Hi there,
I've been troubleshooting my heating/cooling for a couple of days now but want to make sure I haven't missed something.

Last week I noticed my 2008 Ranger's heat/cool function was stuck on cold. Fine for this time of year but I want it fixed. My first thought was the heater core but ruled it out when I felt the in/out lines of the unit, under the hood, and found they were both hot.

I then thought perhaps a fuse. After pulling the #27 fuse I noticed that it also controls the fan, and since that was working I ruled that out.

I then turned my attention to the blend door actuator. I pulled it out and noticed that after unplugging and then plugging it back in to the harness that the control stem on the actuator had no movement after turning the fan on and trying to blend from heat to cold.

Then while cruising downtown to Ford I noticed that at one point I actually got heat. Then I could get cold, but the actuator was sitting on the passenger seat. My questions are:

1 - When I pulled the actuator off the plenum, does that allow the blend door to swing both ways (not that there's anything wrong with that!)?

2 - Does this scenario sound like the actuator is the culprit? Ford quoted me $120.00 and I can't return it if that isn't the problem.

and...

3 - When I go to reinstall the new actuator, will it be a problem trying to align the new actuator's spline to the blend door? Is there a trick to it?

I put a flashlight and mirror above the plenum and the top of what I think is the blend door axis seems to be in tact and undamaged.

Thanks for the time. I look forward to some help on this one.

 

1. Yes.
2. Probably.
3. Maybe.

 

The actuator or drive motor might be bad----do I gather correctly you've confirmed the blend door pivots freely?

There is a pin point test done at the drive motor connector to test the circuit continuity and for proper operation of the dash mounted temp control. Its nothing more than a potentiometer or rheostat that has a specified resistance in ohms. It can also cause intermittent heating/cooling functions so the bad news is it might NOT be your actuator!

Re-installing the drive motor isn't tough especially if you have a bore scope or mirror to first locate the blend door shaft slot, adjust it to allow a slip fit of the motor over the shaft and onto the core case.