Mirror and magnet??? I tried the pin in the accuator but it did not work.


Mine had four plastic pins that held it in place. I lifted it up with a screwdriver and it came lose. Is this a 98 ranger?
Hope it works for You. One thing to remember is not to turn the heat control to max setting on hot. The door only turns about 80 degree's and the motor wants to keep turning the door after it is closed and this is how the door breaks on top of the door.

 

Really? The motor wants to turn the door further than it can physically turn? Are there new actuators that resolve this issue?

I had to go buy a new ratchet and socket so I could get the actuator out; I could then fit my hand in there to get my other ratchet out. I think I can get the pin thing to work, but I'm worried about the 80 degree thing (will this happen again?). I'm not the only one that drives the pickup, so somebody else might turn it all the way on (PLUS it drives me nuts having something not work right).

 

Hmm... I did the pin mod and it didn't seem to work. I may need to put in a longer pin or angle it a little differently. At least now I know that my AC works (blows cold on max). I bought the pickup thinking I would have to spend $$ to fix it. This just makes it a better deal.

I wonder if there'd be a way I could install a manual toggle switch for the specific purpose of activating the heater core bypass valve. All I'd have to do is find the wire on the selector switch that activates it and run it to a switch. I'd probably have to install some diodes, however, to isolate the bypass control from the rest of the system... Any ideas?

 

Yes that was my problem. I had the bottom of the plenum cut out and could see how the new door swung it's path from cold to hot position. When the door was closed tight in the hot position, the dial could be turned another 3/8 to 1/2". So I took a black magic marker and covered over the red so I would not go past it.


You may as well fix it, because to blow air in defroster in summer will blow heat on window. The heat does not come into the heater core in the off position, or the max a/c position. This is from the 98 ranger. Don't know about other years or the explorer, mountaineer, etc.

 

My 98 has the same problem, got the new actuator (which was bad), but when installing I checked the top of the blend door pivot shaft and YEP, just like the photos from the "blend door fix" page, the whole round portion of the "D" broken off. I'm trying to decide if I will try the "fix", or (groan) just go ahead and pull out the dash and do it "the right way".....

 

If you are not good with soldering copper, you could used a 9" piece of flat metal about 1" wide and put a screw through a plastic or copper 1/2" cap from the inside of the cap. Add a piece of plastic/copper pipe about 3/4" long and attach the screw to the flat metal.

Now position the new blend door up through the hole in the plenum and put the cap under the bottom of the door. Test the door with the switch to see the door move freely, and screw the flat metal to the bottom of the plenum with 1/2" self taping screws. Job is done in about 1-2 hours.

 

I re-situated the pin and made it work. I was trying to reverse the picture in my head (because of the mirror) and I had it backwards. Flipped it 90 degrees and it works great.

Anyone have any ideas on this?

 

reading along, interested, 99% sure that this is the problem my truck is having right now.

I'm anxious get to the bottom of it, now that I've found this thread and these forums, I think I can tackle it. Gonna check to make sure that the actuator is functioning properly when I get home, then go from there.

I'm a little concerned that I can't get cold air even on max AC, I hope everything is still functioning.