Don't know how this one was missed for so long, but I have now copied it over to the Articles and How To section and indexed it. Great contribution to this site from devilsrighthand.

 

Greetings! Owner of a '98 Taurus SHO here, so I'm new to this forum.

I just came across this thread when searching for help on repairing the "football" eatc from a 98/99 Taurus or Sable. I realize this thread applies to F150s and more recent years at that, but perhaps somebody here knows something that the folks on my forum don't? Worth a shot.

Summers in FL are no joke when your AC's dead.

Thanks!

 

Removed the control unit, no problem thanks to the post, but the foam on one of the solenoids is deteriorated. Any idea how to replace this?

 

Mine is a bit different.

When on MAX it blows through the defrost, all the other setting work as they are supposed to. I just run the A/C through PNL/FLR and it works, just not on MAX AC. Do you think this is faulty eatc o rings?

 

that's what mine was doing....panel/floor was cycling to defrost every once in awhile.....max ac went straight to defrost....so I knew it was about time to replace the o-rings....after reading this thread....

 

Thanks saved me $723 just in the part. It only took me 1 hour and $12.

 

I've rebuilt 3 at the shop after this thread. Very happy customers after they were originally quoted $500-$800. Excellent work!

 

I had A/C intermittently blowing out the defrost. When press "Floor" would come out defrost. Only vent airflow worked. As this thread states replace the 4ea. o-rings O.D 9/32 in the ETAC unit 4ea. relays. It is simple. Use a little silicon on each ring to help seal the new rings.

Something not covered is the foam filter at the top. By now it is brittle and no good. I inserted some new (packing foam) inside the tube. It was to hard to replace it under the compression tabs. It is important to have filter as the hold at the bottom of the tube is small and will not work if clogged. If you replace the foam blow thru it to make sure air flows.

Good Luck

 

Hat's off to devilsrighthand. Your explanation was excellent. I just rebuilt my EATC that started acting up last summer...and that ain't a good thing in Texas! I also had a blower motor lay down on me and replaced it this week, too. I didn't have anyone to take pics for me so I took a few of my own as I went along; but it was easy to fix following "devil's" instruction post. I actually bought my O-rings from W.W. Grainger down the street; 100 count for $9 and change!! I know, you only need 4, but the Ace hardware stores around me as well as the local retail auto supply folks acted like they didn't know what I was talking about...Grainger had thousands on hand! My EATC now works as good (maybe better) than when I bought it new! I had seen estimates close to $900 for Ford to R/R the EATC and a good independent shop I've used before wanted about $500. I paid a couple bucks for some dielectric grease, $9 for the new red O-rings, and about an hour and a half total time. Not a bad tradeoff, I'd say. Thanks again!

 

Now that you have a bucketload of spare O-rings, you should try to sell them in, say, lots of 5 for a buck plus shipping.

 

When I rebuilt mine, I bought this O-ring kit from Harbor Freight. The kit included 20 of the needed size.

http://www.harborfreight.com/225-pie...ent-67677.html

 

I like your thinkin', GLC!! BTW, as expected, my EATC has worked like new since Friday! I'm one happy old "shade tree". I'd never had trouble with an EATC until late summer last year and it worked "okay" with it on pnl/floor so I just put up with it until spring. Now I'm ready for the Texas summer!

 

Dang, I didn't think about Harbor Freight over in Carrollton having them! Oh well. Now I have 96 of them on hand!!

 

I just finished this repair. Living in Florida in the summer can be a killer without AC. I really appreciate the time you took to post this writeup!


Thanks,
Winmau

 

Thanks for the post! This saved me a bunch of hard earned money! A couple of notes: O'Riley Auto Parts have the o-rings listed as #007. Also, I misread the original post and took off the foam on the end of the actuator. You do not need to mess with the foam. As the original posts says, you are pulling the whole end piece off. Good luck!