Heater Plenum Replacement
Cargo Master
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 2,858
Likes: 3
From: Friendswood, Texas
It might.
Just to update you - the problem was on my daughter's 97 Ranger but the dash is identical to the Explorers of that vintage as best I can tell. At least it is the same as what is in my 96 Explorer. My initial plan was to replace only the blend door by cutting a hole in the plenum. It was late in the day on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the guy at the Junkyard must have been feeling generous becasue he sold me the entier plenum for $13.00.
I was having difficulty removing the door from the new (junkyard plenum) and cutting a hole in the bottom of the exisiting plenum, looked like a nightmare so I opted to replace the entire plenum.
It really wasn't that bad a job. Probably three or four hours tops. I seem to remember being interupted by a shopping trip with my wife which no doubt prolonged the project but it was done in less than a day.
See post #4 on this thread. These are the instructions that I used and they made the job pretty much idiot proof. They were extremely helpful and the job would never have gone as smoothly as it did without them.
Just to update you - the problem was on my daughter's 97 Ranger but the dash is identical to the Explorers of that vintage as best I can tell. At least it is the same as what is in my 96 Explorer. My initial plan was to replace only the blend door by cutting a hole in the plenum. It was late in the day on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the guy at the Junkyard must have been feeling generous becasue he sold me the entier plenum for $13.00.
I was having difficulty removing the door from the new (junkyard plenum) and cutting a hole in the bottom of the exisiting plenum, looked like a nightmare so I opted to replace the entire plenum.
It really wasn't that bad a job. Probably three or four hours tops. I seem to remember being interupted by a shopping trip with my wife which no doubt prolonged the project but it was done in less than a day.
See post #4 on this thread. These are the instructions that I used and they made the job pretty much idiot proof. They were extremely helpful and the job would never have gone as smoothly as it did without them.
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 191
Likes: 0
From: Anaheim USA
Psksam2,
You said" $12 for the resistor network, and $8 for the connector. I expected I'd have to pay $90 for the entire wiring harness." Were you talking about the heater resistor pack located in the ac/heater unit which is a 2" x 3" rectangular plug (on my 1986 Ranger) which caught fire last week with leaves inside. it melted quite a large hole in the casing,and looks like the heater/AC fan housiing unit is one huge piece that I may have to replace. (between the heater hoses going into the dash.) Others have said I could patch this hole up with sheet metal or tire tubing,but where would I re-attach the resistor pack? My Fan controls still work,and I wanted to know( for the fun of it) if I plug the resistor coil pack back in to the fusible wiring,and turn the heat on,that I could test if the coils still work? Thanks.
You said" $12 for the resistor network, and $8 for the connector. I expected I'd have to pay $90 for the entire wiring harness." Were you talking about the heater resistor pack located in the ac/heater unit which is a 2" x 3" rectangular plug (on my 1986 Ranger) which caught fire last week with leaves inside. it melted quite a large hole in the casing,and looks like the heater/AC fan housiing unit is one huge piece that I may have to replace. (between the heater hoses going into the dash.) Others have said I could patch this hole up with sheet metal or tire tubing,but where would I re-attach the resistor pack? My Fan controls still work,and I wanted to know( for the fun of it) if I plug the resistor coil pack back in to the fusible wiring,and turn the heat on,that I could test if the coils still work? Thanks.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 4,907
Likes: 39
From: suburban atlanta
The resistor pack just has to be in the airflow, apparently, to keep its heat from melting the plenum walls. If you can patch the old plenum, you can place the resistor pack anywhere that will keep it in the flow of air thru the plenum.
Patch the box with salvaged plastic held in place with expoxy, then cut, or cut earlier, a hole to mount the resistor pack. You could take an old plenum, cut out a section to replace the melted one, overlap it so it rests on solid plastic, and epoxy it in place. It does not have to look good, just handle the pressure of the air flow.
You should be able to switch the heater to any position and turn on the fan to check the resistor pack. Just don't be holding it in your bare hand, as the coils my get hotter than you enjoy.
tom
Patch the box with salvaged plastic held in place with expoxy, then cut, or cut earlier, a hole to mount the resistor pack. You could take an old plenum, cut out a section to replace the melted one, overlap it so it rests on solid plastic, and epoxy it in place. It does not have to look good, just handle the pressure of the air flow.
You should be able to switch the heater to any position and turn on the fan to check the resistor pack. Just don't be holding it in your bare hand, as the coils my get hotter than you enjoy.
tom
New User
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
Thank you Ford Motor Company
Well I have successfully replaced my heater assembly!!! I started about noon went to pickup the wife about 4 p.m. Got back about 8:30. I was in the shower by 10:00p.m. The steps in the thread were very helpful, THANK YOU! Without it I would have been lost! I got the part (heater assembly) from a buddy at ford for about $215.00, when I went to another dealer (walking in as joe nobody) they quoted me about $374.00 plus tax. While I was in there I decided I might as well replace the heater core as well. I didn't wanna do this twice! Not that it would be that bad but I didn't wanna. The core was about $50.00 not too bad. Anyway got it done and it works great!!! Thanks again!!! I have another problem before this happened my speedometer quit working. It works for like the first 5 miles of a trip, bounces up and down then stays down. My buddy at ford said I would have to send the cluster in to be fixed about $400.00. I don't need to know how fast or how far I'm going for that much!!! Any cheaper fixes? Anyone with same symtoms? Any suggestions would be great!!!! Thanks Joe
Cargo Master
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 2,858
Likes: 3
From: Friendswood, Texas
I would check your speed sensor first. I would also recommend starting a new theread for the speedo problem so as not to hijack this one for the heater plenum. Glad to hear it worked for you. Those instructions saved my bacon as well. And oh yea - Welcome to FTE.
Freshman User
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
Jim,
What can I say, You are a life saver, I was damn near ready to burn my 97 Ranger yesterday. I even bought a chiltons book, TOTALLY WORTHLESS for this project. I even gave up yesterday because I knew i was close to loosing it and wanted to burn that truck. I had heard the core replacement was bad, but I never imagined it would be like this. Anyhow after calling it a night last night I came in and found your post, Like I said it was a "truck saver" You instructions were great to the T, even including the beer stops,
Jim, you the man
Thanks again
Brian
What can I say, You are a life saver, I was damn near ready to burn my 97 Ranger yesterday. I even bought a chiltons book, TOTALLY WORTHLESS for this project. I even gave up yesterday because I knew i was close to loosing it and wanted to burn that truck. I had heard the core replacement was bad, but I never imagined it would be like this. Anyhow after calling it a night last night I came in and found your post, Like I said it was a "truck saver" You instructions were great to the T, even including the beer stops,
Jim, you the man
Thanks again
Brian
Freshman User
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
Jim,
What can I say, You are a life saver, I was damn near ready to burn my 97 Ranger yesterday. I even bought a chiltons book, TOTALLY WORTHLESS for this project. I even gave up yesterday because I knew i was close to loosing it and wanted to burn that truck. I had heard the core replacement was bad, but I never imagined it would be like this. Anyhow after calling it a night last night I came in and found your post, Like I said it was a "truck saver" You instructions were great to the T, even including the beer stops,
Jim, you the man
Thanks again
Brian
What can I say, You are a life saver, I was damn near ready to burn my 97 Ranger yesterday. I even bought a chiltons book, TOTALLY WORTHLESS for this project. I even gave up yesterday because I knew i was close to loosing it and wanted to burn that truck. I had heard the core replacement was bad, but I never imagined it would be like this. Anyhow after calling it a night last night I came in and found your post, Like I said it was a "truck saver" You instructions were great to the T, even including the beer stops,
Jim, you the man
Thanks again
Brian
New User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Does anyone have the part nubmer for a replacement plenum, or know of a place to aquire one? The blend door broke in my Ranger right before i left for the desert. I'll be returning in a few months, and would like to have a replacement plenum ready to be installed. I've checked ebay and a few other websites and i've had no luck locating one.
Thanks!
Thanks!
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New User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 6
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Originally Posted by fordboy_52
check in the tech articles. there is a blend door fix in it
Matt
Matt
Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 940
Likes: 2
From: Morris Plains, NJ
Originally Posted by NAM
BTDT. tried it before i left the states. No luck. gonna have to either replace the door itself, or the whole plenum. And as far as i can tell, replacing the door alone isn't really an option.
98 Ranger Blend Door Question
I would have tried this before replacing the whole plenum, since even if you turn the plenum into swiss cheese doing it, worst case scenario you are back to where you started of having to replace the plenum.
The plenum from a dealer is going to run you a good deal of money. I'm sure that if you contact our forum sponsor, he can get you a part number and price. Even if he gives you a deal on a new one though, you may want to check out the salvage yard I posted on the first couple posts in this thread. A used one can be had for $100.
-Jim
Last edited by PSKSAM2; Mar 19, 2007 at 05:27 PM.
New User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by PSKSAM2
A few weeks ago, I saw a thread on here where someone had found a Napa kit that included a replacement blend door. I think it was done by cutting into the bottom of the plenum from below, then replacing the door through the hole. I've been unsuccessful in finding the part number on Napa's site, but here's that thread:
-Jim
-Jim
Cargo Master
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 2,858
Likes: 3
From: Friendswood, Texas
I found my replacement plenum at the local boneyard. Of course, no telling how long until that one goes bad but so far so good. I have a 96 Explorer and the original blend door still works fine so apparently they don't all go bad. Just something to consider.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,019
Likes: 0
From: Slatington PA
Wonder full instructions. saved me alot of work. I got a "new" door with useless plenum from a junk yard. looked at it and though... why is it going to stay together this time? nobody answered me so i took it as a sign from god that i should re-enforce the crap out of it. i will try and post some pics. I have a hard time with that. Basically i used a coa hanger, 60 minute epoxy, and some fishing line to make a not easily borken axle for the door. works like a charm... so far.
Last edited by Alan D.; Mar 23, 2007 at 07:43 PM.
New User
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by Alan D.
Wonder full instructions. saved me alot of work. I got a "new" door with useless plenum from a junk yard. looked at it and though... why is it going to stay together this time? nobody answered me so i took it as a sign from god that i should re-enforce the crap out of it. i will try and post some pics. I have a hard time with that. Basically i used a coa hanger, 60 minute epoxy, and some fishing line to make a not easily borken axle for the door. works like a charm... so far.
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