blend door/getting screwed?

tommiswizzle

Registered
So my blend door is broken or whatever. I just got a quote from a repair shop, they are telling me the arm can't be replaced by itself and the entire heater box needs to be replaced, to a tune of $1511.30. That doesn't seem to match what I've read about on this forum... can somebody verify that?
 
I think the arm is what needs replacing only, it is a known flaw, so to say. The work to get to it is expensive but I think more in the $8-$900 area not $1500.
 
Ok, my husband and I are reading up on that. The arm CAN be purchased by itself, right? The shop is telling me it can't.
 
Ok, my husband and I are reading up on that. The arm CAN be purchased by itself, right? The shop is telling me it can't.

Is this "shop" a Lincoln dealer or some local mechanic? Dealers usually quote anywhere from $500 to $900. The part is cheap, it's time intensive though.
 
You are getting screwed, you can buy the arm by it self and the whole dash does not need to come out. People here have done it in under 2 hours.
 
the new blend door acctuators come with the new electric motor and arm as one unit. the old style accuators you could pull the arm off the motor assembly, but they redesigned it so you cant now, it also made it stronger, so you need the blend door assembly, which will come with the new arm, contact Max at 5 Star Ford in Scottsdale Arizona, he is a vendor here on this site, he will set you up with the part for under $40 bucks, and if you guys can tackle the job yourself it wont cost you a dime more than the part itself. Ford charges 8.6 hours to do the job, which is roughly 800 bucks or better for labor, i can change a blend door in 90 minutes, so you can see how screwed you really do get!!! its not a hard job its just time consuming.
 
Thanks guys! My next question was where to get it! I talked to the mechanic more when I picked the car up (local mechanic, not a Lincoln/Ford dealership) and he said if I can get the arm (or assembly) they can install it. I am going to talk to him more tomorrow to see what that might run, since I have to take the car back in to get the front rotors replaced.

I'm sure hubby and I could do it ourselves, but he's not back from his overseas job for about 4 more months, and it gets really darn cold here in Oregon. I have another vehicle to use, but would prefer to drive the Lincoln. At minimum, the mechanic said he can do the emergency fix, so I at least have some hot air.
 
Thanks guys! My next question was where to get it! I talked to the mechanic more when I picked the car up (local mechanic, not a Lincoln/Ford dealership) and he said if I can get the arm (or assembly) they can install it. I am going to talk to him more tomorrow to see what that might run, since I have to take the car back in to get the front rotors replaced.

I'm sure hubby and I could do it ourselves, but he's not back from his overseas job for about 4 more months, and it gets really darn cold here in Oregon. I have another vehicle to use, but would prefer to drive the Lincoln. At minimum, the mechanic said he can do the emergency fix, so I at least have some hot air.

Buy here:
Email Max at 5-Star Ford.... tell him you are member of LOD. He'll give you the price on a new arm. parts@fivestarford.com

You may be able to buy at local Lincoln dealer if you don't want to wait for it to be shipped. Part is "Blend Door Actuator ( FZLZ-19E616-AD)" if you want to call local dealers.

Try this for temporary heat:
http://www.lincolnsofdistinction.org/lincolntech/modrepair/emergencyheat.html
 
the new blend door acctuators come with the new electric motor and arm as one unit. the old style accuators you could pull the arm off the motor assembly, but they redesigned it so you cant now, it also made it stronger, so you need the blend door assembly, which will come with the new arm, contact Max at 5 Star Ford in Scottsdale Arizona, he is a vendor here on this site, he will set you up with the part for under $40 bucks, and if you guys can tackle the job yourself it wont cost you a dime more than the part itself. Ford charges 8.6 hours to do the job, which is roughly 800 bucks or better for labor, i can change a blend door in 90 minutes, so you can see how screwed you really do get!!! its not a hard job its just time consuming.

I have some mechanical knowledge but everything I do on my Mark I have learned from here. Jamie's DIY really is not too bad. I did it his way in about 3 hours. That included running to Autozone twice to get a 10mm socket and and a gear wrench set which I think is crucial to remove the blend door. I have some pics I will post of mine shortly.Good luck.
 
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thats rediculous, any member on here can order the blend door from Max at 5 Star Ford for $27 bucks, why on earth would you want to pay $100??
 
I ordered one from Max I believe on Tuesday and it arrived on Friday! (Thanks Max!) Many of you mention Jamie's write up; on the tech section there's a link which leads to a very detailed write up, but it seems like it was by someone named Alex. Is it the same thing?

The emergency fix won't work, the mechanic tried it and said it's broken and won't budge. The Lincoln will probably end up being parked in my driveway for 4 more months, waiting for my husband to get home from overseas. I'm really not sure this is something I can do myself. Luckily I do have another vehicle to drive. Too bad it's not summer time, then I wouldn't need to worry about it.
 
I dropped the Lincoln off to the mechanic today to fix the blend door. I was going to wait until my husband got home in February to do it himself, but my other vehicle is having issues right now too, and well, the Lincoln right now is "cheaper" to fix. So, I dropped it off, gave the mechanic the actuator, and he's like ummm I don't think this is the right part. He believes it's the door on the actual heater box. He is not the one that looked at it when I first brought it in a few months ago, but he is under the impression I don't have the right piece. How common is it for the door on the heater box to break? What are the chances it's that, and not the actuator?
 
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