Blend Door Actuator Issue Thread

[McSwine]

So my 2019 starting making the clicking noise a couple months ago and I finally made an appointment to get it fixed. The dealer quoted me $1100 parts & labor and said it wasn't the actuator but the "control box" it's mounted on. Is this possible? He also acted extremely surprised when he found out it was still under warranty so I don't know if they were trying to f*** me or not.

I'm conflicted on whether or not to let these bozos work on it or do it myself. FWIW, it appears to be the one behind the steering column (I think). The only way to make it shut up is to have the floor vents on.

 

[Alkoran]

So my 2019 starting making the clicking noise a couple months ago and I finally made an appointment to get it fixed. The dealer quoted me $1100 parts & labor and said it wasn't the actuator but the "control box" it's mounted on. Is this possible? He also acted extremely surprised when he found out it was still under warranty so I don't know if they were trying to f*** me or not.

I'm conflicted on whether or not to let these bozos work on it or do it myself. FWIW, it appears to be the one behind the steering column (I think). The only way to make it shut up is to have the floor vents on.

Get under the dash when it clicks, you'll know right away if it's the actuator or not. If it clicks each time you turn on/off the car, you can then unplug it to see if it stops, to validate your diagnostic. Then you can get back to you service advisor to tell him what you found. I wouldn't let them make the job he suggested because that's a dash out job vs the simple under the dash crawling of the actuator. And each time someone pulls the dash, you have risk of getting broken tabs and rattles you didn't have before.
Usually inside those vent boxes, there's only flaps that rotate, nothing there that can click.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

So my 2019 starting making the clicking noise a couple months ago and I finally made an appointment to get it fixed. The dealer quoted me $1100 parts & labor and said it wasn't the actuator but the "control box" it's mounted on. Is this possible? He also acted extremely surprised when he found out it was still under warranty so I don't know if they were trying to f*** me or not.

I'm conflicted on whether or not to let these bozos work on it or do it myself. FWIW, it appears to be the one behind the steering column (I think). The only way to make it shut up is to have the floor vents on.

Where do you live? you could come over and we could tackle this garbage in a fraction of the time! BUT* If its under warranty.....make them do it. I know I did my first time!

 

[CarGuy]

Let the dealer do it! Either way it's covered.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

 

[Intuit]

At this point I literally wouldn't trust a dealer to put air in my tires LoL... (and yes, somehow a non-dealer managed screw that up even...)

 

[Sam4]

They will never adjust for factory F to R pressure bias, that's for sure.

 

[AmericanIcon]

So my 2019 starting making the clicking noise a couple months ago and I finally made an appointment to get it fixed. The dealer quoted me $1100 parts & labor and said it wasn't the actuator but the "control box" it's mounted on. Is this possible? He also acted extremely surprised when he found out it was still under warranty so I don't know if they were trying to f*** me or not.

I'm conflicted on whether or not to let these bozos work on it or do it myself. FWIW, it appears to be the one behind the steering column (I think). The only way to make it shut up is to have the floor vents on.

I tackled the most difficult one (I think?) myself. It was the one that you have to go under the steering wheel for. It wasn't exactly fun, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat if it saved me $1100. I'd do it for someone else for $20 and a beer if I'm honest. An oil change takes longer.

 

[MikeR]

It was the Center actuator, it was a real bitch getting out but did not have to take dash apart, access through the glove box, pull out the floor ducting and it is right there. View attachment 48782

Sent you a message Todd as I have to change this same one and could use some more info.

Ford dealer wanted $1200 to install and I gave them the replacement part!

 

[SVTBob]

Just bought a 2019 with 25k miles. I do not get any clicking sounds BUT I get no airflow out of the central vents or the vents to the right and left that face rearward. Only airflow is from the side vents that face the side windows and the vents that direct air to the footbox. Since no clicking, are ne or more of the actuators the likely culprit ? AC blows plenty cold.

 

[Erick_V]

Just bought a 2019 with 25k miles. I do not get any clicking sounds BUT I get no airflow out of the central vents or the vents to the right and left that face rearward. Only airflow is from the side vents that face the side windows and the vents that direct air to the footbox. Since no clicking, are ne or more of the actuators the likely culprit ? AC blows plenty cold.

More than likely. I got tired of hearing mine so I had it unplugged for the longest time. Check to see if the previous owner unplugged it before trading.

 

[SVTBob]

Hey, Erick, thanks for the advice. ….. Where would I look to see if they are unplugged ? The actuators themselves ? There are three, correct ? I know of the one behind the glove box and the one behind the steering wheel area. Where is the third one ?

 

[maustr0]

I have a question as I bought my 2016 FiSt a month ago, hoping you guys have some insight since I ran into the infamous blend door problem.

Suddenly the face-level vents weren’t blowing but I never heard clicking. Air was coming only from the floor vents literally a day after everything was working fine. I changed out the driver side blend door actuator today and got it to finally work. The gears on the old one looked fine… maybe the board just died? What I noticed is that if I set it to feet only, it still blows at the face, just not as strong. Not a huge deal because I keep it on face 99% of the time. When I have the face vents on, it’s about 95% face, 5% feet, which again I’ll live with.

the more annoying problem I’m having is something I’ve noticed since I bought the car. The fan speed dial/knob takes a LOT of turns to change speeds. If the HVAC is off, I can easily click auto or something else, but I always like to start it off on speed 1/2. So I rotate the dial right and nothing happens. I have to spin it 5-6 times at a fast speed for it to “register” and it’ll finally get to speed 1. If I twist it once to the right, nothing happens. If the AC is already on speed 1 and I want to get to speed 2, I need to twist it a LOT for it to actually increase in speed, and it’ll usually skip to speed 3-4 instead of 2. If the fan is at a higher speed, it takes less turns to turn the speed down.

is this normal? I can’t find any documentation or reports of this, though forgive me if this has come up in the past and I just suck at searching with the wrong keywords. I’ve never experienced this in any other car and I don’t know if I should just replace the whole AC control setup/knobs since it’s one piece.

 

[Cneu]

I have a question as I bought my 2016 FiSt a month ago, hoping you guys have some insight since I ran into the infamous blend door problem.

Suddenly the face-level vents weren’t blowing but I never heard clicking. Air was coming only from the floor vents literally a day after everything was working fine. I changed out the driver side blend door actuator today and got it to finally work. The gears on the old one looked fine… maybe the board just died? What I noticed is that if I set it to feet only, it still blows at the face, just not as strong. Not a huge deal because I keep it on face 99% of the time. When I have the face vents on, it’s about 95% face, 5% feet, which again I’ll live with.

the more annoying problem I’m having is something I’ve noticed since I bought the car. The fan speed dial/knob takes a LOT of turns to change speeds. If the HVAC is off, I can easily click auto or something else, but I always like to start it off on speed 1/2. So I rotate the dial right and nothing happens. I have to spin it 5-6 times at a fast speed for it to “register” and it’ll finally get to speed 1. If I twist it once to the right, nothing happens. If the AC is already on speed 1 and I want to get to speed 2, I need to twist it a LOT for it to actually increase in speed, and it’ll usually skip to speed 3-4 instead of 2. If the fan is at a higher speed, it takes less turns to turn the speed down.

is this normal? I can’t find any documentation or reports of this, though forgive me if this has come up in the past and I just suck at searching with the wrong keywords. I’ve never experienced this in any other car and I don’t know if I should just replace the whole AC control setup/knobs since it’s one piece.

That's not normal. My adjustment is generally 1-2 clicks = 1 change on the hvac speed. I'd wager yours is on its way out.

It also sounds like maybe your blend door isn't opening/closing fully. Did you align/zero out the actuator and install it correctly?

 

[maustr0]

That's not normal. My adjustment is generally 1-2 clicks = 1 change on the hvac speed. I'd wager yours is on its way out.

It also sounds like maybe your blend door isn't opening/closing fully. Did you align/zero out the actuator and install it correctly?

Thank you. I'll buy a replacement AC control unit & see if the dial is the culprit. Based on your description, it's likely the dial... once in fan speed 2/3/4 etc, I can tell there's a difference in speed, but something with the dial doesn't register the rotation.

I am pretty sure I installed the blend door actuator correctly. I popped it in and wiggled it a little, and it went in a little deeper. The white gear on the actuator was pretty snug in there. I've done this once before years ago on my Explorer, and I remember that being way more difficult cause the gears weren't lining up.

My initial problem was resolved though and the face vents finally started working again, and I saw the adjustment gear turning as I changed the vent modes.

Thanks for your help -- the fan speed dial was/is driving me crazy and it's good to feel validated LOL. For anyone else that comes across my post, there are a couple of part #s you can use to find a replacement unit (at least on a 2016 FiST with the auto climate control): 8A6T-18C612 OR D2BZ-19980-G OR D2BZ-19980-H OR CCM185
https://parts.ford.com/shop/en/us/c...ir-parts/hvac-control-module-p-ccm185-1?pdp=y

 

[SVTBob]

Huh. I am having both the face vents not working and the dial not responding without a lot of turning. As far as the face vents are concerned, I get nothing. No clicking. The side window defrost vents work great and some cold air comes down from below. Local Ford dealer says it’s my evaporator housing, wants to pull the entire dash, console and front seats to fix it ($3700 !). I am reluctant to do that, not just because of the cost, but fear that things will never be right again. No squeaks or rattles whatsoever now.

 

[maustr0]

Huh. I am having both the face vents not working and the dial not responding without a lot of turning. As far as the face vents are concerned, I get nothing. No clicking. The side window defrost vents work great and some cold air comes down from below. Local Ford dealer says it’s my evaporator housing, wants to pull the entire dash, console and front seats to fix it ($3700 !). I am reluctant to do that, not just because of the cost, but fear that things will never be right again. No squeaks or rattles whatsoever now.

Yep, sounds almost identical to my issue, except the floor vents/windshield vents were the ones working. It's funny how these problems cropped up since I could not find ANY other reports online before I posted. Changing the driver's side blend door actuator (part YH1896 / BE8Z19E616B -- I went with Motorcraft, not Dorman) fixed the vent positions -- face vents now work. I just bought a new AC/temperature control unit online and it should come next week. I'll post an update if the fan speed dial on the used-but-new-to-me unit works in less than 10 spins to get to speed 1.

 

[SVTBob]

Could the Ford dealer have LIED ? Unthinkable, they’d NEVER do that, right ! ? When they gave me the bad news, I immediately wondered how they made the determination in the first place. They did not take anything apart. Maybe I should just replace the blend door actuators on my own and see what happens. I know about the driver and passenger side actuators but have heard there’s a 3rd. Anyone tell me where that might be ?

 

[maustr0]

Could the Ford dealer have LIED ? Unthinkable, they’d NEVER do that, right ! ? When they gave me the bad news, I immediately wondered how they made the determination in the first place. They did not take anything apart. Maybe I should just replace the blend door actuators on my own and see what happens. I know about the driver and passenger side actuators but have heard there’s a 3rd. Anyone tell me where that might be ?

from my understanding, the driver’s side controls vent direction. Passenger side controls recirculation (outside air vs recirc). And there’s one behind the dash that controls temperature (mixing hot and cold). This is the one that no one, to my knowledge, has ever replaced.

The driver side is annoying to replace (buy a mini thumb ratchet), but it fixed my issue with the face vents not working, and it might fix yours. IMO, it’s worth the gamble.
the video I used to replace the driver’s side is on YouTube. Took approx 30 min. Look up “How to replace a clicking ford fiesta ST blend door actuator” by EatSleepDrive. Dont worry, I know yours isn’t clicking, just like mine wasn’t.

here’s another blend door actuator thread and specifically this comment talks about the location of the 3 actuators:
https://www.fiestastforum.com/threa...-part-numbers-video-install.22458/post-472174

 

[Capri to ST]

Could the Ford dealer have LIED ? Unthinkable, they’d NEVER do that, right ! ? When they gave me the bad news, I immediately wondered how they made the determination in the first place. They did not take anything apart. Maybe I should just replace the blend door actuators on my own and see what happens. I know about the driver and passenger side actuators but have heard there’s a 3rd. Anyone tell me where that might be ?

The third one is more up in the dash towards the motor and is harder to get to. I believe that's the one that controls the temperature, and fortunately it doesn't go bad much since it's the hardest one to get to.I'm going to attach a diagram I made when I was trying to figure this stuff out when my mode door went bad, the one that controls where the airflow goes.As you can see I borrowed liberally from diagrams on RockAuto, and then added some things that were posted on here.
By the way, there is another thread on this issue, it's called something like the be all and end all thread of blend door actuators, and it was trying to be the master thread, that one might have some more helpful information.
Here's that thread, and I'll attach my diagram below-
https://www.fiestastforum.com/threa...cking-sound-part-numbers-video-install.22458/

It took a few tries, but the document is now attached.

 

[SVTBob]

Thank you both so much. I believe I will replace the two actuators and see what happens before spending $3700. Even if it's not them, at least I know they have been replaced.