ACTUATOR/BLEND DOOR LESSONS LEARNED FRONT AND REAR

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FordMafia

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This might be a bit long but hopefully clear and easy to understand for anyone that may come by this. Feel free to add any corrections or your own experiences.
In total there are 5 actuators in the car:
FRONT:
1 driver temp blend part# Motorcraft YH1933
1 passenger temp blend part# Motorcraft YH1933
1 mode part# Motorcraft YH1881
REAR:
1 temp blend part# Motorcraft YH1856
1 mode part# Motorcraft YH1856

Easiest to change to most difficult imo:
1: Front mode door
- put your head by the gas pedal and look up should be right there, no need for panel removal. You could remove the gas pedal if you want just for ease

2: Rear mode door
- this is the one on top in the back. I'll link vids from youtube to make it clear. In my 2010 you can only choose mode by controlling temp meaning when you go to full hot it's always on feet and full cold is always on overhead vents. You could just rotate the door yourself to overhead and take this one out permanently so you can have heat or cold coming from the top. But to each their own.

3: Passenger temp blend door
- bunch of vids on this one online. It's mainly panel and stereo removal with one slightly annoying screw in the back.

4: Rear temp blend door
- this one is on the side in the back. 4th screw on here can go to hell. I only put the 2 front facing screws back on after installing new unit. It bothered the perfectionist in me, but the unit held tight to firm shakes and the panel itself should apply pressure to hold in place as well.

5: Driver blend door
- Difficulty level: I'll just roll the window down until I get to the stealership to buy a chevy

VIDEOS (same order as above):

1: No link for this, if you watch the passenger blend door one you'll know what the unit and it's red clip plug look like once you get your head in there and look up

2: If you only want to change the mode door watch this one:

The fordtechmakuloco vid is for a 2nd gen expedition with the older blend door version but it's a great guide. The other vid is the long way removal, I didn't do it but it helped me visualize everything in there. Also be careful with your clips for putting the biggest panel back flush under the window, mine were brittle and I found out the hard way. Superglue is the friend you wish you didn't need here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP5AZp8tLnY&ab_channel=FordTechMakuloco

3:

4: Same links as 2

5: There's a lot out there. I haven't tackled this one yet but I'll link some vids I'm watching for research and visualization.
There's at least 5 more vids on youtube, I'm hoping to find a way to do it without cutting. Maybe I'll just take the loss and have a local auto shop do what fordtechmakuloco was talking about in the end of his vid as something he'd do for a customer

Primary Conclusion: wtf Ford
Secondary Conclusions:
- the first three doors are pretty easy and this is coming from someone who has never done stuff like this before a month ago
- the fourth door is trickier but still quite doable (remember to be nice to the clips when reinserting trim)
- the first four all I used was a cheap ratchet set and some amazon plastic trim removal kit that was max 7$
- door 5: refer to primary conclusion and I'll update if I have anything
 

JimR_TN

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A lot of great work! Thanks for putting all that down and sharing.

I will add there is another actuator up front in the form of the "Mode Door Actuator — Air Inlet Door: RH lower A pillar". It is the one that let's outside air in for the recirculation door.

Additionally those who have dual climate controls up front will have 2 temperature blend doors up front. One for the driver, one for the passenger. Luckily my 2007 doesn't have dual climate so I don't have that difficult one on the bottom.
 
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FordMafia

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I will add that if you want to go the extra mile you should recalibrate your HVAC system by unplugging fuses 15 and 46 (it's thes for me, it might be different for you, look up a fuse diagram online for your car) for at least a min while car is off, then plug back in and turn key to on position without starting for at least another min. Or go the extra 10 miles and unplug the negative battery terminal for at least an hour.
 
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FordMafia

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A lot of great work! Thanks for putting all that down and sharing.

I will add there is another actuator up front in the form of the "Mode Door Actuator — Air Inlet Door: RH lower A pillar". It is the one that let's outside air in for the recirculation door.

Additionally those who have dual climate controls up front will have 2 temperature blend doors up front. One for the driver, one for the passenger. Luckily my 2007 doesn't have dual climate so I don't have that difficult one on the bottom.
I'm happy to share, I just put up what I wish I had when I started this journey. Is the mode door you're referring to different than the one I mentioned? Bc of course there'd be another one just when I thought I finally finished lol.
 
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FordMafia

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So I ended up doing a center console removal at a friend's auto shop. Unfortunately we did cut the vent but did it this way so it can be easily clipped back on and even superglued if you wanted just to give the complete vent look. It bothered me, but the vent is not visible anyways and the knocking is much more annoying plus now that it's been done once it'll be easier to get back in there and change again on my own now that I've seen the process. Total cost for me was about 100$ and a family 12 pc deal from KFC.
 
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FordMafia

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Hopefully this actuator chapter is closed for now.

Would love some advice for my next projects:

My wipers only work on the 2 highest settings and will wipe once on all the others. Washer fluid also works.

And my windows are very slow to go up sometimes they stop or I'll pull along with pressing the up button and they close in one try. I think it's the motors bc I opened the driver's door panel (tip: remove the clip that goes around the door handle while the panel is off as it makes reinstallation much easier) and nothing was wrong with the regulator that Icould see as far as loose window or fraying cables.
 

Fastcar

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Another WAG. Could be a ****** ground. If your so inclined, make up a couple with battery cable rings and try body to whatever you can grab easily.
 
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FordMafia

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Another WAG. Could be a ****** ground. If your so inclined, make up a couple with battery cable rings and try body to whatever you can grab easily.
I tried googling but could't figure out what WAG means, you mind teaching me a new word? I'm not really inclined with elctrical stuff I'd only do it if there was a video I could follow along and proven results. I've never really messed with that kinda stuff and just stay on the cautious side because the risk of something going wrong with electricals isn't worth it.
 
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