Gen2 blend door lever? advice?

[Mark Price 2]

My father owns a 07 V6 2WD ST 85K approx. He is away for a few months in Michigan. I am in Texas. He text me that he was at the Ford dealer having them look at his A/C. He is getting cold a/c out of the defrost vents and floor only. Not working for main four vents. They told him "the blend door lever was broken. A lever broke on a/c blower and it was a mess. Will replace blend door case. Need whole package for $900" The parts and labor where not on the estimate separately. red flag? ..He said he would wait. I told him to try a few independents for estimates. I told him if he could wait i probably could figure it out and told him to buy a Ford workshop manual in the mean time. I saw parts on rockauto. Motorcraft blower motor 63.79. Blower Motor Control Module / Resistor 26.79. blower motor wheel 23.79. Dorman blend door 34.79. Blend Door Actuator 48.79. Any other components involved?

Assuming he would need all these parts. At double mark up. =approx $400parts and $500 labor? Does this sound right to anyone? I realize I have little info and we cant see the ST. But, this sounds crazy!? Do they have to spend a lot of time pulling panels or what? They already charged him $90 for diagnostics. Which will go toward repair if he goes back. I get that and respect the folks that are good at diagnostics. Anyone come across this issue on a Gen2?

Side note: They replaced his cigarette lighter adapter. He was having issues keeping his gps on. They charged him $90 for diag. and maybe 15 for part. not exactly sure. They said they had to charge him the $90 for diag. because the part had to be at least $90 to wave it.? idk whatever. They fixed it and he is happy about that. He has zero mechanical skills. He has one of those big scientific brains though. Just cant wrench to save his life.

Any advice? Seems like I could do it having the manual and seeing what exact parts he may need. I have zero experience with this system though and I'm not sure he will be able to wait a few months until I will "maybe be able to fix it."

 

[Jim Upton]

My mother in law had a similar issue on a 2002 chevy blazer, that bill was almost 700 bucks. They had to take the dash all apart. There was a lot of labor involved and not much for parts. Jim

 

[Mark Price 2]

Thanks Jim. That's what I figured. ..I'm thinking that it may just be a vacuum leak in a line somewhere. As where the air comes out of is controlled by vacuum. The blend door only controls the cold/heat ratio. Does this sound correct? After a little research, I believe the defrost and floor are the defaults if there is no/little vacuum. Sound right? I'm waiting to here back from my father as to whether he has heat as well as cold a/c out of only defrost and floor only.

I found a few threads on the "other site" that may be helpful. Is the 07 ST is similar to the 06-2010 (4thGen) Explorers as far as the these issues? Thanks

 

[scott degroot]

Does he have manual or automatic climate control?



On a manual system it will default to defrost ONLY when vacuum is lost.



Can the temperature be changed?

 

[Mark Price 2]

He has manual and he can change from cold to hot. He said he had defrost and floor before taking it in to the dealer. When he left the dealer he only had defrost.

As per some advice from some other threads, he ended up sticking the end of his fly fishing rod into the center drivers side vent about 8 inches. The door popped open. Then removed the rod. He now has full a/c from all the front vents. No defrost. He hasn't checked the floor vent. It is now "stuck" in that position I assume. He is ok with that temporally until he comes home in a few months. Then I will give it a look. Hopefully just a vacuum leak. May be a hose got burned through somewhere under the hood.? Does this sound reasonable? or are there still some parts possibly needed?

He was a little bothered that the tech didn't at least try this so an old man could drive around with some air on himself in the mean while. But, I explained to him that that is not the official fix and techs don't get payed to "rig" things or clean things for that matter (iac,etc) He understood. Thanks L1tech! I really appreciate/respect your responses/knowledge on this site. Lots of smart folks here:supercool:

 

[Mark Price 2]

here is the one of the threads I sent him. Scroll down posts to see pic

 

[scott degroot]

It really sounds to me like he does have a broken door inside the HVAC box which is a bummer because you have to remove the dash to get the box out to fix the door. Lets revisit this when he makes it home.

 

[Mark Price 2]

10-4. Probably is broken. I'm sure the dealer was correct. Good to hear that may be the issue coming from you as well. Puts me at ease for now. Thanks again!

It's just in my nature to question and try to understand things when it comes an expensive repair diagnosis. I do anything I can to help my father save money on auto maintenance/repair. Believe me. I owe him. He kept me on the road for years helping me pay for my vehicle repair bills when I couldn't even change a tire. Ive come a long way since then and just want to "pay" him back with what I can offer...Free labor! :haveabeer: