I bought a great Expedition mid December and it only had one problem...the heat would not come on at my feet....it worked on the rear panel, just not at my feet. Blend door failure

I did the EATC diagnostic and got the codes 12 & 49...or so I thought...turns out that it is B1249.....a single code. This code means that there is a short in the blend door motor. I found this out after purchasing the Expedition workshop manuals..all three of them.....cost me about $115 bucks, but WAY better than the crappy Haynes manual...in fact the electrical wiring manual is the same thickness as the entire Haynes.

I ran all of the checks and it was the blend door motor. I purchased it at the dealer for $57 with tax.

The blend door motor is at the bottom of the blend door and NOT at the top like on the Explorer. The "pin" fix also used on the Explorer won't work. I removed the passenger seat so I would have more room to work. This takes a # 55 Torx wrench/driver...It looks like a star shaped allen wrench.....Ace Hardware has an entire torx kit for $24 and a lifetime warranty....can't beat that. You will also need another torx wrench/driver to remove the center console.

You must remove the console to get to the motor. There are six screws...two torx screws holding the drink/junk bin at the top, this then prys out. You will then see two bolts WAY down deep, so you will need a long socket extension with an 8mm socket. Remove those and the two bolts on the rear/back/bottom of the console. Youwill also need to remove the wiring harness bolt...I think it is 10mm. To remove the console, you need to pull it back and lift..this is pretty hard, so you have to get a little aggressive.

The blend door motor is the motor you will see that is at the bottom a little closer to the passenger side. The part number is:
XL3H-19E616-AB....the old one is an -AA....hmmm must have been a lot of failures to go to the new configuration.

You must remove the three bolts that hold the unit on, and you will need an 8mm open ended wrench for this..it takes a little work, but the screws have aggressive threads and come out pretty fast. Remove the bolt on the heating duct on the passenger side. Unplug the motor and then pry down the heater duct and remove the motor.....this will take a littl work as well.

Replace in reverse order....this takes a little wrestling. To get the funky shaped shaft to fit back into the blend door notch....I turned the key to ACC and then adjusted the temp using the red and blue buttons (temp select buttons)....this worked great. You can also plug the motor in and then use the red and blue buttons to move the shaft to the approximate position that the old unit was at...it will probably be full hot or full cold.

I took pictures if anyone needs them. Email me at.

xrocketscientist at *** dot net

Good luck,

Milkman

 

I am in the middle of fixing the blend door on my 1999 EB Expedition. What a PITA. Did you have to pull out the duct that goes under the seats (the rear floor duct) ? I cant seem to get out the short duct directly under the blend door motor without removing this duct. It appears I can't remove this short duct without removing the floor duct, which means removing both front seats and pealing the carpet back

 

I only removed the passenger seat.

As for the duct underneath the blend motor, you can just remove the one bolt on the passenger side that holds it up, and then "pry" the ducting down a bit....I did this with one of those "wonder bars".....pry bar....is very wide and gives you the leverage to pry down with one hand and then get the motor out with the other....you need to get the clearance for the shaft which is 1.25" long.....after you release the shaft, move the motor towards the back/firewall. Then you have to wiggle it around to get it to come out from under there. I have the actual Ford shop manuals and it said to remove the carpeting, ductwork, etc.

I consider myself to be a VERY good mechanic and can fix just about anyting. I am an engineer and an ex rocket scientist, so I can speak with authority. I think the engineers did a bad job on the access for this motor.

Good luck, and forget the duct removal...the pry bar is the way to go on this one...and I did not damage anything.

Milkman

 

thankyou , milkman, thes were excellent directions , ive printed them and will save them , respectfully,bob

 

I found my problem was the actual door, not the motor. I couldn't see taking the dash apart to get the plenum apart, and spending another week playing with it. I decided to put things back together for now and wait for the shop manual I odered to come in. Hopefully, I'll get good information on taking the plenum apart to get the blend door out and fix the input shaft on it. There isn't enough of the input shaft remaining to do a pin trick like the exporer people typically do

 

Is that stinking door on the top or bottom?

 

Well guys it is done A whole Saturday and $300 bucks later I replaced that dog gone blend door. What a "PITA". But $1200 is $1200. I really dont think I would do it again though. Can you say "F-250 FX4 4WD". Thanks again for all the pictures, E-mails and advice. We have one heck of a forum. I did cheat, I removed the new blend door from the plenum. I also replaced the motor. Kinda felt like the old motor was stressing the door by trying to go past the full open or closed position. Well it helped my piece of mind.

 

Do you think this would be the same fix for a 98 Navigator? I just bought the part # XL3Z-19E616-AB, per the Lincoln Service Manager's suggestion. Labor was quoted to be $525, and I want to do this myself...hopefully I can.

 

Fly Girl, it appears you purchased a blend door actuator from the part number quoted. The labor to replace that shouldnt be anywhere near 525.00, unless your Lincoln dealer is running about 200.00 an hour. 2-2.5 hours labor should be about what they quoted for that. Now to replace the plenum itself for a broken door thats a major job and lots of labor time. If they quoted that for labor just for the actuator try a getting a quote from another dealership, preferrably Ford, not Lincoln.

 

Ok, guys, thanks so much, you all put me in the right direction. I did have a shop look and they did tell me that it was an "air distribution module". $2000 later, and I will have cold air again. I'm a tightwod, soooo? Here I am.
I like your terms better. Plus, I like that you all said that it could be the motor or the door itself.
Thanks for the help and look for me in the upcoming days.
I'm diving, I need help. If you can send me pictures and info to:
ralphpolanco(AT)hotmail.com

I would really appreciate it.

Thanks again.

 

Readers, I did it. Yeah, it was a bear, but doable. Thanks Milkman for the pics and help. Now, what to do with all that money I saved.
Ah, wife already spent it.

Ralph

 

One other "quick fix" I found. Hose pinch off pliers. Since the problem is hot air getting mixed with the cold air, my brother suggested using the hose pinch off pliers to stop the hot water from getting into the heater core. Now, this won't work if you also need refridgerant, and it surely won't work as good as fixing the problem, but it is getting me by until I have time to spend the weekend tearing my truck apart. Maybee it will work for other people too. BTW, the hose pinch off pliers are only like $5 for two of them (one smaller, one larger) at the local parts store.

 

could you send me pictures at nurnburg1969@hotmail.com I need to remove the Blend door on my navigator , not much difference in the vehicles thanks Alan

 

I recently (spring) had a friend replace the blend door in my 95 explorer. Just last week the air kept being redirected from panel vents to defrost vents then back when I hit the next bump. Is that a vacuum leak or a problem associated with the blend door problem. The temp is the same as well as the volume of air, it just keeps changing where it is coming out? I would appreciate any insight.... Yogi@gimail.af.mil

 

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