Another Windstar heater problem thread

I know this topic has been here a few times but...

There is no heat coming from the front vents or defroster for our 2000 Windstar.
Heat is working okay for the back of the minivan.

I looked at the blender door actuator - and when I move the temp slider, I can see the shaft rotating and don't hear any unusual noises...

I checked coolant level - it's normal and I also had a BG cooling system flush in May 2006 (which was about 25K miles ago, the van now had about 155K miles on it)

Any ideas on potential cause of the problem, or specific additional things I should check before giving up and bringing in to a repair shop?

Thanks....

Did you actually remove the actuator?

No - I didn't actually remove the actuator - I popped down the glove box and watched to verify that the actuator shaft rotated as I moved the temperature control.

If a next step is to remove the actuator - what should I be looking for?

thanks.

You are next looking for the blend door ... the moving part that the actuator shaft sticks into. It may be broken and fallen into the plenum ... then the other postings all make sense to you.

Just to make sure.. you are getting air out the front, its just cold right.?

Yes - I'm getting air flow out of the front - just cold regardless of the temp setting (also the bottom, dash, and defroster vents all have airflow like they should, and the rear heat is working fine.)

The car's not here right now - I probably won't get to removing the actuator until this weekend, but I suspect it's good (at least the shaft turns like it should.)

If that's the case, I'll probably be asking for help on cutting into things to get to and repair the blend door....

i have the same problem but i found a vaccuum hose not connected

Was your problem a 2000 Windstar?

If so, where was the vacuum hose?

I thought I read the 2000 Windstar is electronic control, not vacuum line.

As you can see, I'm still trying to hope it's not the blend door....

Found that a piece of the blend door is broken off - right where the "D" connector goes onto the accuator shaft.

I took the chance and cut into the plastic ducting - but still can't get enough sight lines or space to do much with the door.

I'll search around here for hints, but if anyone has experience getting the door out and back in , or gluing it together while it's still attached....feel free to post about it here!

Have you read the following thread? The cuts are shown fairly well:
.
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=522563&highlight=phordguy

Yeah - I've been reading that thread, and hope to be able to sort things out....but, and I'm probably slow, I still can't see how there's enough room to get the door in and out in my car....did you all drop/remove the heater core?

Yes, the folks who cut the plenum in place ... did first have to remove the heater core simultaneously with the plastic lower core cover. If you try to remove them one-at-a-time, you're in for bruised knuckles.

Next step: cut the plenum ... right above where the core and core cover were. As shown.