Wow, what an awesome forum. I just spent a good hour going through the 9 page long Explorer blend door fix thread. While there seems to be lots of reports of the front a/c system having issues, very rarely do people seem to be have problems with the rear. My front a/c gets pretty cold, for about 3 weeks now the rear system doesn't. When the car is cool, the rear system blows slightly cool air. This is on the max a/c setting and I'm assuming all it's doing is recirculating the cool air in the car. However, when it's HOT (which it is now) then there is absolutely no hope for cool air back there.

I've got a 2002 Expedition XLT with manual a/c control (not the automated climate control). I'm assuming that it's another blender door or actuator issue. While lots attention has been paid to the front actuator I've seen very little with the rear. If there are any suspicions that this is actually a blend door or actuator issue, could someone point out where the rear blend door or actuator is so I could take a look and see if I could find something.

Lastly, in a month I'll be moving back home where there is absolutely no need for heat in the car. Do you think it would be possible to simply disable the rear heat core to get some a/c going back there? Perhaps this would be an easier fix?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

In the 8 years that the first generation Expedition has been around I have NEVER had a broken rear blend door come in for repair on one of these. In fact maybe at the most 2 blend door controllers. First you need to isolate the problem. With the engine fully warmed up set the temp to cold with the front controls and feel the air coming out the top vents... then switch to full hot and see if it gets real hot in comparison. Do the same with the rear controls (remeber to set the front to rear control). If you feel a dramatic difference in temperature your blend door and controller are working fine. This would then mean that you are either low on refrigerant or the rear expansion valve is inoperative. If there is no change in temperature the controller MAY be bad, or the power circuit to it.

 

Hello Homer. First of all I would like to give you my deepest condolences. I spent some time reading through Michelles link. It brought me to tears and I can not even imagine what you have gone / are going through. My prayers and strength go out to you and your family. I can only continue on typing with a lump in my throat.

You are definitely right. There are extreme temperature differences in switching between cold and hot with both the front and rear controls. I get hot air blowing out on HOT compared to the warm / cool air on COOL. Should I proceed to pick up one of those a/c recharge kits at walmart?

Hazen

 

No, in that case I wouldnt risk overcharging and making the situation worse. Best to have someone recover the freon and weigh the freon in the system. If it is already full then your rear expansion valve is likely bad. If its low then you can simply have them recharge to full charge or continue diagnostic and search for a leak. If it is a slow leaker and only a pound or so low, most economically feasable repair would be to simply recharge it till it gets worse. If the expansion valve is bad then that needs to be replaced and then recharge.
Its up to you but you could do more to make things worse by simply dumping more freon in.

Thanks very much for your kind mention of Michelle and especially for the prayers.

John

 

I had the same problem recently with the rear a/c not blowing cold air. It would blow cold up front, but wasn't cooling in the back. I took it to the dealer and they replaced the rear evaporator and the expansion valve. Now it cools...