Anyone have a Reinforced Blend Door Actuator?

L

Lefty

Registered
My 97 Mark (Base, 80,100 miles, Pearlescent Ext., Ivory Int.) needs a blend door again, so, this time I would like to install a reinforced arm shaft but do not want to do it myself as I tried it last time and, well, even with the nice pic's that are available here, I screwed it up. I remember reading on LOD that there have been times in the past where someone who knows what they are doing will reinforce one if they have the time. So, I ask, actually, beg any member who knows what they are doing to consider helping a poor soul from MN who in a few short months will be f-f-f-freezing his you know what. Thank you.
Lefty
 
Hey Lefty. Where are you at in Minnesota? I have to confess that I've never done a blend door, so I may not be your first choice. but I'm willing to take a crack at it. :D
 
I can shoot you a quick write-up Mike since I've done it. Took me about an hour, including time to move into the garage because it started snowing. Plus we cleaned all the panels while they were out.

Also....aren't all the new blend doors reinforced? And it isn't the blend door that causes the failure, it's the metal arm that needs to be modified. A non-reinforced blend door would be fine with a modified metal arm.
 
Would you shoot your write-up to me? I may tackle the job myself if your write-up simplifies it.
Thanks, Lefty
 
J. Always procrastinating... :D

Lefty, let me know if you need an extra pair of hands.
 
Hello J,
My winter car ('98 base) needs a blendor also, I have the part already, will probably get into it sometime in the fall..I'd sure be interested in reading your write-up on re-inforcing..is there a link you can send ?
Thank You
 
98mark8lsc said:
I may have one that I could reinforce for you.
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Yes, I woujld appreciate it if you would reinforce a blend door for me. As I am new to using this site for communicating, do we continue here or switch to email? Let me know how I pay you, etc. Thanks, Bill
 
Bill, I'll be doing a write up with pictures tomorrow morning. I'll link the thread here and PM you. :)
 
jesse why do you say the metal arm needs to be modified? thats not what breaks the plastic black arm on the actual blend door motor is what snaps.
 
jamies98lsc said:
jesse why do you say the metal arm needs to be modified? thats not what breaks the plastic black arm on the actual blend door motor is what snaps.
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You hang out too much at other places. The ultimate fix for the blend door is here ;)
 
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i dont hang out anywhere anymore i closed my shop, threw all the parts away and almost never come on the forums anymore, i like it better this way! i got my life back.
 
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jamies98lsc said:
jesse why do you say the metal arm needs to be modified? thats not what breaks the plastic black arm on the actual blend door motor is what snaps.
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Mad1stGen said:
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.
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BadSax said:
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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Mad1stGen said:
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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BadSax said:
Ok, that sounds like something I can do... :D

Is it not worth trying to add the collar to the black arm?
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Mad1stGen said:
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.
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M Darrah said:
By the way, here are some pics of the air trunk out of the car on my living room floor, with the blend door arms in full heat and full cool positions. It should be obvious what the problem is. The Ford engineers obviously forgot their basic geometry from school. I've got some steel bar of the correct dimensions and am going to make some corrected metal links if I can get off my lazy ass and pull out the milling machine.

Note that in the pics, I'm pushing fairly hard on each arm, with each one at its full stop.

Full heat:

fullheat.jpg


Closeup:

fullheatclose.jpg


Full cool:

fullcool.jpg


Closeup:

fullcoolclose.jpg


Be aware that in the full cool position, the alignment is not an issue because the lower (gray) arm is not pressed against its stop. It's just hanging down a couple of degrees. It's only in the full heat position that the arms get stressed, which is why we see so many "I have no heat" posts around the beginning of winter but not so many "I have no AC" in the spring.

I'm tempted to say that the fix is as "simple" as making a new metal link with a shorter distance between holes, but I believe the best approach is to make the hole for the gray arm into a slot. That way the gray arm isn't under pressure in the event that the actuator pulls too hard in the cool position.
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