Hey fellas...mom's heat went completely out in her 1998 Exploder. Heater core flows just fine, the vacuum thing on the inlet hose to the heater core operates the way it should. The thermostat worked and is replaced by a new one. The selection panel to change between floor/defrost/vent/etc. works. But we can't get any heat what so ever. A buddy of mine said there was a plenum actuator behind the dash that worked the A/C and heat that might be faulty or stripped. Is this factual? If it is, what's the actual part name? And does the whole dash need to come out, or can I just pull the HVAC controls and headunit to access? Thanks for any and all help.

Blend door, blend door actuator, blend door motor...something like that.

I believe it's actually the blend door that breaks. Replacing all the busted components does require fully removing the dash, but I believe there are some fixes floating around the web that don't involve full disassembly. (That said...when I read one, I rather got the impression it was beyond my abilities to do it...)

^^^That is not very re-assuring. Thanks though. So this is a relatively common issue then?

Yep...wish I had an easy answer for ya, but I don't.

My '97 Ranger is immune, because as a non-A/C truck it still has a cable blend door (last year, though)....but it's a pretty common Ranger/Explorer issue.

its actually common in a lot of fords, not just rangers and explorers. It happens to a lot of cars, as well. Happened in my Mark VIII.

Blend door motor or the door itself. Either way you will have a fun time removing the dash to do it. Sorry to tell you this. Had to do the same thing on my friend's Lincoln Town car last winter.

Yeehaw...spose I should probably pick up a Hayne's for the sploder.

Nah just put all the extra bolts in the cup holder No need for instructions

'Or de-structions in my case...haha. Anyone happen to have a link to this event???????

Nope just a picture

1. www.explorerforum.com
2. search blend door
3. fix blend door

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214332&highlight=blend+door

There is a little piece on the blend door that is actuated by the motor.

It breaks off.

Look at the thread I posted, and you don't have to remove the dash.

UTfball68 said:

Yeehaw...spose I should probably pick up a Hayne's for the sploder.

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haynes and chiltons, both suck but its better than nothing....


search on the explorer forum, i'm sure you can find what you need... theirs a sticky on a ghetto fix for it to, pretty much fixing it so you can open the glove box and adjust the blend door by hand or something.... but I'd fix it right


and yes, its a common problem on alot of fords, panther platform cars have this issue to

Thanks for all the info guys.

73F100Shortbed said:

Nah just put all the extra bolts in the cup holder No need for instructions

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I've been running on that for quite some time! The best way to learn it!