[Reverend Biker]

I saw a few threads about this topic but nothing quite like what I am experiencing.

I have a 2012 6 cyl limited with 160k miles, a former Avis Rental. It appears to have been well maintained and in a few days I will have owned it for one full year and over 20k miles.

I have replaced the resistor for the blower fan and I now have fan at all four speeds. The strange part is that I can seemingly turn the air blend setting to the middle or to cool and it does seem to cool down for a bit, but the center two vents on my dash keep blowing max temp hot air all of the time. I have a vent-clip cell phone holder and my cell gets so hot it has given me a warning that my phone is overheating! I am in the northeast US and I want to get this resolved before I start to get into warmer weather.

Part two of this revolves around the rightful criticism of the placement of the AC condenser/trans cooler behind an open hole in the grill. At some point between last fall and now something kicked up and destroyed the lower end of the condenser. I will post a photo or two when I get a chance.

Now in addition to this blasting heat, I have to replace the entire condenser as soon as I can spare the vehicle for the day or so its going to take to take the entire nose off and replace it. Any tips or tricks for this job would be appreciated.

I am looking for any input on where to start with the blasting heat coming from my center vents... I am reviewing the old threads for any nuggets of wisdom but coming up short. Please let me know if anyone has any ideas.

Thanks in advance,

The Rev

 

[Raybz]

Temp on all vents should be the same....I'd guess your blend door is broken or the Blend door motor is faulty
I've see the gears in the motor strip

 

[Reverend Biker]

Thanks for the lead! I'll share what I find when I get in there and start looking around.

 

[Mountain Escape]

if your resistor had failed, I wonder why.
It almost sounds like an animal has crawled inside of your ducting, or into the wiring harness, and made a nest. have you tried running only AC setting?(I know that the condenser has failed, but that should shut off all hot air)(don't hesitate to get a salvage yard condenser, and put it in yourself- you can Google how to release and connect the fittings). The system is already been drained of all refrigerant)

It does not make sense that only the two center vents would be pumping hot air… Raybz is correct
They all would be blowing hot.

The damaged AC condenser would not be a part of this hot air problem, it would only affect AC operation.

if nothing else... for the time being, get a cup holder cradle, or windshield suction cup mount for your phone. phone batteries can explode when overheated.

you might do like I did, after experiencing the same issue with my condenser being damaged. I have mounted nylon replacement window screen inside of my grill with a few screws(basically invisible), it's cheap, and it does not rust.

 

[Reverend Biker]

if your resistor had failed, I wonder why.
It almost sounds like an animal has crawled inside of your ducting, or into the wiring harness, and made a nest. have you tried running only AC setting?(I know that the condenser has failed, but that should shut off all hot air)(don't hesitate to get a salvage yard condenser, and put it in yourself- you can Google how to release and connect the fittings). The system is already been drained of all refrigerant)

It does not make sense that only the two center vents would be pumping hot air… Raybz is correct
They all would be blowing hot.

The damaged AC condenser would not be a part of this hot air problem, it would only affect AC operation.

if nothing else... for the time being, get a cup holder cradle, or windshield suction cup mount for your phone. phone batteries can explode when overheated.

you might do like I did, after experiencing the same issue with my condenser being damaged. I have mounted nylon replacement window screen inside of my grill with a few screws(basically invisible), it's cheap, and it does not rust.

Thanks for the response. I will respond in order...

The resistor had a small puffy burned spot. I found a youtube video and they indicated this was a common problem with older vehicles. That was one year ago next week I replaced it. My E was a trade-in to a dealership in Maine that originally sold it, and supplies most of the rental agencies in that area. It was traded back to them when retired from Avis, and sold at auction and ended up locally (the dealer seems to buy all of the rental Escapes from this particular dealership). It sat in his showroom for almost a year before I bought it. The dealer said he replaced the PCV valve that was plugged and leaking, and the passenger a-arm and ball joint. There is the start of rust along the bottom of the hatch door and over the passenger wheel well. Overall it looks like it has been well maintained.

The vents are always pumping out heat regardless of the hot/cold blend setting, although moving it to the cooler side does lower the temp a bit, but not much and no matter what the vent selector is pointed to, it keeps coming out of the dash and defroster vents to some extent.

I tried the A/C and aside from a puff of refrigerant the first time I tried after the condenser was breached, there was no change inside the vehicle.

I found an aftermarket condenser for around $75 on Amazon, although after the failure of a highly recommended end-link and no warranty from them, I am strongly leaning toward a slighly more expensive one from Rock Auto. The salvage yards around me don't really have much to offer for 2012 escape parts in general and most of the ones I did find were front end collisions.

I've been keeping the phone on the passenger seat since that occurred, but thanks for thinking of the phone in all of this too!

I thought it was your post I saw about the screen material fix. It was the first thread I read on the site. I am planning to purchase a bull bar I found on ebay that covers most of the space, and adding the screen behind the bull bar. I live in a rural area and have some dirt roads I deal with from time to time, so more protection is better. This is the link to the bull bar; I like the angular look of it. For 08-12 Escape/Mariner Matte Black AVT Bull Bar Bumper Grill Grille Guard+Skid | eBay

I stand corrected, all of the dash vents are blowing hot air. So I need to investigate both the blend door and the diverter for the different vents. I think this is a compound issue and plan to do more investigation over the weekend.

Thanks again for the thoughts and input.

 

[Raybz]

The blend door actuator is located on the drivers side
I'm not sure where the diverter is located but am very sure that it's an electric unit

Let us know what you find.....good luck

 

[Reverend Biker]

I found a great video that explains how the blend door actuator works and why they fail. I found several videos on swapping it. It has two 8mm bolts and they use a 1/4 inch drive ratchet to swap it.

 

[tomw]

The blend door actually 'blends' hot air passing through the heater core and chilled air that has passed through the evaporator. The blend of hot and cool allows control of the temperature of the airflow.
The 'mode' door controls where the airflow exits the channels. Defroster, dash vents or floor are the three basic outlets. The compressor will be operating in any mode that directs airflow to the inside of the windshield. Well, it will try. That provides dehumidified air to prevent condensation on the inside of the windshield.
If your flow is always from the dash vents(or perhaps some defrost) then the mode door is not working to its best. The default position is DEFROST, as you can get along with airflow going there even when it is hot outside, but seeing through a frosty windshield is sorta difficult... safety.
tom

 

[ProjectSHO89]

I think this is a compound issue and plan to do more investigation over the weekend.

I think you're correct.

Is this a dual automatic system or a manual system? Need to identify the system in order to get accurate advice.

On the manual system, there is a single blend actuator and it's on the RIGHT side of the dash. Dual systems have one on each side. The outlet mode door actuator is on the LEFT side for either version.

If the compressor is not operating (for whatever reason), the temperature blend door should still be able to control the outlet temps from a little above ambient when on the maximum cold position to very hot on the opposite end of the control's range. If it doesn't behave this way, then the blend door actuator isn't doing its job (for whatever reason which must be determined).

 

[Reverend Biker]

My E has manual control, not the dual zone model.

The mode selector is not working for sure. No matter the setting I get most of the air from the dash vents and some from defroster.

I have a 45 minute trip with the wife this morning. I'm going to play with temp settings on the way. It's only 28 deg so if I get any blending it should tame the max heat I usually feel. I'll check in with those results later today.

Thanks!

Rev

 

[Reverend Biker]

I tested the blend controls by turning from about 3 o'clock warm position to the 8 o'clock (cold) position. The flow through the vents lessened and got a bit cooler but the air came out of the defroster. As I turned the temp clockwise, the closer to 12 the warmer the air flow and it started to come from the dash vents again. The mode setting was on floor only the whole time.

After a stop at the grocery store, when I started up it was still set at the max cold position, and started blowing cold from the floor and a bit from the dash vents. I rotated temp clockwise after the restart and the blend seemed to work. It got proportionately warmer. After I got home and parked and shut it off, I could feel the heat start coming from the dash vents, as if the mode reset to dash only and max heat.

The video i posted talked about the actuator losing its position and it tries to reset after a key start. I think both actuators are worn out.

I'm confused by the rock auto parts listing for the actuators. It looks like the actuator description shows multiple uses for dsome of these for 08 - 12 model years.

I can't seem to find the mode actuator either.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[Mountain Escape]

yeah, you're going to have to pull that part, and get a number… It is the only way to replace it accurately. I would see what is available at a local salvage yard first, since you will be guessing.

 

[Reverend Biker]

yeah, you're going to have to pull that part, and get a number… It is the only way to replace it accurately. I would see what is available at a local salvage yard first, since you will be guessing.

I was able to snap a picture and still batting 0. The part number shows up in several ford owner group websites wth people asking for cross reference part numbers. I've seen yh1881 named, but when prompted for the vehicle info on several websites to check fitment it says not compatible. The only part I've found is the dorman actuator from advance auto that reviewers say is junk.

Anyone know if there is an updated fomoco p/n ?

 

[ProjectSHO89]

The numbers that are on parts are not part numbers. They are "engineering numbers" used for engineering and procurement. Any Ford parts department can cross-reference them to a "service" part number.

Correct part number for the mode door actuator on the '08-'12 Escape (also '08-'11 Mariner) is 8L8Z-19E616-C aka Motorcraft YC-1881. It's a part that is common to other Fords including the C-MAX and the F-150 (and SUV variants).

The Rockauto selection by application listing doesn't show this part. However, if you work backwards from either part number, it shows as applicable. Looks like it fell through the cracks in their lookup database.

 

[Reverend Biker]

The numbers that are on parts are not part numbers. They are "engineering numbers" used for engineering and procurement. Any Ford parts department can cross-reference them to a "service" part number.

Correct part number for the mode door actuator on the '08-'12 Escape (also '08-'11 Mariner) is 8L8Z-19E616-C aka Motorcraft YC-1881. It's a part that is common to other Fords including the C-MAX and the F-150 (and SUV variants).

The Rockauto selection by application listing doesn't show this part. However, if you work backwards from either part number, it shows as applicable. Looks like it fell through the cracks in their lookup database.

Thanks for the clarification. I spent about 3 hours trying to find a cross-reference for the number on the part. Everything I saw was ambiguous, containing 19E616 but different prefix and suffix, no explanation about the difference in prefix or suffix and several pointed in a loop back to parts that were flagged as non-compatible.

The suck part of this situation is I can't get any cooperation from my two local ford dealers. Unless you are ordering the part from them, they are less than willing to help figure this stuff out. Needless to say, I have been avoiding both dealers because of their unwillingness to cooperate, even after having been a loyal customer with my F150 and Lincoln Continental over the last 20 years.

I appreciate the help SHO!

And in my defense, I have been wrenching on cars and bikes since I was about 11 or 12 (over 40 years now) and the parts I've handled from the 60s through at least the 90s had a real p/n on them, so I am sure you can understand my confusion. I admit for over 20 years I've had a Chevy, AMC or Mopar, since those used vehicles tended to be cheaper, and replacement parts tended to be much cheaper than Ford. This was also during a time before vehicle specific knowledge bases existed, online parts vendors that you could shop deals from in your living room and forums like this one.

As a kid, not really understanding that quality/reliability were part of the cost, I made many poor choices to buy chevy over ford. Even in spite of the frequent OE and aftermarket chevy parts failures I personally experienced, because the parts were pennies to the ford dollars it was easy enough to keep replacing those inexpensive failure-prone gm parts over and over before you would come close to ford's parts cost.

 

[Reverend Biker]

I spent some time researching the dorman replacement and all I found were reviews saying the part lasted days to months and that it is junk. I ordered an OE motorcraft unit in hopes it performs better. I paid almost double the cost of the dorman ($45) but that got me a 4 year, no questions asked warranty included.

We are in the middle of an "artic blast", today's high temp at my house is 29 deg F, high tomorrow is upper 30s. Unless I can get some time in my father's workshop, I will have to wait until the weekend to do this job in my driveway.

I have a tough time getting my 6 foot, 260 lb body contorted up under the dash doing this kind of work. I changed a squirrel cage blower in my toyota scion a few years back and that 20 minute job took over an hour because I couldnt get far enough under the dash to see what I was doing and wearing bifocals doesn't help.

I will post some pics and an update when I get it done. From the videos I've watched, the only possible diffculty will be finding the location that the original actuator died so I can line up the shaft with the keyway. Stay tuned...

 

[Reverend Biker]

Job complete. Removal wasn't easy. I struggled for 30 minutes to remove the broken actuator. The top bolt required me to stretch and arch my back to reach it and work it free, blind. The way I was stretched, there was no room to get my head under to see. At my age, doing a 30 minute back bridge aggravates my bad back. I will share a secret that made this job a snap.

After I got that top bolt out, I removed the driver's seat. That took less than 5 minutes with an earthquake 3/8 drive cordless impact wrench and 15 mm socket.

I put my floor mats over the studs and wiring connector so they weren't jabbing me in the back.

I was able to get a look at where the new actuator mounts. The red circles are the two bolt locations.

The white gear that moves the blend door was way out of whack. I lined up the splines on the new actuator and used it to rotate the flap to the correct alignment to catch the bottom bolt. I used an 8 mm ratcheting wrench to tighten both bolts as much as possible. The wrench was easier to use one handed. I snugged the bolts up with an 8mm socket on a 1/4 drive ratchet. Snap the wiring in place and seat the red clip. I checked functionality at this point before I put the seat back, it worked perfectly. I reinstalled the seat and declared victory. Total time 46 minutes.

Thanks to everyone for the help finding the right parts. Let me know if you have any questions...

Thanks

The Rev