2003 Expedition Rear blend door

[ksanders22]

I have a 2003 2wd expedition with a 5.4 L engine. The rear blend door is not functioning. Can anyone tell me exactly where this is located and the easiest way to get access to it is. Thanks

[waterman308]

I did mine last year. It is located under the rear, psgr side qtr pannel trim. Quite a bit of trim has to be removed from the rear door entry, window pillars, rear psgr door entry trim. The door is most likely not the problem. it is the actuator - a 4" square box containing a small electric motor - the kind we used to find inside our broken toy cars when we were kids. There are little plastic gears that power a wormdrive on the arm that rotates to move the door.

The box, yellow plastic, mounts very easily to the HVAC houseing and the arm from the box sticks into a socket on the housing. when you turn the temp control, it acts like a rheostat (like a dimmer switch) and it moves the motor a certain amount, which then rotates the blend door to mix cold and hot air. The little plastic gears on the motor shaft break and the gears skip, causing a sound like click click click.

the actuator is available from rockauto.com for about 40 bucks. The dealership charged me 70, and gave me the wrong type of actuator. There is another one, located under the 2nd row, psgr side cupholder (it can be just popped out) and the little actuator can be worked on right there. This actuator controls air delivery either to ceiling or floor. It has a different kind of arm that sticks into another recess in the housing. The arms are different sizes and are not interchangeable. Of course Ford gave me the wrong one, on a Friday, hand had to wait until Monday to get the correct one. Oye.

Too bad the temp control actuator doesn't have a little access pannel. what a job to take out all that trim.

I might have some documentation at home on how to take out the trim if you want you can pm me your email and I will see what I have.

[alwaysfords41]

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/44...eb-2003-a.html

Try this thread

[alwaysfords41]

Skip that thread, here is an instruction I posted in another one (there are quite a few on this topic) Not written by me, but it worked for my 04. There are two actuators, mine was in the easy one. They are different part numbers as has been mentioned so you need to know which it is before you order.

Tools Required: 5/16" socket (small driver is better than larger in my opinion), phillips screwdriver, Torque head socket, and maybe a flathead to jimmy the trim off in some spots.
Parts Required: Got mine from Oriellly Auto Parts ($34) it's a Dorman Heater Blend Door Acutator Part # 604-202

"Easy" One
1. Simply Pop off the Long Change/crap holder underneath the rear passenger side glass. (Snaps right out with a little pressre but be careful).
2. Turn on your car and adjust the Rear A/C until you hear the thumping.
3. You will see the Rear A/C unit and right on top is an White/Opaque square box. Unplug the wiring harness from this box and see if it stops. If it does you are in luck! If not see "Hard" One
4. Pop out the cup holder just in front of the open trim hole (you will need to to get another hand in there)
5. Use your 5/16" socket and remove. Place the new part in it's place.
6. Make sure you align the pin (Do this by pluging the wiring harness into the new unit and have someone adjust the Hot/Cold until the pin lines up and the new actuator slips in correctly and the bolt hoes line up.
7. Bolt in and Test....Replace the trim and you are done.

'Hard" One
1. Do above precedure until step 3 if the thumping does not stop put the wiring harness back in "Easy" one and locate the 2nd actuator which is a little farther forward and along the side next to the trim. Disconnect that wiring harness and verify the thumping stops. If it does not stop...Sorry you are SOL for this thread. If it does stop, make sure you have a couple hours to devote to replacing this. If you don't just leave it disconnected until you have time (at least the thumping has stopped but you will likely have drastic temps in the rear)
2. Now you basically need to remove the rear trim panel enough to get the space to remove this unit.
3. Below is the order I would take the trim off...Just need a little force to get the clips out
A-remove the spare tire lid, and jack
B- remove the skid trim
C- remove the black jack liner 5/16" socket and a rubber gasket and it snaps out
D- remove the top center trim
E- Use Torque head socket to remove the top seat belt bolt
F- unscrew the plastic screw which hold down the rear panel trim "ear" to the frame
G- snap off the upper Corner post trim enough to get the rear panel snaped out
H- snap off the rear panel enough so you have some room to work (there won't be much but there is enough to get in there) otherwise you will have to take the entire panel off which I did not do.
4. Unbolt the actuator 5/16" socket Qty 4
5. Place the new part in it's place.
6. Make sure you align the pin (Do this by pluging the wiring harness into the new unit and have someone adjust the Hot/Cold until the pin lines up and the new actuator slips in correctly and the bolt hoes line up.
7. Bolt in and Test....Replace the trim and you are done.

I've also seen here that people have done the hard one without taking the trim off, choosing to wrestle and contort instead.

[white_2kgt]

alwaysfords41, thanks for that post. Mine started clicking eariler today and I came on here searched found your post and got it fixed in a few hrs. Mine was the 'hard' one but even then it wasn't to bad, it was kind of nice to get all the crud and junk out from under those panels. Ended up going to ORilley as well since none of the other stores had it in stock. Mine had 82k on it ('03 XLT).

Again, thanks for that post!

[alwaysfords41]

No problem, I didn't write it but was more than happy to pass it on.

[spastec]

My 2004 Navigator just started making that noise. I unplugged the actuator that is more to the rear of the car and lower than the other actuator. The noise stopped. I was going to order the part from O'Reilly's. Does anybody know if it is part number 604-202?
Thanks

[tatetodd]

Dont' remember the part # (dif years had -AA or AB at end but apeear to be the same and equally crappy). You won't need it though. The part is "rear blend door actuator". they will have it in their system under AC parts...it should be small plastic box with four screw holes a single electrical connector receptacle and a shaft that comes out of one side.

[ddhrpec]

ok guys i followed this post since mine only got one reply with my "no overhead ac" . I removed the cover and found the actuator. It was unplugged..thinking it was bad i plugged it in and BINGO air overhead but it was bad and started clicking. However when i set the switch to overhead it stopped and worked fine. So it seems now i have no floor air but it works overhead....looks pretty easy to change guess ill get around to it this weekend. thanks for the step by step above ..it probably saved me several hundred at the dealership. THANKS GUYS/GALS

[spastec]

I ended up replacing the difficult actuator today. I did not remove the rear panel. I reached my arm in there with a small socket and loosened the 4 bolts. I was too lazy to go tearing apart all those panels. Thanks for everybody's help to find out the problem.

[phjohnso]

Unfortunately I could remove the hard one but could not put the new one in without removing everything assoc with the trim. I was a PIA - the new motor was a bit of a challenge getting lined up. All the plastic and bolts went back together quickly. Unfortunately my battery died when I went to start it up after I finished. Now since it will be getting cold and I do not know much about the battery in there I am going to change it out in a little while. Now I have to go find a "how to" for that job.

[TexFinn]

Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but I just need to check one thing before I finally tackle the job.

Originally Posted by alwaysfords41

Parts Required: Got mine from Oriellly Auto Parts ($34) it's a Dorman Heater Blend Door Acutator Part # 604-202

Is this part # for the "easy" or "hard" option? What is the part # for the other one? I can only find the 604-202 from O'Reilly's website.

Thanks!

[bumparker]

I did the easy one on my 2003. I think all the motors are the same basic design except the hole for the shafts can be different shapes. My shaft was a "D" shape and the Ford parts place sent me a motor with a "+" shape the first time.

And yes, the motors are crap, I replaced 2 years ago and it recently started clicking again. I recommend remove and take the part with you to compare.

[TexFinn]

I haven't yet diagnosed which one I need. Maybe I need both.

Therefore it would be nice to have the other part # also so I don't have to make two trips to the parts store. Don't want to buy them from the stealership if I can get them from O'reilly's etc.

But I guess nobody has the aftermarket part # for the other one...

[alwaysfords41]

Which mode makes the clicking, when you switch from floor to ceiling or when you change the temperature mix? Floor to ceiling is the easy one.