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I've tried the search engine a couple of ways, but can't find an answer. Does anybody know who might make and sell a replacement for my broken blend door? Somebody mentioned a NAPA kit in a post, but I can't find that again, either.
1998 Ranger
The blend door is broken where the "d"-pin of the actuator goes into the top of the plenum and fits into a socket in the door...I opened the plenum with a razor knife and can easily remove the broken door.
Rather than fix, I'd rather replace.
I called NAPA and their parts list shows that fits a 2000 - 2004 Ranger, available in 2 to 3 days for $10.99. Do you know if Ford changed the design of part from what they had in 1998?
And compare that price to a $1000 repair quote from my local dealer!
By the way, thanks very much for such a quick reply!
which has a lot of good information on not only replacing the plenum, but also accessing it for the purpose of replacing the door. For example, this little tidbit of info is probably worth gold:
Quote:
"I will share the trick I used to get the blend door in to give the next person another option. You are right that getting the two ends of the door into the corresponding holes is a nightmare (I used nightmare as I don't think I can cuss on this site). So I cut a hole on the face of the plenum (right behind the golve box in the top left quadrant). When you look into the hole you see that the plenum is actually a two piece box glued/welded together on the outside. Inside is a verticle divider in the middle runing right about where the top and bottom holes for the blend door are. Stick a regular screw driver into the spot where the two halfs of this divider meet, twist just a little, and you have enough room to get the blend door into the correct spots. Once you let go you have a fit as good as the OEM"
Just did the removal of the blend door in my 98 ranger. Bought the new door from Rock Auto on internet for $9.63 plus shipping.
Take out the accuator on top of the plenum that turns the door. Open glovebox and expose the plenum. Remove the electric harness. Use a flat screwdriver and pry it up and out. (There are 4 plastic pins that hold it in place)
Cut the bottom of plenum with utility knife about 3/8" from the edge all around except by the depression that holds the bottom of the door. Stay about 1 1/4"
away from what I call "the button".
Use a 3/4" hole saw and drill out the button. Then cut from the hole to the other area you cut out. Now you can remove the old broken door.
I cut a 9" piece of copper pipe and flattened with a hammer about 1" from each end. I soldered a 1/2 copper cap to a 3/4" piece of pipe to the 9" piece right where the old button used to hold the bottom of the old door.
I put in the new door and positioned the new bottom holder under the door so the copper cap fit into the 3/4" hole I hole sawed. I then used 1/2" self tapping screws and fastened it to the bottom of plenum at the edge.
Now put the accuator back in aligning it with the door. You can move the door back and forth through the hole cut out on bottom to align the two.
The reason the door breaks is the accuator wants to continue to close the door when full heat is utilized. The door stops moving, but the accuator continues to try and turn the door and breaks the top of blend door. So do not turn to extreme hot position in future.
I put the piece I cut out back in and used metal backing duct tape to seal it up. WORKS LIKE BRAND NEW FOR LESS THAN $20.
And compare that price to a $1000 repair quote from my local dealer!
Great thread. I wish I had known about this option when I was fixing mine. I replaced the plenum with a used one, but that I certainly would have tried a door replace if the option was available.
That dealer quote is probably mostly labor cost. They have to replace the entire plenum to fix it, and doing so requires pulling the entire dashboard off and getting to the plenum. That is several hours of labor, probably more than one person at times. The new plenum is only a few hundred bucks (not much considering it is a highly complex piece of custom plastic).
Good job saving yourself some money.
-Jim
__________________
02 Mustang GT
98 B4000 SE 4 4x4 Auto
No single raindrop feels that it is responsible for the flood.
To 98RANGE: If possible, can you post a picture of your blend door fix? I'm not really following your description of what you did with copper pipe. But it sounds good - the problem most will have is getting the old door out if it's not "properly broken".
I took a picture but can't paste in on this page. Don't know how to!
The copper cap is soldered to a piece of 1/2" copper 3/4" long.
This is then soldered to the 9" piece of 1/2" copper pipe that I flattened out with a hammer about 1" from each end, and then used self tapping screws to secure it to the bottom of plenum.
You could use a piece of flat metal and the 1/2" copper cap screwed to a piece of pipe to hold up the door in the original position. Doesn't have to be copper.
(I'm a plumber so I used copper)
If someone wants to talk on the phone I could call after 9pm Central Time to explain it better. Private message me your number and day you want to talk.
I fixed mine with a finish nail. Works great and it's cheap. Take the actuator out and drill a hole at the same angle as the break in the door. Then insert the nail. I did it with a mirror first and my alignment was a little off so the door would not close all the way. So I removed the dash to get it exact. I also replaced the heater core since I had the dash out. It was a lot easier than I expected.
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Blend door fix
