When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
1997 Ranger... My temperature control **** is not working (hot/cold selector) The fan speeds are all working, along with the defrost/dash/floor selector. Is there anything I can do to open/move the trap door manually that controls temperature, to allow full heat for now. It stopped working on the cold side, no heat, and It's been raining in the mornings when I leave for work, and the temperature out is on the colder side, so my windows get all fogged up on the inside, and I can't see worth a crud while driving. Not a great situation on my commute in the dark hours of the morning.
All 95+ Rangers with AC have a coolant shutoff valve that stops coolant from flowing into the heater core when the AC is in MAX. Would be both easy and good to make sure it's not somehow stuck shut. Next, the HVAC temp blend door is electric, and the actuator is a stepper motor used to position the blend door. You ought to see if the motor moves when the dash heat control is moved, as movement will suggest that there may be a failure of the blend door. If there is no movement of the motor, then a natural first place to start would be to check the fuse that runs it. These couple of things are a good place to start.
I seem to remember the blend door control as a vacuum powered motor. Check the skinny vacuum lines that route to the motor behind the glove box door. To see if the coolant shut off valve is working properly, feel the temperature of the heater hoses where they connect to the heater core. They should feel similar to the upper radiator hose.
My '96 had a vacuum operated coolent shut off valve, in the engine compartment. If you follow the radiator hoses around you can find it. heck that vac line too.
Here an update on the problem. So my actuator motor was working, but turned out the coupler shaft on the blend door was broken where the actuator motor would turn it (motor turns, door didn't)
The blend door shuts off all the hot air from the heater core when the air conditioning is turned on to maximum. My AC doesn't work anyway, and I need defrost/heat now. So I cut a hole in the plenum just big enough for my hand to fit, and permanently wired the blend door shut, so I would have all the hot air coming off the heater core into the hvac vent system. I covered the access hole I made, with a piece of 12 gauge Aluminum.
I don't know if it matters or not, but if there is any excess radiant heat from the vents in the warm summer months, I can always just disconnect/plug the vacuum line under the hood, that controls the coolant diverter valve, that stops the flow of hot coolant going to the heater core, for the summer months.
So my actuator motor was working, but turned out the coupler shaft on the blend door was broken where the actuator motor would turn it (motor turns, door didn't)
Dorman makes a blend door to fix the faulty Ford plastic door that consistently breaks. Rock Auto sells it. The fix involves cutting into the heater box just like you did.
There's also a company that makes a metal blend door replacement that fixes the blend door weaknesses completely. I think they call themselves Heater Treater, but the cure is somewhat pricey. This fix involves taking the whole dash apart. The irony is that a dealer doing this repair might be somewhat skeptical of using an aftermarket part and might make the customer sign a waiver saying all repair warranties are off.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalytic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
