2001 Windstar Heat Malfunction

My windstar front heat is not working. When I slide the temperature control to heat, it makes a popping noise over and over.

I pulled the radio and found a white box mounted against the back wall. It appears to be the source of the popping.

What is this device and is it a dealer item only? Any idea of cost?

Note: rear heat works fine.

You are right on target.

You are looking at the blend door actuator ... about $40, I believe ... only at your friendly Ford service counter. LOL!

BTW, if you want the new one to last longer ... and perhaps save your blend door from breaking, try this:

Put some black RTV in each end of the slot of the sliding control switch. About a 1/4" plug.

The idea is to prevent the blend door reaching the fully-closed or the fully-opened positions. This prevents stressing/breaking the blend door and loading up the actuator.

I have just started looking into this issue myself. I currently have the noise but the heat control works. There is a delay though.

The white box is the actuator for the blend door. The blend door is the temperature adjustment.

From my understanding there are two modes of failure for the blend door. The blend door apparently warps over time and this causes the door to stop its travel before the actuator completes its travel and thus the actuator is trying to turn the rod of the blend door but the blend door can not move any farther. Either one of the two scenarios occur:

1) The rod snaps and the blend door needs to be replaced but is only sold as part o the plenum assemble and requires a huge amount of effort to get to.
2) The actuator burns out or strips gears.

The fixes:
Preventive: Do not move the heatr setting to either extremes. A suggestion is to use some RTV to prevent movement to the stops.

Blend Door: replace the plenum or repair. I have read about two types of repairs most likely prompted by the extrmely high cost and labour to replace. There is a link form within this forum that shows a procedure for repairing the blend door rod. There is alos a link from this forum that goes to "cartrackers" forum that decribes a method as well.

Actuator: If the actuator has a burned out motor or stripped gears then it needs to be replaced and it is evidently about $50 US in parts and a relatively easy part swap. Again the procedure is described.

You are right on target.

You are looking at the blend door actuator ... about $40, I believe ... only at your friendly Ford service counter. LOL!

BTW, if you want the new one to last longer ... and perhaps save your blend door from breaking, try this:

Put some black RTV in each end of the slot of the sliding control switch. About a 1/4" plug.

The idea is to prevent the blend door reaching the fully-closed or the fully-opened positions. This prevents stressing/breaking the blend door and loading up the actuator.

Thank you. I will head to my local Ford dealer on my way home tonight.

I have just started looking into this issue myself. I currently have the noise but the heat control works. There is a delay though.

The white box is the actuator for the blend door. The blend door is the temperature adjustment.

From my understanding there are two modes of failure for the blend door. The blend door apparently warps over time and this causes the door to stop its travel before the actuator completes its travel and thus the actuator is trying to turn the rod of the blend door but the blend door can not move any farther. Either one of the two scenarios occur:

1) The rod snaps and the blend door needs to be replaced but is only sold as part o the plenum assemble and requires a huge amount of effort to get to.
2) The actuator burns out or strips gears.

The fixes:
Preventive: Do not move the heatr setting to either extremes. A suggestion is to use some RTV to prevent movement to the stops.

Blend Door: replace the plenum or repair. I have read about two types of repairs most likely prompted by the extrmely high cost and labour to replace. There is a link form within this forum that shows a procedure for repairing the blend door rod. There is alos a link from this forum that goes to "cartrackers" forum that decribes a method as well.

Actuator: If the actuator has a burned out motor or stripped gears then it needs to be replaced and it is evidently about $50 US in parts and a relatively easy part swap. Again the procedure is described.


Thank you for the information. I hope to work on it tonight.

Greetings!

First timer on this forum.

I have the exact same problem with my 1999 Windstar - no front heat.

I got to the point of removing the white motor/box behind the radio that controls the blend door.

However, it is not obvious to me what the white rotating shaft is supposed to connect with inside the plenum. All I see is the 1/2 inch hole that it goes into. I do not see any "D shaped" thing to accept the end of the rotating shaft.

Perhaps I knocked something into the plenum?

Any suggestions as to what to do next before I take it into the dealer?

Thanks.

Greetings!

First timer on this forum.

I have the exact same problem with my 1999 Windstar - no front heat.

I got to the point of removing the white motor/box behind the radio that controls the blend door.

However, it is not obvious to me what the white rotating shaft is supposed to connect with inside the plenum. All I see is the 1/2 inch hole that it goes into. I do not see any "D shaped" thing to accept the end of the rotating shaft.

Perhaps I knocked something into the plenum?

Any suggestions as to what to do next before I take it into the dealer?

Thanks.

After researching via the web, I called my local Ford dealer and asked for the parts department. When I was connected, I explained that my front Heat had stopped working. I told him that when I slide the lever to heat, it just makes a popping noise. I further added that many folks had indicated that I should consider replacing the Blend Door assembly. I asked if he had these in stock. He giggled and responded with, "Oh, yeah, we stock those. I know them well." After work I drove up there, paid my $57.00 including tax.

I got home with it, and used a socket set to remove the three screws holding the assembly in place. It slides out with no effort at all. I unplugged the wiring harness. Took the new unit and reversed the process to install. I'd say it took all of 7 minutes. Once it was in place, I started the van, let it idle for about 3 minutes and then slid the lever to heat. There it was! Lot's of heat. Success!!! YIIPPPEEE!!!

It was a $57.00 test that I was willing to gamble with. I was prepared to throw that money into a fix win or loose, prior to throwing in the towel and having to spend hundreds (if not a thousand plus) by having the dealer resolve.

After researching via the web, I called my local Ford dealer and asked for the parts department. When I was connected, I explained that my front Heat had stopped working. I told him that when I slide the lever to heat, it just makes a popping noise. I further added that many folks had indicated that I should consider replacing the Blend Door assembly. I asked if he had these in stock. He giggled and responded with, "Oh, yeah, we stock those. I know them well." After work I drove up there, paid my $57.00 including tax.

I got home with it, and used a socket set to remove the three screws holding the assembly in place. It slides out with no effort at all. I unplugged the wiring harness. Took the new unit and reversed the process to install. I'd say it took all of 7 minutes. Once it was in place, I started the van, let it idle for about 3 minutes and then slid the lever to heat. There it was! Lot's of heat. Success!!! YIIPPPEEE!!!

It was a $57.00 test that I was willing to gamble with. I was prepared to throw that money into a fix win or loose, prior to throwing in the towel and having to spend hundreds (if not a thousand plus) by having the dealer resolve.


I was hoping my problem was just the $50 blend door actuator motor - especially since I had gone through the trouble to remove it. Alas, I have concluded the the D-shaped female "socket" inside the plenum that the actuator's rotating shaft fits into is gone or has moved out of position.

I was intrigued by all the posts regarding this problem and realize now it is pretty common. I was hoping to try the "nail through the shaft" fix, but I don't see this helping me as there is nothing for it to engage with - unless I am totally misunderstanding how the blend door works.