[Kraig]

Originally Posted by khaef

RE: No Heat: I have a related problem; on my Mystique V6 1998. Heat will only come out of the "defrost" location, blowing on the windshield, etc. This occurred after I had my car into a Firestone Center to have the Power Steering redone (it leaked and failed-- expensive$$). Before that, I could get heat, and also A.C. in summer from the dash panel and I could switch it to the Defrost area when I needed it. For a long time, I did not notice any heat /cooling blowing on the floor area, but just lived with it. Still, in very cold, wintery Chicago area this winter, I'd really like to have the heat coming out of the front Dash Panel vents-- so I can put my hands on it to warm up a bit when first driving. Your Heat Control Panel door intriques me: Could the guys have knocked it "shut" or otherwise messed it up when they installed the Power Steering in November, an area that is very close to where the Glove Box/ Interior of the car is? That's what I'm thinking because the heat wouldn't deliver from the central (middle location) panels right after I got it back from having the Power Steering repaired.

I took it back to them recently, and they ran a cooling system test-- which it passed of course. I did not realy authorize this-- as we all knew and could check by turning the temperature dial up, and the blower on, that there was warm heat pumping out-- only it only comes out of the one windshield (defrost) area.

What controls the opening/closing of those vents, when you dial different locations on the instrument panel? Is it this door you were referring to-- and does it mean that a new battery/transistor is needed? Trying to get this info before I bring it back to them on Friday. I don't want to have to pay a lot to have them explore this in fact I think they should find the problem and fix it gratis, since it occurred immediately after I got it back from them for the Power Steering repair mentioned above. The guys did not seem to know what to do. A thorough Mercury Mystique Repair manual would problably help out a lot here, but I don't have one. Did not yet go to the Mercury dealer-- even though they may be the ones who "know" what is wrong. Thanks for any advice/help anyone can give.

I've had the same problem with my '96. The control that works this is under the dash center console that is directly to the right of where you step on the accelerator. Tough to get to, you will need a flash light or equivalent to see even in direct sunlight. Crawl down on the drivers floor board & shine your flashlight about 6" back from the accelerator pedal to the back of the center lower dash assembly. You should see a small aluminum cylinder piece about 2 1/2" in diamater & about an 1 1/2'" in lenght. At the top of this cylinder is a plastic arm that moves up & down from inside the cylinder via a vacuum line. This arm has a hole in the top of it that is supposed to be connected to another plastic arm that goes thru this hole. Release the vacuum line from the cylinder & the arm on top of the cylinder will extend upward so you can reattach the plastic arm thru the hole. Reattach the vacuum line & you're in business again! My daughter use to knock this off all the time with her pointed shoes. I ended up putting a dash of super glue on the plastic piece that extended thru the hole in the one arm so this didn't happen again. Hope this is helpful....