99 windstar no heat in front...help!

My 99 windstar has seemed to have issues every month since it's been paid off! Isn't that how it goes....anyway,
Just recently the heat suddenly stopped working. The fan is blowing and the temp controls seem to function correctly. There is no heat comming from the front and some IS comming from the back.

what could the problem be? Blend door, actuator, motor, evaporator core? any ideas?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks so much!

I'd try back flushing the front heater core. There may be enough film in it to prevent heat transfer even tho there is coolant flow. Stick a garden hose in and blow opposite the normal flow. Don't remember which hose, tho....you may be able to tell by grabbing each one when at op temp and the hotter one is IN. You want the garden hose shooting in the OUT. I've also soaked a core in CLR with a little water for 10 minutes, then run 10 gallons of water thru it.

This might seem obvious, but make sure you have sufficient coolant in the radiator and resevoir. When my '98 was loosing coolant, I could always tell when it was time for a refill because the heat would barely work.

When you slide the temp controls back and forth do you here a clunking sound or thumping sound comming from the dash. If so it might be your blend door, not a hard fix. Does your temp guage show an increase to operating temp. If it keeps showing cold could be the thermostat.But if you are getting heat to the back I would check the blend door motor..I have a 2001 and had to replace mine .If thats your problem I can share some info on replacing it.

I do have an initial klunking sound when I turn the heat/air on, but it's always done that - kinda sounds like the compressor or something clicking on.

Anyway, I am getting heat in the back....

I took this into a shop for a cheap guestimate on what this might be. They didn't have it in long enough to tear up the dash and look to see if it was the blend door. All that was said is.... no heat, heater blend door in operable. Their solution was to purchase an evaporator core (entire main unit) - $440. This is supposedly the way ford manufacturers the thing. According to them and the dealer, I cannot just purchase the blend door. I just don't know how to determine if it's a BROKEN blend door, failed blend door actuator or motor. Any suggestions? -

Also, I'd appreciate any info on how to fix this.

Thanks so much for your knowledge!

I had this exact same problem on my 99 Windstar a couple months ago.

Searching this forum you'll find this to be a very common problem - either caused by a failure of the blend door actuator or the blend door itself.

The blend door actuator is a $40 part located behind the radio. It is relatively easy to remove and replace - 3 screws and a wire harness. It is a white plastic part about the size of a deck of cards. It has a 3 inch shaft which goes into a small opening on the heater plenum unit to turn the blend door itself. Search this forum and you''l find step-bystep instructions, photos, etc...

For me, the blend door itself had failed. This required the entire plenum heater unit to be replaced which was a very expensive repair - the dash has to be taken apart. 10 + hours of labor; $2,000 repair bill!! Very painful.

Check your fuses and relays first. Then pull the radio and observe the back of the blend door actuator shaft to see if it rotates.

If the actuator motor seems to be working, then I'm afraid you may have a broken blend door which cannot not easily be repaired or replaced without replacing the entire unit.

Good luck.

I would do a search on this forum on "blend" and look the posts over.
I remember seeing some pictures that showed the issues in detail.
Thing is, the front heat is separate from the rear heat.
Also, the blend door and controls run off of vaccum.
It would be worth a try to look up under the dash to see if a vaccum line has fallen off. You will see some silver "bulbs" with vaccum lines going to them.
Most likely this is not the problem as the shop SHOULD have found something that simple and corrected it.
The source of the vaccum for the heater controls is the back side of the upper intake manifold. Then there is a box - like unit on the passenger side, near the fire wall....on the side of the inner fender, that is a "holding box" for vaccum. If you are hearing something when you move the heater controls, then you most likely have vaccum....and the problem is with the blend door as listed.

Of course, as one post suggests, verify that you have the correct amound of coolant in the engine AND overflow bottle. You should be able to feel coolant in the upper radiator hose when you squeeze it.
It IS possible to have a full overflow bottle, and be low on coolant in the engine, if the seal on the radiator cap is not present. A very small amount of grit inside the neck of the radiator, where the cap seals, can cause it to not seal, and can be bad enough to let air in at that point, taking the overflow bottle out of the loop.

Umm, the blend door for the front heat is controlled by an electrical actuator.

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/3866/actuator2zk.th.jpg (http://img137.imageshack.us/my.php?image=actuator2zk.jpg)

Here's a pic of the heater box where you can see the blend door.

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/2842/blenddoor20vu.th.jpg (http://img116.imageshack.us/my.php?image=blenddoor20vu.jpg)

This is an awesome forum!!! Before I posted this problem, I didn't know too much about the blend door, actuator, etc.....

I think I've gathered quite a bit of info from all of you and from searching "blend" & blend door actuator on this forum!

Hopefully it has sunk in enough for a FIX to be just around the corner! I'm freezing in this windstar!

I'll post again for more help with this I'm sure....
Tina

Umm, the blend door for the front heat is controlled by an electrical actuator.

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/3866/actuator2zk.th.jpg (http://img137.imageshack.us/my.php?image=actuator2zk.jpg)

Here's a pic of the heater box where you can see the blend door.

http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/2842/blenddoor20vu.th.jpg (http://img116.imageshack.us/my.php?image=blenddoor20vu.jpg)

phordguy,
I have a dumb question for you. :screwy: I have seen this actuator/motor in other posts, but I'm not sure what I'm looking at on the heater box. Which part is the blend door? Is it the thing in the "box" on the left with the hoses, or the small "box" on the right of the heater box pic?
Thanks!

Here's a pic of the blend door which is in the pic on the heater box in the center. The silver tubing is for the A/C evaporator and is just to the left of the blend door. The door is hinged on the right side of the square hole in middle of the heater box. In the pic in this post you can see the square with the one rounded side where the shaft of the electric actuator fits into. This rounded square is one of the two points that makes up the hinge. The rounded square is on the side of the heater box facing the radio, the side of the hinge on the blend door that faces the firewall is just a point. Both pieces of the hinge protrude each through their own holes in the heaterbox to allow the blend door to go up or down. When the blend door is air is forced through the heater core, the velocity of air will hold it up until the van is turned off and the airflow stops, then no heat again. The default position if the actuator fails or if the blend door hinge breaks is to go down thus preventing any air through the heater core and thus cold air though the vents.

The pic below is of the door but its upside down from the way its installed in the view of the heater box.

This pic below and the two above are from 12ounce. The one below shows the reinforced section on a repaired '99 Windstar blend door, aka the "12ounce" method. :)

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/636/repairedblenddoor9vj.th.jpg (http://img45.imageshack.us/my.php?image=repairedblenddoor9vj.jpg)

I need to correct an error I made in my earlier reply when I stated the length of the blend door actuator shaft is 3 inches long.

Upon inspection of the part, the shaft is just a little over an inch long.

As another post mentioned, it's the D-shaped female recepticle (socket) that this shaft fits into on the blend door itself that is prone to failure.

Thanks to all of you who posted replies to this forum! I have a 99 windstar and the information in this forum was what I absolutly needed to fix the problem! It worked! The actuator was a $45 part and a pain to replace but it was worth it! Thanks again!

Chad

I have 2001 Windstar. With info from this site I replaced the blend door motor. I removed the door and cowling below the cup holder that had 4 screws holding it. 2 on each side. I pulled out the cup holder (not removed) and I was able to get to the motor. 3 5/15 screws. fairly easy to get to. The motor was 31.99 from O'reillys plus 7 shipping. The local dealer wanted $78. Thank you for the information. My wife is very happy.

I have 2001 Windstar. With info from this site I replaced the blend door motor. I removed the door and cowling below the cup holder that had 4 screws holding it. 2 on each side. I pulled out the cup holder (not removed) and I was able to get to the motor. 3 5/15 screws. fairly easy to get to. The motor was 31.99 from O'reillys plus 7 shipping. The local dealer wanted $78. Thank you for the information. My wife is very happy.


WOW I spent 56.00 from my dealer and no one else carried them.. Thats been I guess a few years now.. So now pep-boys and O'reillys has them. Thats good to know. For the key is to save $$$$$$.... Thanks for your post..

Here's a pic of the blend door which is in the pic on the heater box in the center. The silver tubing is for the A/C evaporator and is just to the left of the blend door. The door is hinged on the right side of the square hole in middle of the heater box. In the pic in this post you can see the square with the one rounded side where the shaft of the electric actuator fits into. This rounded square is one of the two points that makes up the hinge. The rounded square is on the side of the heater box facing the radio, the side of the hinge on the blend door that faces the firewall is just a point. Both pieces of the hinge protrude each through their own holes in the heaterbox to allow the blend door to go up or down. When the blend door is air is forced through the heater core, the velocity of air will hold it up until the van is turned off and the airflow stops, then no heat again. The default position if the actuator fails or if the blend door hinge breaks is to go down thus preventing any air through the heater core and thus cold air though the vents.

The pic below is of the door but its upside down from the way its installed in the view of the heater box.

This pic below and the two above are from 12ounce. The one below shows the reinforced section on a repaired '99 Windstar blend door, aka the "12ounce" method. :)

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/636/repairedblenddoor9vj.th.jpg (http://img45.imageshack.us/my.php?image=repairedblenddoor9vj.jpg)

Is there any way to temporarily fix the door without removing the whole dash? I can't afford to spend that kinda money but need to get the heater working. If I can get to the door I hope can rig it.

Guys! I found a kit that repairs the broken blend door problem with no dash removal and takes about an hour. The kit is called the HeaterTreater and they have installation videos on youtube. check it out: www.heatertreater.net

Help, Nubie here.

My wife's 99 Windstar has decided to have heating problems. I've been reading about the actuator for the blend door, but her problem seems wierder than just that. It's cold here in New England now. She drives for 10 minutes with no heat available. Fan works fine. All of a sudden she gets decent heat for about 10 minutes, then the heat simply goes away. Fan continues to run. She says eng temp is fine, but she's, well... a mom, so she's prolly looking at a half a tank of gas.

I have not had time to look at it, so this info is all from her. Like usual, my Haynes manual talks about everything but this. I'm not in the mood to backflush the cooling system in the freezing cold, so someone please tell me it's not a t-stat issue.

Isn't there something I can whack with a hammer to fix this?:runaround:

That's almost always (like 99.9% of the time) air in the cooling system. Did you get the coolant flushed recently or have any other service done that may have necessitated draining the coolant from the radiator and refilling afterward?

Either that the coolant is low (which may be a symptom of a leak.) When it's parked and cold, is the coolant about 1/3 to 1/2 way full in the overflow bottle?

Well, my wife works at a big Tech college here in RI and they have a huge automotive department. They do all the work on her van when they have time, which is only now and then. The last thing they did was the front-end (struts, CV axles, control arms, etc.). The problem started several days after that, so who knows if someone drained some coolant. I'll check that for sure. Do you think the blend actuator is okay?

Just turn the key to the ON position (without starting the engine), wait for it to get quiet (beeping to stop, etc.) and slide the temperature selector with your ear up to the console. You should be able to hear the motor. If the motor were bad, it would be stuck in a position. I highly doubt it would flip from hot to cold just randomly after 10 minutes.

Check the coolant bottle. If it just seems a little low, the system level could be a lot lower than that. Fill that bottle up to the 1/2 way mark with 50/50 mix, drive a bit, and see if it goes back down again. I'm still pretty sure you have low coolant or air in the system somewhere. Low coolant could leave enough to circulate through the block but not enough to go through the heater cores.

Thanks Scubacat, my wife just told me they did a coolant flush not too long ago. That's where I'll check first and also listen for the door and motor movement. I know teeth can break on the gears, so I'll listen closely for that.

Thanks, I'll keep ya posted.

Nothing wrong with verifying the actuator, but, it's the coolant. They probably didn't fully pressure bleed it and thus were tricked into thinking it was full. She gets the van back, starts driving, the air self-purges, and the low coolant level is obvious and you have this symptom. Basically it heats up and starts to flow through the heater core until the thermostat opens and the coolant starts going through the block only. Get a gallon or two of 50/50 coolant and pour some into the overflow bottle before each drive. You'll see that its low when you do that. (Or have whoever flushed it fill it back up properly for you!)