This may be a dumb question for you experts out there?
Is the Blend door motor and the actuator the same thing?

And I can I replace it my 2000 Expedition without the entire dash removal?

 

Yes and no.

Steve

 

The dash has to come out

 

+1 - the motor and actuator are the same thing.

Changing the motor may or may not require dash removal, depending on where it's at. Changing the blend door itself is likely to get ugly.

 

well i converted my 2003 screw 4x4 fx4 over to the automatic climate controls and i was able to change out the manual blend door motor with the auto climate one with out having to remove dash, but it all depends where it is located at

 

01 f-150 replaced hearter core (blender door look good) no leaks plenty of heat went around the block came home everything worked,a/c, heat eletrical every thing next moring only a/c working no heat, screwed with a couple of things now heat and a/c on, no control over temp cant hear if motor working door or not(went around block and hammered it, couldnt hear if door moved but heat, dont know if swicth,control ****, motor or blender door)takes awhile for change but very hot or a/c cold

 

What I did to mine, cause I'm a lazy bastard, is cut the heater hose and installed a valve so that with the valve open you have heat, valve closed you have A/C. I've got the valve hooked to a generic manual choke cable from advance and i can open/close it from the cab.

 

on my 2000 F-150 I was able to get out the actuator motor from underneath without removing the dash. It took a little Patience but was a lot less hassle then ripping the dash apart.

If you pull the carpet back a wee bit it will give you a little more room to work.

Good luck.

 

Yes, the actuator IS the motor that gets an electrical message to mechanically open and close the blend door. Depends on the vehicle year but some actuators can be removed from the bottom of the dash with removing a few items instead of removing the entire dash. what kind of problems are you having?

 

I have an '08 with automatic climate control and that damn blend door motor went bad on me twice in one year! I was pissed! As far as i know the dealer indeed had to pull the whole dash off. I know this because A. they told me and B. They didn't put it back together correctly and i will be headed back to the dealer for the second time next weekend to have them fix the dash.

 

What causes the blend door to go bad?

 

Blend doors do not go bad, they break because they are made of plastic. Each time you start your vehicle the actuator moves the blend door to its limits, (fully open, fully closed) The limit is met when the door hits resistance (heater core/ac) over time the plastic weakens and cracks, usually at the bottom. There is nothing u can do to prevent this, it is a design flaw but usually not an issue for a newer vehicle. Usually more common after years and years of this plastic being fatigued. I had it happen in my 2001 ford expedition.

 

I was able to remove the blend actuator without take the panel dash off. it took me probably no less than 4 hours..

My problem now is that I'm not sure if the blend door actuator is different for either Manual AC or Automatic AC..

in Autozon and O'Rilley they only shows one for the manual AC, any advice?

 

can you hear the blend door acuator? I checked everything but that and i do not hear the door moving or trying to move. And my heater control valve is that the one with the red vacuum line on it or the one with the green vac. line? 1998 f150 4.6v8

 

Well, I was able to make the self test, and I got the DTC 12&49, then I took off the blend actuator, plug the connector , turn on the Engine Key, and nothing happen, no matter what I do the Blend door actuator does not move.

So I think that next step would be to check the vacuum valve, for what I see in your last comments?

Where is the vacuum valve?