02 explorer defrost issues

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Oct 26, 2012 | 11:50 PM

mkoppler123

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02 explorer defrost issues

I got an 02 explorer xlt with the manual heater control ***** and I've noticed now that it's getting colder it seems like my windshield and side windows are taking forever to clear up when they are foggy. When I put my hand up by the window or the vents for the driver/passenger side windows there's barely any air movement, and that is even when the blower is on the maximum level.

Another thing I've noticed is if I set it to floor only, it blows out the defrost. Same for the defrost only, I can feel some air blowing onto my feet. So I was hoping to get some ideas of what to look for when I pull this into a garage and start to looking around.

I also changed the coolant and put in a new thermostat about a month ago, if that's of any importance. Thanks

Oct 27, 2012 | 09:09 AM

steve(ill)

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there are several vacum cylinders that stroke small plastic doors to direct the air up or down. When you loose vacuum and the doors dont work right, the air always goes to the defrost (Up) position. You can start by looking for a small vacuum line with a hole in it, or burnt / cracked/ on top of the intake manifold, TEE, or at the firewall infront of the glove box. ONe small hose goes thru the firewall and to the dash controller. IF the hose falls off the controller, or the controler leaks inside, you can also loose vacuum. Problem is vacuum, you just need to figure out where it is.
---- ON another note, there is an "outside" air damper under or behind the glove box that lets fresh air into the cab. If the passenger always compains about a "air draft" in the winter, and the drivers side is o.k., you might look at that door also. THe bracket breaks that goes between the cylinder arm and the plastic outside door. Look thru the grating and you can see it. I wedged a dowel thru the grate and pinned the door closed permanently.

Oct 27, 2012 | 09:10 AM

steve(ill)

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look at the drawing at the bottom of this post and you will get the basic idea of vacuum system.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...-please-2.html

Oct 30, 2012 | 07:18 PM

mkoppler123

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Well I finally got to checking it out and all of the vacuum lines are fine, I did notice that my air inlet door was broken, so I went ahead and fixed that. But it still seems like there's very little air flow coming out, especially if I'm on 1 or 2 for fan speed. I know that there really shouldn't be much air flow coming out at that low of setting, but you think you'd actually get some air behind it since it seems to blow you outta of the vehicle on 3 or 4. So I did some researching and saw there's a slight chance the blower resistor could be going bad since it stated that it could affect how much air the blower puts out. So I guess I'll have to check that out once this whole hurricane effecting Ohio leaves..

Oct 30, 2012 | 08:29 PM

steve(ill)

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blower dont put out much on 1-2 speeds.. If the resistor craps out, you would get nothing, not low flow... nothing.. You said that it blew thru the defrost when set to floor control. If it does that, you have a vacuum problem. If it does not do that, your o.k.

Oct 30, 2012 | 08:44 PM

mkoppler123

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Well I dunno where to look at for the vacuum, since I watched all of the vacuum controlled actuators move. I thought for sure that there would be enough air flow out of the defrost on the 1-2 setting to keep the windshield or side windows cleared. Think this weekend I'm going to drop the blower motor and see if something might of got sucked in.