AC Going Crazy

[bishoph]

I have a 98 Towncar that blows ice cold air, at least it did. The other day it sounded like something under the dash (like a heater valve sliding) moved and it started blowing out hot air. I turned the car off and restarted it several times and it finally blew out cold air again for several days. Then yesterday it went hot again, and I can hear a sound under the dash (same kind of sound) moving every couple of minutes and no cold air at all.

The "Autozone" guy told me it could be a vane sensor???? Is this possible and if so where would it be located?

[Towncar]

Nope.. the autozone guy was a bit off.. this sounds exactly like the Blend Door Actuator has broken. It's kinda common with a well used Ford AC system of this era.

The bad news.. it's a real bitch to fix. The part is relatively small, just google image Blend Door Actuator and you'll see this 'looks' simple.

Problem is, the damn thing is mounted soooo close to the underside of the Dash Board, the Dash Board needs to be moved out of the way to replace this one.

You can do the work, a friend (helper) would be nice when it finally comes to moving the dash and installing the unit.

I don't recall if 98 Town Car has a HVAC systems test to uniquely identify this unit is faulty.. the Conti does.. Hmm.. look in your owners manual for HVAC or Climate Control self test, or something to that effect.

I'll have more time later if you need me..

[hatchitman]

This is just to add to the above.......
Lincoln Town Car - No Temp Control - Noise Behind Glove Box If complaint is no temperature control, along with a "clicking" sound behind the glove box area, suspect temperature blend door actuator.

Ford has issued TSB 98-6-3 that addresses this issue.
The first step is to verify the presence of codes 024 or 025.

1. Stabilize the temperature of the vehicle.(warm the car up)
2. Press "OFF" and "Floor" at the same time.
3. Let go, and immediately press the "AUTO" button.
4. You should see segment check for 20 seconds.
5. All segments will display simultaneously if no codes are found.
6. Press "DEFROST" to exit self test.

If code 024 or 025 is accompanied with a clicking sound, replace the blend door actuator.

Ford states the noise is caused by a broken gear within the actuator. Ford has revised the design of the actuator so the gear is less likely to break.
Plan for 3 or more hours labor to replace this actuator.
Note: If complaint is no temperature control and you do not have a "clicking" sound, but have codes, see the service manual for pinpoint tests.
We have found that running self test may revive a stuck actuator in some cases.

I copied the above info from another site. My input is below. Hope it helps!


I would add that on my 95 TC, I had the engine running and had to push and release the "floor" and "off" buttons quickly. If I held the 2 buttons in before pushing the "automatic" button it would not go into diagnostics mode only if I pushed and released the first 2 buttons rapidly. This worked great for me. I had 3 codes, 25, 125, and 115. After the diagnostics I cleared the codes by pushing the "defrost" button. You can exit the test without removing the codes by using the blue "cooler" button. I reran the test and got 888 and all function symbols lit. All is well. I think I read somewhere else that by running this test it "recalibrates" the blend door actuator position and sometimes this will allow it to start working again. It was a real quick fix for me, less than 5 minutes. It's worth a try anyway. To give credit where credit is due,I got the info from this site.

lincolnsonline.com/tech

[tlclimo]

Thanks, sounds right, will try it.