Heat problem

[shorod]

I just noticed last night that when my wife comes to a stop in her MKT, the heat on the passenger side quickly goes cold. It felt about like outside air. As soon as the engine speeds up, the air from the vents would go hot again. I mentioned this to her while sitting at a stop light and she said her (driver's) side was not doing this. The kids also didn't complain about getting cold at stops, so I'm guessing this is isolated to the passenger side front. Hmmm.....

-Rod

[shorod]

Maybe this was a precursor to a failing blend door actuator.

Now that it's getting colder here, I noticed while riding in my wife's 2010 MKT that there is no heat on the passenger side coming from the vents. The driver's side works fine. I connected my scan tool and there's code B1082, Right Temp Damper Door stored and also active. I then went in to the datastream for the HVAC and compared the left and right hands. The position data changed for the left side while adjusting the temp setting knob, but the RH remained at 0 regardless of the setting of the knob.

I decided I'd compare the operation against my 2011 SHO only to learn that my SHO does not provide heat on the passenger side either, has the same diagnostic code, and same readings in datastream. My SHO is out of warranty so I pulled out the service manual and noticed that I just need to open the glove box door fully (like changing the cabin filter), remove two screws and a couple of electrical connectors, then install the new $25 part.

I thought for $25 it's not worth making an appointment with the dealer for my wife's MKT (hers is still under warranty) but then checked the procedure for the MKT. The manual for the MKT says the instrument panel upper section needs to be removed, and to remove that, the center trim panels need to be removed, the steering wheel needs to come off, etc. It seems odd to me that that much work needs to happen on the MKT when it's so easy on the relatively similar SHO.

All that background just for me to get to my question. Has anyone changed the blend door actuator on an MKT that knows if there's a shortcut to taking the instrument panel upper section out?

-Rod

[shorod]

This weekend I changed the passenger side blend door motor without removing the instrument cluster. There is a bit more to it than in my SHO since there is what appears to be an interior temp sensor hose running underneath the actuator. By disconnecting the blower motor wiring harness and moving that out of the way, I was able to get the hose repositioned enough to snake the actuator out from the glovebox opening.

I had to order the new actuator ($24) so instead of keeping the MKT in the garage for the several days it might take for the new part to arrive, I moved the driver's side actuator to the passenger side and put everything back together. The driver's side actuator is the same part number and only takes about 5 minutes to remove or reinstall. When the new part arrives, I'll just need to tuck my head under the driver's side dash, install the new actuator, then recalibrate the HVAC system and all should be well.

-Rod

[shorod]

I ended up getting a new Motorcraft actuator from the dealer. Interestingly, the new actuator from the dealer was just under $21 and they had it in stock. I installed it in the driver's side, used my scan tool to recalibrate the HVAC system, and all works well. I did this before Thanksgiving and the MKT heat worked flawlessly during our holiday travels.

-Rod

[metschers]

Rod ,
My wife 's 2010-MKT was doing something similar to what you are describing. Also under warranty I took it to the dealer. There was a service bulletin for the problem. Something about bleeding air out of the cooling system. That fixed the problem. Anyway have them check the bulletin. Hope that helps.

Steve

[Joeski19]

I have the same problem with my MKT, it's blowing cold air on the passenger side, can anyone help.

[azakram]

I had the same issue on the passenger side. the cost of changing the actuator is too much. I had ordered several tools but ended up opening one screw and crowbar on the second and took that sucker out.
Put a new one with one screw worked like charm.