WTB (maybe?) 2 blend door actuators

BadSax

enjoys 3 martini lunches
Hello everyone,

So both the grey car and the CE have broken blend door arms.

I forget if I need the reinforced ones, or if there was an updated new one being sold from Ford?

Anyway, if someone could point me in the direction of what I need to buy, that would be great. :D
 
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Didn't doug do a write up on this? Do a search Joe. :)
 
the new ones are the same as the old ones, there was no change ever made in them, just a rumor. you buy it new, pull the black arm off it, and use a half in comression feral from home depot around the base of the black arm, slide it back on the motor assembly and now it will never break.max sells them at Chapman Ford, it isnt Five Star Ford anymore, they are around 27 bucks each.
 
Doug (or someone) did a write up saying that the blend door (and arm) is not the reason for the failure. The reason for the failure is that when set to max heat (or cold?) the arm gets pulled beyond the limit of the blend door, therefor flexing the arm until it breaks on the shaft.

An easy way around this is to NOT use MAX hot or cold. 65 cold 85 hot
 
the new ones are the same as the old ones, there was no change ever made in them, just a rumor. you buy it new, pull the black arm off it, and use a half in comression feral from home depot around the base of the black arm, slide it back on the motor assembly and now it will never break.max sells them at Chapman Ford, it isnt Five Star Ford anymore, they are around 27 bucks each.
So, I could theoretically do this to prevent my original from breaking?
 
The current national list price for the blend door actuator motor assembly is $50.78.
Of course they can be had for less, but the $27 ones are old history.

I am surprised you say the one in the CE is bad. I know for a fact that it was done couple years ago. I guess if you give the temp adjustment a workout they will break again.

The real fix for this problem is to slot one of the holes in the linkage arm.
I've been doing this to the last few of the mark viiis, and they are and should be problem free in the future.

IMO what happens is that the actual blend door seals swell up over time, and do not allow enough travel of the door(s). This results in the actuator arm stretching beyond it's ability to flex, and they break. If you reinforce the black one, the gray one will break soon, if it's not broken yet. By slotting the hole at the gray arm by 1/8" you allow the door to fully close and the actuator arm to move to its resting position without any unhealthy tension in the system.
 
Doug (or someone) did a write up saying that the blend door (and arm) is not the reason for the failure. The reason for the failure is that when set to max heat (or cold?) the arm gets pulled beyond the limit of the blend door, therefor flexing the arm until it breaks on the shaft.

An easy way around this is to NOT use MAX hot or cold. 65 cold 85 hot

That sounds great, but that's not how the system works...

If it's 20 degrees outside, and you have the heat set to 65, your still going to get max heat until the inside of the car warms up to the point that the car needs to 'blend' the air to maintain a 65 degree temp...
 
The current national list price for the blend door actuator motor assembly is $50.78.
Of course they can be had for less, but the $27 ones are old history.

I am surprised you say the one in the CE is bad. I know for a fact that it was done couple years ago. I guess if you give the temp adjustment a workout they will break again.

The real fix for this problem is to slot one of the holes in the linkage arm.
I've been doing this to the last few of the mark viiis, and they are and should be problem free in the future.

IMO what happens is that the actual blend door seals swell up over time, and do not allow enough travel of the door(s). This results in the actuator arm stretching beyond it's ability to flex, and they break. If you reinforce the black one, the gray one will break soon, if it's not broken yet. By slotting the hole at the gray arm by 1/8" you allow the door to fully close and the actuator arm to move to its resting position without any unhealthy tension in the system.

The CE can be fully moved from hot to cold by hand... so that black arm has completely snapped... :(

When you say "slot one of the holes in the linkage arm"... I'm having a hard time visualizing what you are talking about...
 
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When you say "slot one of the holes in the linkage arm"... I'm having a hard time visualizing what you are talking about...

The metal linkage has two holes, one on each end. At the end that goes on the gray arm, you drill a 1/8" (or whatever it is) hole right next to the existing one,
and then file it into a slot, elongated oval shape. When the door is fully closed, the tension is released from the arm.
 
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The metal linkage has two holes, one on each end. At the end that goes on the gray arm, you drill a 1/8" (or whatever it is) hole right next to the existing one,
and then file it into a slot, elongated oval shape. When the door is fully closed, the tension is released from the arm.

Ok, that sounds like something I can do... :D

Is it not worth trying to add the collar to the black arm?
 
Ok, that sounds like something I can do... :D

Is it not worth trying to add the collar to the black arm?

HA !!!

I guess it's worth the 25cents or whatever the compression sleeve costs.
I stopped doing this though as I think the slot takes care of the problem for good.
 
That sounds great, but that's not how the system works...

If it's 20 degrees outside, and you have the heat set to 65, your still going to get max heat until the inside of the car warms up to the point that the car needs to 'blend' the air to maintain a 65 degree temp...

This is true, i bet Jay will set his heat to 90 like woman do thinking it will heat the car faster from 20 to 65, but i will guess he don't get 20 deg were he is at :p
 
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Meh. I hate when Cat would do that. Full blast AC or Heat thinking it will cool off faster or heat up.
 
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There it is. Yeah sorry, I didn't realize it still went full heat no matter what.
 
I took some quick measurements of the stock link and subtracted the actual length between the pins on the two levers, and the difference is about 5/16". This is measured between the centers of the pins/holes. You want some tension on the gray arm, so I'd suggest marking your second hole no more than 3/16-1/4" from the center of the existing one, then cutting/filing it into a slot. I'd suggest staying on the short side (3/16") of those numbers because the gray arm needs quite a bit of pressure to completely block off the cold air running under it.
 
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