heat that's a hell of a lot less likely but I guess I'll look into doing it sometime soon if my dealer has no interest in squaring it away.

 

[Ellis65301]

My blend door actuator failed right at 9,000 miles. I took it into Ford under warranty. My car now has about 18,500 on it. So hopefully this one will last a little longer.

 

[koozy]

there may be aftermarket options besides Ford for those that feel the OE part is bad to begin with.

 

[Demira]

So same issue for me. Clicking started at 37k just after the standard warranty ended. And they want $170 to diagnose it under my extended warranty even though it's obvious what it is. Why have an extended warranty if it makes me pay up front anyway? Seriously not pleased about that and just living with the clicking noise for now.

--
2015 Fiesta ST