2002 Windstar A/C Problem in Front

[rayt1966]

2002 Windstar A/C problem. Blows cold in the rear but not the front. Blend door actuator in the front is operating properly. Compressor cycles on and off but not excessively. When temp levers in full warm air blows to floor but it is not warm. Compressor runs even when the A/C on/off switch is in the off position. Indicator light is off but compressor still runs. Condensate puddles on floor in rear but none in front under vehicle.

[rayt1966]

Update: There is condensate water dripping from the front evaporator, not as much as the rear.
Thanks.

[12Ounce]

Perhaps you have a broken blend door. The actuator can work away ... but will not be turning anything if door is broken. You can inspect by removing actuator. You will find quite a bit on line about these actuators and their repair.

[tomj76]

Condensate is usually a good sign that the A/C unit is getting cold and air is flowing over the cold coils. Since the condensate is coming from the humidity in the air, a large amount means a good combination of air flow AND cool A/C pipes. The next question is "Where is all this cold air going?". Feel for air at the defroster vents and the floor vents. It should be going to one or both.

One possible reason for good cooling in the rear, but poor cooling in the front is a low refridgerant level. Proper operation of the front evaporator is more sensitive to the A/C charge. However, it sounds like your evaporator is working well, so I'd only look at this after eliminating other possible causes.

[rayt1966]

Hi, I appreciate the suggestion. With the actuator removed I can stick a screwdriver in the housing and turn by hand. It is attached to something as I can feel and hear the door move from one side to the other. In addition, the sound and amount of airflow changes. Sounds and feels like a door moving positions.

[rayt1966]

Update: I just ran the A/C and both the front and rear blow cold air. Heat,A/C, and defrost mode all blow air where it should. However, heat mode produces no heat. Which here in Florida is not a huge problem. Perhaps this is an unrelated problem. I assume there is a heater core control valve somewhere. Compressor appears to cycle on and off at an appropriate interval. Even though the blend door moves, feels and sounds like it is moving fully in both directions could there be something going on in there? When I had the actuator off and had the door manually full over to the cold position I had no cold air. The A/C on/off switch has nothing to do with the problem, I misunderstood its purpose earlier.

[12Ounce]

If you drop the fan assembly, you can reach the coil to feel if its cold ... and see it somewhat with a penlight and mirror ... to see if you can detect something wrong. In my case: My Winnie has over 400k miles, so the AC has seen some service. I inspected my coil to find, yes, it was a bit dirty ... but more importantly, the perimeter foam that is supposed to force air through the coil .. had rotted away (It hadn't been installed that well in the beginning). I used some plumbers mold-able putty to sear around the perimeter of the coil.

[rayt1966]

Update: System was low on freon. Took one can to get it back in operation. Everything appears to work now. So was this just a slow leak over 13 Years and 192K or something bigger leaking? Guess I will see as time goes on. Thanks for everyone's help.

[12Ounce]

One can over thirteen years would not trouble me much.