1999 Taurus Heat Problem

[medicmandan]

When I turn the knob over to heat, I can hear a thumping noise. I tracked it down to behind the dash board. There is a blue, 5 wire plug that when unplugged stops the noise. I'm guessing there is a door in there? How do I take this thing apart to get to it?

[way2old]

Is the plug on a small white plastic thing aboue 3 by 4 inches? If it is, that is the blend door actuator. There are 4 little bolts that hold it in place. Fairly easy to change once you figure out the right angles and size extensions or no extensions to use.

[medicmandan]

Originally Posted by way2old

Is the plug on a small white plastic thing aboue 3 by 4 inches? If it is, that is the blend door actuator. There are 4 little bolts that hold it in place. Fairly easy to change once you figure out the right angles and size extensions or no extensions to use.

It's a small blue plug, maybe 1" x 1". It's located about midline and right behind the lower mounting bracket for the glove box. It is right next to a larger white plug with strange wires and a strange connection, maybe some vacuum hoses?

[way2old]

Does the plug go into something that looks like this?



If it does, that is the blend door actuator.

[medicmandan]

It's about 12" to the right of that. That piece is right behind the ash tray correct?

[way2old]

OK. It is behind the ash tray. I will look again tomorrow and see what I can find.

[medicmandan]

I'm at loss then. I thought for sure it was the mixer door. If I move the temp gauge about 1/2" from cold it starts that thumping noise.

[medicmandan]

I took the ash tray out and followed the wires back from the blue plug and they plug into the blend door actuator as you have pictured. I pulled the actuator off and can manually move the door from hot to cold. Is it safe to assume the actuator is bad? I watched the pin on it move and it is really slow. Is it just not strong enough to move the door anymore?

Any idea what a new one costs?

[way2old]

Our cost on blend door actuator is around 32$. We are a government facility and get a break on pricing. Yours will be a little higher. If you have the blend door off, it pries open easily. Look at the little plastic gears to see if any are sheared off causing the problem.