Blend door, gray arm and heat...

TJKashin

Registered
Ok, I know posting something about this is probably like beating a dead horse, but I just thought I would throw it out there. I have spent the last few days looking through many different posts on this site and others regarding the infamous blend door problem.

I bought the car last thursday, they told me it had heat but the air wasn't working, no big deal, I can fix most car issues anyways. After driving around a bit, it got excessively hot in the cabin, so I turned the temp down and that didn't seem to do anything. I got the car home and started reading some things on this site and decided to investigate the blend door and surrounding components. What I found is that the gray arm had broken and they had zip-tied it together with the steel arm from the blend door actuator. This allowed for heat. Upon further investigation, I noticed it did not move when the temp was adjusted, and looking further into that I found they had disconnected the wires from the blend door actuator.

I called my local Lincoln dealer and ordered the gray part ($4.50 overnight) and also the blend door actuator ($34 overnight). I replaced the gray part last night and plugged in the wires to the existing blend door actuator hoping that the gray part was my only problem. Well, I still have heat, but no movement on the cold side of things. My question is there a possibility that since that was disconnected so long that I need to perform some diagnostics to reinitialize the blend or am I in for a Springtime project of replacing that blend door actuator that I bought just in case?

All I can be thankful for right now is that it's stuck on heat and not cool for our lovely weather here in Chicagoland. Thanks in advance for any advice....

Tim
 
I think that it is very unlikely. I feel that it is a typical blend door problem, that someone has done a temporary (emergency) repair to.
 
Might want to run a Climate control diag on it. Make sure their isn't anything wrong with the electronic climate control unit. The first time my Mark had the blend door problem, it was fixed under warranty and the dealer also replaced the climate control unit. There is a diagnostic you can run on it, something like holding down two buttons for a few seconds. do a search, if I find the procedure, I'll edit this post.
^-----also a Chicagoland member. Welcome!


EDIT: Found this thread:
http://mark8.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2573&highlight=heater+diagnostic

Second post by MrJohn:
To self test:

1. Turn the ignition switch to ON

2. Push BOTH OFF and FLOOR buttons simultaneously, then press AUTO within 2 seconds.

3. NOTE: The desplay will be blank while testing.
After about 20 seconds, a code will appear in the window.

DTCs (Dynamic Trouble Codes)

01 - Damaged control assembly.
02 - A/C temperature control door cannot reach desired position. A.C electronic door actuator motor wiring damaged.
03 - Automatic temperature control sensor open.
04 - A/C ambient air temperature sensor and bracket.
05 - A/C sunload sensor short.

To exit the diagnostic functions, press the blue button. When the control asswmbly is turned back on, the A/C air temperature control door will self-calibrate for 20 seconds.

If no DTCs are generated as a resuly of the self diagnostic test (88 degrees F, code is displayed and if needed, press the blue button to return to normal operation.
You may not get a trouble code and still have a broken electronic door actuator. It just checks that the motor turned, not that the blend goor is in the correct position.
 
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...I called my local Lincoln dealer and ordered the gray part ($4.50 overnight)...

Tim


Do you happen to have the part or engineering number of that gray piece around? I pulled my dash today to find that it's broken and the local dealerships aren't being much help...


Thanks in advance!
 
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