EATC Problems '02 SEL

So I just bought a 2002 Ford Taurus SEL yesterday. I work at a dealership so I was scoping it out for a good amount of time. Took it home for a weekend and decided I wanted it. I looked over it along with a mechanic buddy of mine and everything checked out. It had 54,000 miles on it. The EATC system looked really cool, and I always see if the AC works, so I tried it, and it worked. I took it home just yesterday, and it was blowing cold air fine. I decided, that with the heat, I'd never turned it up higher than 60 degrees, which is the coldest. I proceeded to change the temperature I turned it up higher until it stopped at 90 degrees, the highest. It started blowing hot air, as I'd expected it to. Now comes the problem...

I turned it back down to 60 degrees, and it still blows very, very hot air. I've turned off the car several times, turned off the EATC system several times, and it never blows anything except scalding hot air.

I believe that the EATC system "thinks" it's blowing cold air, when it isn't. When I have it at 60 degrees, and press Auto, it blows this hot air as hard as it can. When the temperature is set at 80 or above, the fan slows down, because it knows it's already warm. So it seems to me, though I'm not a professional by any means, that it believes it's blowing cold air, when really it's not. If anyone, could shed ANY light on this situation whatsoever, I'd appreciate it.

I've been researching this subject for a couple hours now, and have come up rather empty handed. Thanks in advance for any help, hope to get an answer to this problem soon. I'm in love with the car, but this problem is bad.

Take it back to the dealership! Could be one of several things but not life threatening.

you can do a diagnostic on you a/c first. press the following two button simultaneously <off> and <floor> then press <auto> with in 2 secs. then call ford etc for the error codes. worked on many of these systems, the problem most of the time was the blend door motor (cost $58.00 at ford). the problem is getting to the motor. you may have to pull the dashboard away from the firewall. and you will need an 8mm ignition combination wrench to get the four screws out that hold the motor in. to sum up it can be a bitch job to do. first do a diagnostic.

I'll give it a shot here shortly, I work 13 hours a day, so I can't really post back again 'til tonight, 9PM EST. So just do that Diagnostic, and then call Ford? My dad thought it might be a flapper for the blend door too :-/ We looked around the dash, it does look bad... Thanks so much for the info though

Hey thanks for the info again...

The code just came up with general problems, they couldn't tell me over the phone exactly what it'd have been without me bringing it in, and I don't get paid 'til Friday...

However, my dad decided to have a second look at it, and found the linkage for the flapper underneath the drivers dash. He jiggled it, and I could hear the flapper opening and closing. I turned on the car, and I now have AC, fresh air, and heat.

So my car is back to how it should be. Thanks for the info.

If you're curious btw, the code came up "025", I ran it again after the problem was "fixed" and it still shows 025, so I'm wondering if it's only a temp fix, I should have a look at it this coming weekend...

Cheers, and thanks again!

i'm glad your a/c works, i don't know where my code book for a/c is right now, but if I remember correctly 025 was blend door motor (flapper) did you clear the code the way I explained. Keep you eye on the blend door motor burning out in the future.

My manual for the 2002 Taurus with EATC does not show a code 025. It shows code 024 as temperature blend door failure or short.

-Rod

thanks for the info, the book i have somewhere is a ford shop manual, who printed your manual. it must have been just recently that haynes or chilton put in the EATC codes. Before you could only get the codes by the ford manual.

found my book, code 25 means "Intermittent fault in blend door calibration" and as you know 024 means "Fault in blend door calibration during self test" essentially the same thing. it happens when the motor or door acts sluggish.

Ahh, you even have the codes, you guys are a god-send =D

And mastermech, I wasn't aware I could clear the code, how do I do that?

And I have a 2002 Chilton at the shop where I work, if the codes were in there in the first place, I'm going to be kicking myself.

Also, a funny sidenote - The guy at LB-Smith Ford in Harrisburgh, PA didn't know anything about a self-diagnostic on the EATC system :evillol:

to clear the codes to the EATC put it in diagnostic. press <off> and <floor> at the same time, then <auto> within two seconds. Then to exit the diagnostic and erase the codes press <defrost>. then if you want rerun the diagnostic. if all is good you should have no codes and all the lights on the LCD will light up. just turn the key off

Thanks, I'll do that in the morning, and hopefully all will be well. Ran heat this morning, AC in the evening, and fresh outside air on the way home tonight, all seems to be working well.

You guys rock :biggrin:

thanks for the info, the book i have somewhere is a ford shop manual, who printed your manual. it must have been just recently that haynes or chilton put in the EATC codes. Before you could only get the codes by the ford manual.

I have the FoMoCo Service Information version 1.2 on CD-ROM. It doesn't have the greatest search engine, so maybe all the codes are there somewhere, I just haven't found them yet. The table I found references the RCC self test codes to the OBD-II accessible codes and Run time intermittant faults.

-Rod

I checked my factory Ford manual on CD-ROM for my 1998 SHO and it lists code 025 as being the "intermittant" version of code 024. I guess between my two manuals I could eventually get the complete information. :)

-Rod

So I cleared the codes, and re-ran the diagnostic, all shows good.

Thanks again to all of you :biggrin:

Another problem, that isn't really a problem, it's just kinda annoying sometimes...

Sometimes, it seems to be when the engine is cold, and I'm running the EATC for something or other, but when I'm accelerating and the fan is blowing, something on the right side of the car "chirps" for lack of a better term. It's only when I'm accelerating, it's the like the fan on that side maybe needs greased or something? Once it's been running for like 2 mins though, it's silent again.

I'm sure you're sick of these questions, but yeah :eek7:

i don't think the 'chirping' sound and EATC is related by the description of your symptoms. there's the blower motor near the blend door motor, that's the only fan. I've never hear of this problem. it could be the fan, not sure. however, have someone listen closely to the fan when trying to reproduce the symptom. to pinpoint if it is the fan.