O.K. here goes. This is how I did them. First you can find out if the actuator is working by dropping the glove box down and sticking your hand on top of the actuator. It has a 1/4 " square recess in the top toward the right side, You will have to feel for it and after you see it when its out it will make more sense. Stick your finger onto the square recess and turn the temp dial full each way (with the key on) you will feel it turn to the right and then back to the left, it goes slow so wait antill it stops to go the other way. If it does this the actuator is o.k. I start by setting the temp dial in the middle so that you can reinstall the actuator on the new chamber later. Pull the A-pillar trim, kick panel trim, the defrost trim, pull the hood release and the e-brake release(7mm) unbolt the 13mm steering shaft and the 8mm bolt holding the brace by the gas pedal.Push the lower steering shaft down a little to get it loose of the u-joint.pull the two 7mm boltsthat retain the defrost ducting to the body(they are about 2" long and are equally spaced along the top defroster opening. Flip down the glove box and unhook the ventilator (1" diameter plastic tube)the connector on the actuator the rubber connector for the vacume controlls (red yellow white black and blue) and the antenna cable( some have a connector, some you have to pull the radio and unroute the whole cable It is usualy orange and the connector is located about center of the glove box clipped to the air bag mount) disconnect the electrical connectors that are under the pass side kick panel along with the green ground bolt and the connector that goes to the inertia switch. This harness will come with the dash so make sure you have all the christmast tree retainers off also. Pull all the 13mm dash bolts (2 over the steering column by the windshield 1 on the pass side by the wind shield and 2 under the fuse bux side cover and 1 on the pass side) Pull the dash back as far as the wiring on the D/S will let you and pivot the pass side all the way out, setting them on the seat. The floor mat will protect the seat.Disconnect the vac tube (black and White) at the fire wall from inside and the 1 11mm nut form the bottom of the plenum at that time. Go outside under the hood and remove the coolant bottle and cruise actuator, and the coolant hoses. remove the 11 mm bolts that hold it in place and out she comes. The one behind the engine is a pain but usualy I wedge a 11mm short wrench to it and crack it free it will generally come off finger right then. when you get the nuts that hold the outer chamber off you can pull it back far enough to get the rear nuts off as well. Have Fun.

 

It depends on which year it is. I think 95+, you have to move the dash. I just finished that myself! . It was initially a pain, but I can get my dash out in 20 minutes now. Maybe you have to just take the dash out on the 95+ to change the heater core, you may end up having to take out the dash regardless of your year. I'm not familiar with anything Pre-95.

 

My Ranger is a 97 , standard trans , 4 cyl. No passenger airbag , no fog lights, nothing special. I'm still planning to start on this Friday night. BTW , I'm replacing the heater core because mine seems to be clogged with junk . I can flush clear water through it , but from what I've been told , this style core is a "collect-all" for rust and trash in the coolant system. I've been told that it doesn't work like most heater cores . I'm going to try to flush it one more time before I remove the dash. So far , I've replaced the thermostat and heater valve and flushed the core.I also checked the blend door. Still no heat.

 

Make sure you back flush it.

 

Thanks one and all for responding to my post, I have ordered the replacement parts (heater plenum and blend door actuator) and will be repairing my expy's ATC system as soon as I have a free weekend. From the sounds of it, I'll need a day or so.
I think it was broken when I bought it!!
Since the new parts are on the way, I decided to do a little surgery down there and have succesfully jammed the blend door to heat. What a difference it makes driving around in 40 degree temp with heat instead of A/C!!
The info was extremely useful and I will be back whenever I need expert advice. (since I drive an explorer, real soon)
I saved $150 by finding the parts online instead of through the dealer and I'll be saving about $800 by fixing Ford's mistakes myself.
Thanks again, this site is an invalueable resource both intellectually and financially.
Andrew

 

Well , I felt pretty confident last night after work and decided I'd give it a shot since the low temps are supposed to dip into the low 30's for the next couple of days. About 10:00 last night I went to bed defeated. I cant seem to get the heater core out. I have the dash unbolted , and the plenum unbolted. I cant seem to get the plenum pulled but a few inches away from the firewall. I got the cover over the heater core off , thinking I could just pull it up and wiggle the the tubes and body out , but it only come so far up , then gets stuck. I think the dash should come out further , but I cant seem to get it out any further. Same with the plenum. I cant see anything holding it back , but I cant see very well , either. Anyway , I'm going to start again on it Saturday morning , and I WILL get it out , but I just wanted to let you guys know where I was at. I'm just a little discouraged and frustrated at Ford for making this such a pain to fix.

 

Hello there I believ I know what is holding you up. If the plenum moves prety freely but anly comes about an inch or so you are probably catching on the pcm metal shield.Take a screw driver and pry it up a tiny bit and it will come out. If you look with a flash light in that area you will see how little you need to pry. it is catching on the plastic where the core tubes run also make sure you have the 1 11mm nut from the inside off.

 

THANKS. I'll check it out first thing. I did remove the metal shield , but I cant memember if I removed a bolt. When I get home from work , I'll take a look at it. Once again , thanks. You guys have been a HUGE help.

 

Where is this nut. Maybe I overlooked it.....

 

Just to make sure, you did disconnect the heater hoses?

 

O.k. , I'm back. I got the heater core swaped out , got my dash back on . Every things smurfey now , right? WRONG. Still no heat.The hoses hooking to the heater core were not hot , just slightly warm . First thing I think of is the heater controll valve , even though I just replaced it a week ago ( it was leaking then ) , so I disconected it and by-passed it . Still no heat. I also noticed that my temp. gauge needle barely rises to the " C " , when it should be half way between the "C" and the "H" . Now it sounds like the thermostat , but I just replaced it about 2 weeks ago and has been working fine. Guys , I'm about to go crazy working on this truck. I just tried flushing out the system with my waterhose. Still no heat. The air actually feels like I'm running the A/C!


The only other problem that I have is that all the air comes out of the defrost vents , which I can live with untill I get time to remove the dash and adjust it , but I really need to get some heat going in my truck.

Any ideas on what could be wrong?

 

Wow, big-time bummer.

Other than a whole lot of air possibly being trapped in the system, I think you have to start thinking about things like a clogged radiator or weak fuel pump, something along those lines. Hot coolant is obviously not making it's way to the heater hoses.

Also, are you sure you installed the T-stat properly? If it went in backwards that could cause coolant flow issues.

 

I am certain that the thermo is in the correct direction. The radiator isn't clogged , I pulled it out and flushed it when I changed the thermostat. Do you think the water pump is going bad ? That ran through my mind this morning , but I'm no mechanic , so I dont know. Anyway , thanks for the reply.

This is about to drive me crazy.....

 

I dont think you hooked everything back up. The defrost is the default position if theres nothing hooked up to it. I dont think you plugged all the vacuum lines back in, and that is why the vent selector isn't working. It would also cause your heater door not to open and not get any air threw the heater core. The heater control valve is also controlled by the same vacuum source.

 

That may bepart of my problem , but yesterday I disconected the heaterhose with the truck running , and I'm not getting any fluid to my heater core.The blend door is working, I can see it through a peep hole I cut earlier. The only vacume lines that I remember un hooking are the black/white ones by the pasenger door and the multi colored ones on the left side of glove comp. They are pluged in.