Blend Door Actuator Issue Thread

[SVTBob]

Well, I decided to only replace the driver’s side since that controls air flow and see what happens, $50 including tax and shipping from Rock Auto. Got it in two days with the cheapest shipping ! If it didn’t fix the problem, no big loss plus a commonly failing part had been replaced with a better one. It came today and my curiosity was killing me, so I got right to it. Many report doing it in 30 minutes but it took me an hour. Old, clumsy, not much room, lol. One thing I noticed is that if you could remove the air bag panel, this would take 5 minutes but I was reluctant to try that, not knowing what the consequences might be or how to do it safely. One tip I did not see in the videos I watched is that you should pay attention to the orientation as it sits in the car before removing it as the new unit is not shaped the same as the old one and it has multiple superfluous screw holes that can be confusing when you go to put the new one in. In any case, my AC vents now work perfectly. I am so angry. The dealer “diagnosed” a faulty evaporator housing (the PN they gave is an assembly and includes a new evaporator). Quoted list, of course, $1462, including tax. Then 12 hours labor @ ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY DOLLARS AN HOUR ! $3,622 total. 4 days in the shop ! Complete removal of the dash (how many squeaks and rattles would THAT cause ???). I do NOT believe this was incompetence on the part of the dealer. I think this is intentional gouging, blatant profiteering. I hope to find both the General Manager and the Service Manager at the dealer tomorrow. I have an ‘18 Raptor, a ‘16 GT350 and now the ST. It will be a long, cold day in hell before they ever see me again. Too bad, because I live in a small city and the next nearest dealer is over 100 miles away (Vegas) and I’ve tried buying cars from them and they were sleazy with outrageous ADM’s. Phoenix has multiple dealers to choose from, so I guess I’ll go there but that’s 400 miles, round trip. Thanks to all who’ve posted useful hints; the most useful was the video on page 2 of the “All Encompassing ……..” thread. It walks you through the whole thing. There’s another video on replacing the passenger side, I believe it is on the same page. Driver’s side is awkward, no question, but it’s not hard, just be patient getting it mounted correctly.

 

[SVTBob]

BTW, I took the old one apart. No broken teeth. So maybe the board was bad ?

 

[maustr0]

BTW, I took the old one apart. No broken teeth. So maybe the board was bad ?

Same! So glad it fixed your problems. The service center was definitely being lazy. I mean, 10 minutes of googling would've led you to find that the driver side actuator controls vent flow. What must've thrown them off (if they even looked), was that the top symptom was not present (clicking sounds).

Now, the real question is, any update on your fan speed dial? I bought a used part that just arrived today and stupid me... the one I bought has a MISSING rotating dial on the fan speed side, so I can't even use it without hacking it up.

BTW, the passenger side is super easy from what I see. I think you just pop the glove box out and it's right there.

 

[SVTBob]

I was so happy the AC was working well, blowing like crazy in Max AC, I forgot about that. Will check it in the am.

 

[Intuit]

Funny how even the numbers are.

If you add freon, don't forget an oil charge.

 

[maustr0]

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

Update on this: the automatic AC control unit I ordered was missing the fan speed dial, which defeats the entire purpose of ordering it. The silver lining is that I noticed there's a contact that registers when you spin the dial. When I got in my car, I was spinning the dial and the fan speed wasn't being too responsive. I decided to push/press the fan speed dial "in" - to ensure it's hitting the contact, and sure enough, it works! Mystery somewhat solved.

Here's a photo of the pin (it shows because the dial itself is missing on the usedreplacement part I ordered).

If either of your dials are not being responsive, try pushing in while twisting the dial and it should work!

 

[SVTBob]

Happy to say, maustr0, that my fan speed dial is now working normally. So, is it possible the new actuator could effect that too ? I could swear that there was no indexing of the fan speed changes, ie, the dial seemed to just spin without any feel for the different speeds. Also, I do not remember seeing the graphic that I see now next to the set temperature. But I could be wrong on both counts, maybe I just didn’t notice the graghic before and maybe I was spinning the dial so fast trying to get it to work that I did not notice feeling the indexing.

 

[SVTBob]

Oooops. Sorry, I did not see your last post before answering, my bad.