i have a 97 E-150 with factory air (vin L) the heat/cool quit working just before summer it quit blowing cold. The old man took it to some mechanic (i hate when he does that) and he fixed it so there was air only saying he had a choice of cold or hot (being summer in the desert he chose cold). Now that it is cold and we are traveling where defrost is needed i NEED heat!!! I went to the Ford dealer and picked up a new potentiometer and that did not fix the problem. whenever the unit is on the a/c compressor kicks on........HELP!!!!!! can anyone help me? is this electrical or vacuum and where might i find the problem?
Please help a girl not freeze her twins off!
Thanks
Hippie Chick

 

Hello Hippie Chick and welcome to FTE!

Well, we can't risk freezing the twins and based on your story it sounds like the blend door may be broken and so they set it to only let cold air blow. Did they say what they did when they "fixed it"?

 

but we LOVE high-beams

actually the a/c will defrost much better than the heater because it dehumidifies...try it! its faster acting also.

if the a/c clutch is activated every time you turn on the fan, its wired wrong. it should only be activated when its on the a/c setting.

welcome to the site

 

Unfortunately i was not there nor did i get to speak to the person that "fixed it" but........the other half (who knows where the gas goes & the oil needs changing every so often) said that he did manually change something to "fix" the problem. If the blend door was manually switched how do i get to it to switch it back???

Thanks for the welcome! the twins will be happy, they don't like to get cold!

 

The link below has a ton of information about the blend door problem. Included in the various posts is another link that details fixing the blend door on a Explorer. If you have problem finding it, let me know and I'll post it. Looking over the entire thread though is pretty informative.

Click Here!

 

SWEET!!! looks like just what i'm looking for! it's going to be a couple of days before i get a chance to fiddle with it. (got a new job & work early hours) i've saved the link you sent so i can go back anytime.

Thanks for all the help and i'll let you know how it goes when i get the time to fix it.

Thanks again & the twins thank you too!

 

Hey.
I have a 02 f450 in the shop that was doing the same thing. There is a pin point test you can do to see if it is the hot/cold switch or the blend door actuatior motor, which mine was bad causeing no heat. I think it might be the same for the van as well. I will see if i can get it and post the steps for us. Stay warm.

 

Many thanks to all who helped with my heater issue!!!
I finally had some time and we got the heater going .......it actually gets TOO hot every now and again but this is better than freezing the twins off! Thanks again for sharing the knowledge!
Hope everyone had a wonderful (and warm!) Christmas and Have a wonderful New Year!!!!
Peace,
Hippiechick

 

I put a new heater core in my 1997 F150 last year and the heat was really good. This year at the beginning of winter, it blows cold air. It is warm until I turn the fan on and then it gets cold. HELP!!!!!!!!!!