Blend Door Actuator Issue Thread

[gaussianmist]

Woo hoo! Took me about 45min. A thumb ratchet is a lifesaver. Got the idea from this forum. Thanks guys!

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Just pulled out the actuator on my wife's ST but I'm having a problem installing the new one. It seems that the spline on the actuator is not inserting completely. I have read in the forum of some posters discussing "homing" of this offensive part. I'm not sure I know what this means or involves. Also, there seems to be an alignment tab on this part. Am I correct in this? Any tips on getting this sucker back in would be really appreciated.

 

[HBEcoBeaST]

Just pulled out the actuator on my wife's ST but I'm having a problem installing the new one. It seems that the spline on the actuator is not inserting completely. I have read in the forum of some posters discussing "homing" of this offensive part. I'm not sure I know what this means or involves. Also, there seems to be an alignment tab on this part. Am I correct in this? Any tips on getting this sucker back in would be really appreciated.

Insert the white gear into the hole whichever way it fits. While it's inserted rotate the unit so the alignment holes line up.

Mine would not fit if I just tried to go by the mounting points

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[cinderbike]

I had this problem last year. I feel better and also worse that it wasn’t just me though.

 

[Martinn67]

My 2016 Fist is at the dealer for tapping in the middle of the dash. Was told it was a big job, dash has to come out. ProDemand shows 3 actuators. 1 shows 1 hour labor, another is .5 hour and the third is 5 hours.I guess mine is the last. Hope the dash does not rattle or squeak after, it has been quiet before. The dealer provided a Focus as a loaner, no fun. Supposed to be done Wednesday.

 

[VersaceSprite]

My 2017 has started clicking like crazy from the center of the dash with only 1700 Miles on it. I knew to expect this issue but didn’t realize I’d encounter it within the first three weeks of owning the car.

 

[Martinn67]

The saga continues, yesterday I was told the part was in and would be done today. Service advisor called, they ordered the wrong part. Car is still apart. Said it was a big job. May have to buy the Ford warranty.

 

[dmb]

ford should recall all of these with a better idea.

 

[KnockOff]

With this many failures, some failing twice is absurd. They should at least try metal gears. I heard there was a crown vic one with metal gears that worked.

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[SPhilli911]

Just came across this issue today for the first time, wonderful. Started clicking this morning and kinda freaked me out, I wasn't aware of this issue on Fords until looking it up. Bought the new part and I will try to fix it myself this weekend, doesn't seem too hard, thanks to that video someone posted.

My car is a 2015 car, got about 35,000 miles on it.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Just came across this issue today for the first time, wonderful. Started clicking this morning and kinda freaked me out, I wasn't aware of this issue on Fords until looking it up. Bought the new part and I will try to fix it myself this weekend, doesn't seem too hard, thanks to that video someone posted.

My car is a 2015 car, got about 35,000 miles on it.

Arent you still just under factory 3yr/36k? Food for thought.....

 

[SPhilli911]

Arent you still just under factory 3yr/36k? Food for thought.....

If I can avoid the time spent dropping the car off at a dealer, I will. Especially for a $13 part I can replace in an hour tops.

Despite my previous mileage estimate (being way off), the car actually has 38,400 miles and is over 3 years old anyways.

 

[GotVic]

I've brought this up before, but someone really needs to consider organizing a class action law suite for this. This is a poorly designed component that Ford has got to be aware of - considering how many of us are having this problem in our relatively small community of Fiesta owners. I think Ford is just hoping it goes away.

We either need a redesigned part that will last, or we need to reimbursed for these repairs for the period of time we own our cars. Not just have it patched once or twice under warranty then we're on our own.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

I've brought this up before, but someone really needs to consider organizing a class action law suite for this. This is a poorly designed component that Ford has got to be aware of - considering how many of us are having this problem in our relatively small community of Fiesta owners. I think Ford is just hoping it goes away.

We either need a redesigned part that will last, or we need to reimbursed for these repairs for the period of time we own our cars. Not just have it patched once or twice under warranty then we're on our own.

I will guarantee that ford has redesigned the part or changed manufacturers. Companies do Quality management on faulty products but sometimes it just a poor design. A class action lawsuit would be dismissed an laughed at in court. Every single vehicle has their fault points or parts that love to fail just due to a design flaw and that's just a fact of life. They are not very hard to do.... and there are now a couple after market parts offered other than ford OEM parts. There are at least 10 cars I can think of that have just horseshit designs but no class actions have happened there to them....they are also referred to as gravy train work.

 

[alexrex20]

These blend doors have been taking a shit for over a decade

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[Woods247]

They will not change anything that doesn’t cause death. They added a f’n low coolant light for a potential fire hazard. Why would they eat the cost of fixing a luxury? Enjoy the click or keep replacing it.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

At least its just the actuator people.... Be thankful Its not like the WJ/ 99-04 Jeep grand Cherokee which snap the gears off the blend doors themselves...The whole dash would have to Come out of the car and the HVAC box had to be cracked and the doors replaced until they came out with a kit that allowed a hole to be cut into the HVAC box through the glove box after it was removed and the doors could be fixed that way now.....Way easier but it sometimes effected the floor of the air in the box after it was completed IMO.

 

[neeqness]

With this many failures, some failing twice is absurd. They should at least try metal gears. I heard there was a crown vic one with metal gears that worked.

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Is this really true? I would replace mine with that if it worked, fit, and the price were reasonable.

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[KnockOff]

Is this really true? I would replace mine with that if it worked, fit, and the price were reasonable.

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I only remember someone saying they used one. I have no proof. I wish I did.

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[maestromaestro]

This: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBs6CJoZmJk

The guy said - 45 minutes! Apologies if this has already been posted.

The one that I had replaced 2 years ago broke. It's like clockwork - I have 65k miles on the car now, and the first failure was around 31K mark. Dang it, Ford.

 

[maestromaestro]

This: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBs6CJoZmJk

The guy said - 45 minutes! Apologies if this has already been posted.

The one that I replaced 2 years ago broke. It's like clockwork - I have 65k miles on the car now, and the first failure was around 31K mark. Dang it, Ford.

So - I can attest that it does take under an hour. No need to remove the knee airbag. Just unscrew and remove the bottom piece of the steering column cover, and, unless you have Hulk paws, you should access the 3 screws.

In my case, maybe because this is the second replacement of the actuator (the first was done by a dealer under warranty), I could unscrew the fasteners holding a T20 socket with my fingers. Very easy, takes 5 minutes.

I actually spent more time putting in the new actuator, because I couldn't quite figure out that it fits on an angle. Taking a picture of the broken one before I took it out would have helped...

I had to use a small ratchet to tighten the upper screw, but mostly it was just my fingers.

I don't see how this could take 4 hours - unless indeed the screws are baked in somehow.

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