I searched this site, Google and YouTube for a DYI on how to replace the blend door actuator in my new-to-me 08 SD EX Cab. All I come up with is Explorer, Taurus, 150s etc...Nothing on a newer 250.
Dealer had the actuator for $35. Its 20* outside and it won’t fit in my garage w/o leaving the door open. So I’d like to do this as quickly as possible with the salamander goin full blast.
Has anyone performed this repair? I’d like an exploded view of the dash area or a YouTube DYI would be great.
Any tips? Such as where the temp control **** should be positioned before installation? I do know the key should be off so there isn’t voltage to the actuator so the learning position won’t be outta wack, but that’s the only bit of info I could find.
TX! Steve

 

Well, I took mine to the dealer to have it done. They had to remove the entire dashboard. I don't know if it's "necessary", or just convenient for them, but either way it's going to be a chore. There's not a lot of room under the dash. I don't know much more about it than that.

 

droldsmorland did you ever find any more info on doing this? Or did you do it and do you have any tips?

I have the blend door actuator on order and will be attempting this soon on my 2008 F250.

 

Yes I do have tips. First have a chilled 6 pack handy! My first attempt was basically a discovery journey through my dash. I took the control center out, the radio the glove box etc...Managed to break the trailer brake controller, though I was able to repair it fortunately...Still no way in hell you’re gonna reach that actuator. Some say you can get at it through the glove box area, NOT! Sure you can see it but that’s it I dont care what tool you have in your bag of tricks. Yes Id surmise if you removed the entire dash assembly you could get to it that way but that’s not necessary from what I’ve read.

Here is the trick. The Air bag, Glove box and one air duct needs to come out. I have not attempted it yet because the weather in NY went to crap last week. I googled how to power the air bag down and power it back up safely. Do not attempt to simply pull it without doing your homework. It looks like once the bag is out of the way it will be a simple job.
Justanswer.com is where an actual Ford Tech walks you through that procedure. It’s an excerpt directly out of the service manual. There is Blend door info there as well. I printed both off and will attempt to do the repair this weekend. Ill up-date all when complete.

 

subscribing. hope it goes well when it warms up.

 

Good luck. Looking forward to hearing a report on how it went.

 

Yeah, good luck and keep us informed.

 

Any news on your repair?

 

subscribing .....

 

OK all; I finally got around to R&R-ing that SOB blend door actuator. Here’s how I did it. This procedure is for the standard heater controls, not dual zone.
1. Gather yourself a 6 pack of your favorite working fluid of choice.
2. With the truck ignition on and the heat, a/c control center powered up set the blend switch to the Mid-position. Shut off the truck.
3. Remove the glove box. This allows access to the air bag fasteners.
4. Power down the air bag properly and remove it. This link has the procedure, (http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/bo...ag_depower.pdf) or Google it. This link has the power up and verification steps as well. Important safety stuff here don’t mess with the bag until you read this, but don’t be intimated either, it’s easy.
6. Remove the bezel around the radio and the radio, the bezel simply pulls off…be gentile pull evenly on all 4 corners with short quick frim tugs. Disconnect all the wire connectors that go to everything so you can get it all completely out of the way.
7. Now rip out the 3-way duct pipe to the right of the radio directly over the actuator. There is one 7mm screw holding it to the inner dash structure close to the radio tunnel. You’ll see it. Now rip the dam thing out through the hole where the air bag once lived. It will come out. First separate the duct that comes into the top of the 3-way with some force and a wide blade gasket scraper. Reach in through the vent hole man handle it into submission it will pull apart. The duct work is soft enough to man handle without breakage. Remember how you extracted it and put it back in in the reverse order. The lower duct plenum is somewhat in the way but pull it towards you and this will give you good access to the actuator.
8. Remove the old actuator (2 screws) and note the position of the gear. There’s a little arrow molded into the actuator. Be sure the old and new actuators are oriented the same with respect to the keyed area. If not you are going to have to power the truck back up and connect just the harness to the blend switch and match the position of the old actuator to the new. The new actuator is properly positioned out of the box…at least it should be if its virgin. It won’t seat properly into the locating pins if you have it positioned wrong. Murphy’s Law tip #7… right after you pull the old one out mark it as bad so you don’t inadvertently re-install it or mark the new one “new”.
9. Throw the old actuator as far as you can, maybe put it into a clay pigeon launcher and hit it with a 12 gage.
Reverse the process for assembly. This whole sha-bang took me about 2.5 hours. Not including the first aborted attempt. I read here that you could access it through the glove box. So I attempted that one night after work in the dark just before a storm (un-be-knownst to me) was about to blow in. I had most of the dash apart. I saw that the bag needed to come out and I was out of time so I managed to put it back together before the storm hammered me like within 5 min!
The part was $32 from dealer. They wanted $800 for the job. They said the whole dash needed to be removed...not…HA! Sharp edges everywhere, wear mechanics gloves if so desired cuz you will remove some hide from your meat hooks!
Drove to work this morning and it appears to be working as Henry intended…

 

Thanks for posting this. It doesn't sound too bad.

I wonder how different the procedure is for a truck with dual zone controls?

 

Can this be put in the Tech Folder? Don't need it now, but seems most of us will need it at some point!!

 

BroncoEx, yes absolutely it should be place somewhere so it’s not buried and easy to find when needed. Being as you’re a senior user can you guide me to where the instructions are to go about this? I looked briefly but didn’t see "posting instructions" so I’ll leave it here until I find out how to do it.

 

Send a PM to the mod and ask them to place it there.

 

I just pm'ed a moderator......