Short story:

I lost floor heat only in my 91 F150 wo/AC. Heat would blow out of the vents or the defroster but not to the floor regardless of the **** position on the control.

Figured out that the plastic link that goes between the the floor/defrost blend actuator and the actual blend door itself broke so there was no physical link between the actuator and the door.

The part at fault is the first picture below. You can see where it looks like a stud busted off of the plastic link. This link then connects to a hole in the blend door arm.

Does anyone know what the part number is for this little piece of plastic or where I can get it?

I'll buy a new actuator or blend door if I have to but I can't find those exact parts anywhere either. Just tried NAPA, advanced, autozone, and rockauto... nothin.



The long story:

I assumed I had a vacuum leak to this actuator so I started with pulling the controls out of the dash and cycling the controls through all their positions with the engine running and so I could see all of the actuators. there are 3 of them; one for outdoor air / indoor air in the engine compartment, one beneath the heater core that splits air flow to/from the vents, and one buried behind the HVAC controls that splits flow to the floor and defrost vents.



I could see the floor/defrost actuator moving in and out as commanded so I sighed relief upon realizing that I had no vacuum leak. Shortly thereafter I was filled with despair upon realizing I would have to excavate the whole freaking dashboard out of the way to be able to get to the blend door that was hidden inside the air box.... so close yet so far away.

I have it all apart now and ready to replace the busted plastic link previously mentioned.

if you have to do this it really sucks. it sucks extra if you have a bunch of after market gauges and junk that are routed through and around your dash that you never though you'd have to remove again.

double check for wire harnesses.



help me find this mystery plastic part (please).





what is this part and where can I find it?

 

I am betting you have to purchase the entire vacuum motor to get that part.

 

I doubt it. My guess is you are going to have to procure one from the junkyard.

 

Fixed it.

went to home depot, bought the following:

- 1/4" flat washers
-1/4" hitch pin
- small pin to fit in hitch pin

had to drill a hole in the broken plastic piece and ran the pin through the hole in broken plastic thing and then through the hole in blend door.

also had to cut most of the hitch pin off as it was too long to fit without binding.

I had to reassemble all of this using some long need nose pliers inside the air box / ducts; think building a ship in a bottle type stuff.

I tested it out with a hand vacuum pump / brake bleeder to make sure nothing would bind or break before I put it all back together.

$4.00 and 10 hours later I have heat on my toes again.







what it looks like in action

 

Nice alternate route, and uuummm I think I took same first aid class, as you.

 

Yessir... We don need no stinkin bandaids

 

NICE FAB JOB. MacGyver skills are crucial to owning a classic. From the first post I would have suggested that. Little stuff like that that doesn't have a part number on it is almost always faster and cheaper to fab.