AC problem, Actuator in Dash

[Radiclus]

Hello all,

My girlfriend's 96 t-bird has just had it's compressor replaced due to the fact that it stopped blowing cold air. Two weeks after the replacement it stopped again and the shop says it is an actuator and possibly more. I think they might mean the blend door actutor, but I am not sure. Does anyone here have any better idea, and either way, does anyone know where this actuator is? I would rather replace it myself than pay the $400 they are asking on top of the $1300 she just paid.

[97Bird]

Welcome to the forum Radiclus. Does her Tbird have a semi automatic temp control? Look at my post in the second page of the Tech help thread to see how to run a self test. A little further down the page is another of my posts that shows how to get to an on-line repair manual. The blend door actuator is attached to the outside of the case but isn't shown in this picture. You can see the blend door and it's arm that the actuator is attached to.

[Radiclus]

I am pretty sure it is a 96, and it has the climate controls btw.

[Radiclus]

Thanks for the welcome.

I apparently can't read right, I thought you asked the year. Yes it does have the semi auto temp control. I read some of your older posts about it, and have that post saved so I can run that test once she gets out of class tonight. I guess I should run that before I started asking questions.

[97Bird]

I just added to my previous post! Click on the picture to expand it.

[Radiclus]

Okay, performed diagnostic test and results were as follows:

Code: 30 In car temp Sensor short

Code: 24 Blend door actuator

Code: 21 Mystery number???

So, apparently there's more than one thing wrong. Has anyone had any experience with replacing any of these parts, ie. difficulty and placement?

I can take apart cars, I'm just not familiar with where these parts are.

Any advice is appreciated.

[97Bird]

Radiclus, Redo the self test and exit the test by pressing OUTSIDE TEMP first and then WARM to clear the codes and then run it again and exit by pressing COOL to save and see if you get the same codes. The temp sensor is located to the left of the clock. See the picture I posted above to see where the actuator attaches to the blend door.