Search | Car Forums | Gallery | Articles | Helper | AF 350Z | IgorSushko.com | Corporate |
| Latest | 0 Rplys |
|
Show Printable Version | Email this Page | Subscribe to this Thread |
|
Thread Tools |
12-30-2008, 05:53 PM | #1 | |
AF Newbie
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Pontiac, Michigan
Posts: 53
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
Cold air from heater vents
SO I just bought a 1997 Ford Windstar that has 247,000 miles. When I bought the car, the girl told me she was selling it because it has no heat and we live in Michigan with temps in the teens right now. I have done some investigating and troubleshooting and have discovered the following:
-when the vehicle is at running temp, the upper radiator hose is warm (not hot) so it makes me think the problem is not the thermostat. -I already know about the blend door and when I switch the temp from hot to cold I can hear a clicking sound. It clicks about 4 or five times but still blows out cold air -the defroster blows cold too, so it doesn't sound like the vacuum problem -the fan has strong air flow at all settings -antifreeze is at the regular level I am beginning to think that it is the heater core but I am not sure: where it is located, if there is a way to test to see if it is definitely the issue, or if it is something else altogether. Can anyone help me? |
|
12-30-2008, 08:11 PM | #2 | |
AF Enthusiast
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: fayetteville, North Carolina
Posts: 1,081
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
Re: Cold air from heater vents
ok one trick to try to rule out thermostat is to open the coolant tank but seeing yours is a 97 it may have a radiator cap.. If it does it wont work coolant will shoot out once it get warm.. I am thinking air in lines...You can put your hands on the heater core lines to see if they get hot. in and out lines..Still might be your blend door . Change the thermostat. get the higher grade one only 3 bucks more.. Napa being best choice. Ask the guy and you can compare the weight to the lower price ones. The best one will be heavy.. Really I done this myself.. Sorry for not being able to help more.. If you dont have the radiator cap then open the coolant tank before it gets hot. That helps air get out of the system..
__________________
Just when you think you are done. Your not!! Clean the tools. Then you are done. Nothing impresses a single mom better than a single dad who drives a minivan.Just kidding |
|
12-30-2008, 08:27 PM | #3 | |
AF Premium User
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Clarks Hill, Indiana
Posts: 2,724
Thanks: 0
Thanked 28 Times in 28 Posts
|
Re: Cold air from heater vents
i also would change thremo if you got all air out? so thremo would be the cheapest way to tell if it's going to heat up.
|
|
12-30-2008, 11:08 PM | #4 | ||
AF Newbie
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Woodstock, Georgia
Posts: 98
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
Re: Cold air from heater vents
Quote:
As long as your blend door itself isn't broken or jammed, this $40 part should fix the problem and was very easy to replace (at least on the 2000 model)... GLTY |
||
12-31-2008, 10:43 AM | #5 | |
AF Enthusiast
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: fayetteville, North Carolina
Posts: 1,081
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
Re: Cold air from heater vents
As far as the blend door motor is is an easy fix.. I have replaced mine as well.. Over looked you clicking issue.. Yes it will click a few times and then stop.. Sometimes it wont.. But What happens is the plastic teeth on the gears break.. Thought about going to a hobby shop and getting the replacement gears than realized how many different sizes they were. I would have been there all day.. Just found it easier to replace..
__________________
Just when you think you are done. Your not!! Clean the tools. Then you are done. Nothing impresses a single mom better than a single dad who drives a minivan.Just kidding |
|
01-04-2009, 09:11 AM | #6 | |
AF Newbie
Thread starter
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Pontiac, Michigan
Posts: 53
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
Re: Cold air from heater vents
So I talked to the previous owner, and she said that if she "moved the temperature selector from hot to cold quickly/back and forth", sometimes it would come on and have heat, but after a few months it didn't work anymore. Does it sound like that actuator more now?
|
|
01-04-2009, 02:47 PM | #7 | |
AF Regular
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: st louis, Missouri
Posts: 198
Thanks: 0
Thanked 2 Times in 1 Post
|
Re: Cold air from heater vents
certainly the clicking noise is definitely broken gears on the actuator. easily fixable. need 2 things. a radio removal tool $4-5 at Walmart or auto parts store and the replacement actuator from Ford roughly $35 including shipping.
__________________
2003 Windstar LX 1998 4dr Civic LX |
|
01-04-2009, 11:22 PM | #8 | ||
AF Newbie
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Woodstock, Georgia
Posts: 98
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
Re: Cold air from heater vents
Quote:
__________________
2000 Windstar SE 3.8L 125k miles (mine) 2006 Hyundai Sonata LX 3.3L 108k miles (wife's) 2013 Hyundai Elantra GLS 21k miles (daughter) |
||
01-05-2009, 07:24 PM | #9 | |
AF Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Posts: 3,639
Thanks: 0
Thanked 116 Times in 92 Posts
|
Re: Cold air from heater vents
Certainly points toward the blend door actuator, aka drive mechanism.....
It should not click......as mentioned....broken teeth will click.........but good gears turning should not. Also "move....back and forth" sounds like she was getting it to work by getting the blend door drive motor to go back and forth and catch on what teeth were still there. I would suggest that if you can "move the temp back and forth" and get heat......leave it alone in that position until you can get it fixed.
__________________
Moderator for Ford Windstar room only Links to my pictures, intended as an aid, not a replacement for, a good repair manual. 1996 3.8L Windstar http://www.flickr.com/photos/4157486...092975/detail/ 2003 Toyota Sienna pictures (not much there yet) http://www.flickr.com/photos/4157486...781661/detail/ |
|
01-06-2009, 03:32 PM | #10 | |
AF Newbie
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Olmsted Falls, Ohio
Posts: 41
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
Re: Cold air from heater vents
As you are learning, the blend door actuator/motor is a common failure problem on this vehicle - you can do a search and find many, many posts on this topic. As stated by others, you should not be hearing the clicking noise; the clicking noise is a symptom of the failure. Hopefully you just need to replace the blend door actuator, which is pretty simple and inexpensive. However, if you find that the part on the blend door where the actuator shaft fits into is broken, then you have a major expense repair on your hands to replace the entire plenum assembly which includes the blend door. This is what happened to me a couple years ago on my 1999 Windstar and it cost about $2,000 to tear into the instrument panel and replace the plenum assembly. Good luck!
|
|
07-12-2012, 05:17 PM | #11 | |
AF Newbie
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: austin, Texas
Posts: 22
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
Re: Cold air from heater vents
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
|
|
|
POST REPLY TO THIS THREAD |
|
|