USAMuscle

OK the vehicle is a '97 Ford Explorer XLT but since it has the 5.0 engine and the whole system is very similar to a 5.0 Mustang I figured I'd post in here. Anyway, the problem is this past winter, the heater stopped blowing hot air. Now it only blows the air at the ambient temerature. The way it happened is at first the temp control **** didn't function, because no matter what it was set at, the heater always blowed at the hottest setting, so you couldn't turn down the heat. After that, it just blowed air at the temperature it was outside the vehicle. Along with this, the A/C doesn't blow cold anymore either. Now I know it's not that it needs to be recharged because it all happened about the same time, so I'm guessing it's something in the electrical system, or maybe the temp control panel. Does anybody have any idea what could be wrong? It's not the heater core because that shouldn't affect the A/C from blowing, and like I said before, it blowed nothing but hot air before it stopped blowing hot all together. I can handle the electrical system fine on an older car, but there's so much crap in the newer cars I don't know where to start. [&:] Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

mdvaldosta

Its doubtful you have a short in any wiring, so I would assume its a hard electrical part - like the switch. That's where I'd start. If that didn't fix it I'd check the wires going to and from the switch via a wiring schematic using a volt / ohmmeter. Either that or just start replacing all the hard parts in the that system. Really sounds like a switch though. I'd even call the Ford Dealership and ask for their service manager / a good tech and ask if their's any common problems to look for. Most will help you out the best they can, they deal with those kinds of problems more than anything else they do.

nhdungeonracer

Had a similar thing happen on my 99 F150.
You ready for what was wrong with mine? Are you sitting down, cuz it's gonna be mighty expensive.



It was the temp control ****. Yep, the little round black **** that you grab and turn. It had split where it mounts on the shaft, so that when you turned the ****, it would just slip on the shaft. It would not actually turn the shaft, but the way it split, you couldn't tell it was slipping. After a couple of weeks of this, I finally was so irritated I just pulled the **** off. Even then I couldn't see the split. Only after I placed a small screwdriver in the shaft hole and twisted it could I see the split. Could try using super glue or something, but new ***** don't cost very much.

horatio102

If it's not the ****, then I'd take a good look at your vacuum system, as the air mixing doors and whatnot are controlled by vacuum. You might have a leak somewhere in the HVAC side of the system.

mdvaldosta

I assumed it was an electrical switch - if its not then uhhhhhh disregard my first post [sm=smiley29.gif]

USAMuscle

Thanks for everybody's input. I'll take a look at it today and see what's up. Man will I be embarassed if it is the stupid ****. [&:]

USAMuscle

OK after digging around the internet and reading some forums and such, the problem is the blend door in the heater box. Apparently it's another one of Ford's ingenious designs that's a very common point of failure among Explorers of the 90's. The chamber inside the box which the actuator pin engages breaks, so basically when you turn the ****, the actuator pin rotates, but it doesn't engage the blend door since it's busted, so the blend door is stuck in the same position, which explains perfectly why there is no heat and no A/C. The air is always the same damn temperature. Ford redesigned the whole heater box from 2000+ to address the issue, and the replacement part is about $110 at a Ford dealership. It requires removing the whole dash to replace it, which will cost damn near $1,000 at a shop to replace (all labor), but my dad and I are going to do it ourselves for the price of the part. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, and maybe this info will help somebody else who reads this.