I have the manual A/C controls on my 2002 XLT, and I noticed something different the last few times I turned it on. From the OFF position to A/C all the air comes out of the defrost vent for a couple seconds, then I hear a creaking sound from the floor vent area and then the air comes out of the dash vents as it should. If I go back to the OFF position, the noise comes back for a second. From the creaking sound I'm guessing the blend door is starting to stick. Anyone else got this? Is the blend door gonna give out soon?

 

It may! The part is less than $20, but it is a pain to replace. The dealership will want about $1000 labor but you can do it yourself with a little patience and perseverance. Search this forum for blend door fix and you'll find a good step by step. Most of the dash has to come out...it is behind and little to the left of the glove box. It took me about 10 hours to get to mine, but I just started taking stuff off...after disconnecting the battery..airbags! I wasn't really sure how or in what order I should, but once you get started, you get a feel for how things should come off. Be sure to have a cup for all of your screws.. there a a lot...not a bad idea to have several labeled cups because there are some different sized screws. Putting it back together goes a lot quicker than taking it apart. The blend door is inside the heater core box so you may think about replacing that while you are in there. I didn't on mine...you know: If it ain't broke........

 

Thanks for the reply. I didn't realize the blend door was in the heater core box. I may have something else going on. The noise is coming from the floor vent area, right next to the accelerator. I'll take a look at my shop manual and see what moving parts are in this area. I guess I'll just keep an eye on it, it aint broke yet!

 

something is about to go. I was driving to work and all the A/C air started coming out of the defrost vent. Turned on/off the A/C and then it started working after a couple of seconds. Might stop by the dealer and see if my extended warranty covers this.

 

I'm pretty sure vacuum lines control where the air comes out. Maybe one of the lines is getting piched or has a hole, etc. Let us know what the dealer says!

 

Yea, but with a vacum problem it usually varies with engine speed.

 

I just had blend door actuator problems. The blend door controls the amount of air allowed to circulate through the heater core. It has nothing to do with anything else. If air is being directed to the floor when it should be to the dash or defrost duct then that is controlled by vacuum actuators not the blend door actuator. There is a vacuum actuator to the right of the drivers right foot that opens a door directing air to the floor or dash vents. I'm not sure about how or where the defrost is operated. Hope this helps a little. As stated earlier it's no fun to remove the dash so determine where the problem is before starting. Sounds as if you may just have a vacuum leak.

 

Mine did the same thing..switching between defrost and vent, I could turn it off and back on and it would sometimes start the defrost then a couple secs later come out the regular vents...a/c working at stop, push gas to go and a/c stops working. I pulled the dash apart and found that the blend door was broken where it goes into the blend door actuator.

 

This sounds like it may be it, the sound I hear does sound like a the vacuum actuator getting stuck then it closes/opens. I'll be taking to the dealer on Monday, and get the cruise control recall taken care of too.

Thanks for all the help