OMG! A BIG Texas THANK YOU from a 65 year old widow who WAS having air flow problems in a 2000 Mercury Mountaineer! I watched your video and went out in the 99 degree weather...uggghhh...and prayed I could get the A/C working again. I lowered the glove box and the components were not the same as the above 2004 HVAC, but I found the red wire and fooled around with it and then whacked the housing from underneath, like my mechanic showed me four days ago when the blower was first pooping out. I turned on the engine and turned on the switch to A/C, and OUT CAME THE COLD AIR IN FORCE!! May God RICHLY bless you, motoYam82, for helping all of us to get our vehicles back in running order!! I am now a subscriber, and I'm going to tell all my family and friends to watch your videos when they're having any problems with their vehicles. You da bomb!! ;~D

In my opinion drilling a hole in the plastic control arm (in the exact spot where the pin was) and then hook a little 6mm screw with 2 nuts bolted together would fix it with a better outcome, Thank you for the video Ivan.

Just wanted to say THANK YOU! After receiving a quote of over $600 to fix this issue, I now have a fully functional vent switch. I went a slightly different route, basically reattaching the actuator to what was left of the plastic arm with some wire. Total cost: $0. Thank you for sharing this video!

I just went to my car and pushed the door flap open like you did. Now i have air. Thank you for your informative video saving me from giving a repair shop hundreds if not thousands of dollars. 😀

It’s funny how guys are bagging on you for this video. It was exactly what I needed to do to fix the ac in the wife’s explorer. The air conditioning would roar at full speed and only about half as much air would come out. Now it’s has twice the air flow and half the noise. Thank you so much👍🏼

With the Texas heat I couldn’t bear yesterday picking up my kids from school I was super soaked in sweat. Watched your video and let me tell you! “ Your a sweet angel sent from above”. I zipped tied it so quick man my air vents blows nice cold air. Thank you thank you thank you.

I fixed mine in my Jeep with a small aluminum pop-rivet instead of the Chrysler POS plastic one and has been working like new for over 5 years now. Love the Videos Ivan, thanks.

You are the greatest human being alive, ive been riding round no windows no AC but just fixed my AC wit this video, thank you

THANKS BRO! I JUST USED YOUR QUICK FIX..I'M IN EL PASO TX..I WAS DYING!!

THANK YOU so much for this! Was driving one day and heard a loud pop sound and shortly after my air stopped working in my sport trac. Drove me crazy digging around trying to find the cause. I found this video and sure enough the plastic arm was snapped on mine.

Thanks for the information. I had looked at videos for a couple days and wasn't able to find the information that I needed. After watching your video I was able to locate the problem, which was the same as with this explorer . I was able to get airflow out the vents by pushing it open manually . When you change to defrost the front vent closes. When you want the front vent to blow push it open . Works until I have time to do a more in depth repair. Thanks again.

Woohoo! I have cold air blowing out of my AC vents again in my '05 Ford Explorer. I recently bought it from a friend and when it was colder weather I didn't really notice it. But, as the Texas heat is starting to creep up it is becoming more noticeable. Mine is the exact same problem as you showed. Now to rig it so that it stays open :-)

saw another fellow here on youtube drill a hole in the plastic and connect the two via a zip tie.

Kid's these days? - In the old days we used bailing wire to fix problems like this and we were happy.

Thank you so very much

Hey man.I took my Ford in to a shop for this and they said some panel in the blower fell and covered a vent hole preventing air flow.They said there were 2 options one that cost $900 or one that cost $50 to fix.You would think a mechanic/"honest mechanic" would know about this issue.Not sure If I will be going to this guy anymore.Thanks so much for posting this. You saved me some cash either way!You are the man!

The Ford Dealership quoted me $2500 to fix this same exact issue you showed how to fix on a 2010 Ford Exporer XLT. Thanks to this video I fixed it in < 1 minute for free!! And I didn't have to take the entire dash apart to repair 'Bad Duct Work' As they claimed. Shame on them and thank you so much for posting this video!!

We appreciate your video on this quick fix it's hot down here in the south and you saved us a lot of time and money and death by heat keep up the good work and thanks again ours was the same problem

16 minute video that could literally be 4 minutes long. Skip to 12:30 to get down to business.

Don't know if this will be the problem I have, but thanks for the looks at the stuff and set me on a path forward!

I had the same problem on my 2003 Ford Explorer. I did use a zip tie to hold the door open so I had air through the front vents. The plastic piece broke clear off on mine. I didn't see a way to reconnect it with out it costing a lot of money.. There is not much room to work without tearing into the dash. Air works great and once winter hits I will just remove the zip tie if I need to.. This has been a great truck for me. Normal wear and tear. They don't run forever with out having problems.

I have this same truck and your absolutely right about everything you said about this truck. You really know ur stuff!

That was amazing 🤩 sir!! I have the exact problem on my 2005 Ford Explorer 4.6L. I’m so excited to take the glove box off and put the flap in the open position!! You are the best!!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP I AM USING THIS CAR WITHOUT FRONT VENTS FOR MORE THAN 6 MONTHS AND HERE ALL MECHANIC ARE DUMP.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! GREAT video! I wonder if a cable tie would work... After the rain, I am going to go attempt to fix mine. Ignore all of the people that complained about your video, you at least told them WHY the AC was doing what it was doing, more than they knew or they would have never searched for this video to begin with! Thank you so much for the WHY, you probably saved me at least $1K and a lot of sweat in lower Alabama!

I simply tuned in to your video to find out how to fix my main vents. I am not a mechanic, I’m a female and believe it or not. I can do some of the repairs myself simply by watching KZfaq videos. I have no my it still has the original paint that looks great. It truly is a good looking truck. I did not need a diatribe on what a piece of junk you think that my truck is can I tell you that I have 271,000 miles on my 2003 Ford Explorer, I have never put a transmission in it, it’s the original engine and the only repairs that i’ve had to do are just standard routine fixes. I’ve never had a check engine light on and the Ford Explorer up until 2005 was built on the Ranger chassis after 2005. It was built on a car chassis so if you have a Ford Explorer older than a 2005 you actually have a real truck, check back with me in a year or two when I’ve hit 300,000 miles and I’m still trucking.

BINGO! 2003 XLT Vacuum door link damage was EXACTLY my problem! Great video! Low cost fix!

At about 11 mins, you gave the best quick tip there is, which applies to nearly every vac actuated system there is, and has ever been... If you lose the vac source, it will default to defrost and some floor vent flow. The switched modes will not change. If you can change the modes but lose them will driving, IE the flow goes to def/floor under accel, the vac canister is leaking or the check valve has gone bad.

Nice Explanation / Diagnosis of the Ford Exploder's Air Conditioning Vacuum door system. Going to the garage right now to fix the defective Ford AC panel door actuator. Will use your foam idea, pin or safety wire. Many sad Ford owners also experience the clicking of their striped out temperature control actuator in the rear of the truck. Good call.

I have fixed this problem in the past by just "drilling" a small hole ,with a hot 90* angle pick tool .I then reconnected the solenoid with a locking nuts & bolt .

Thanks for the quick fix, I'm going to check out my friends explorer and see if that's her problem!!! Thank you!!!

Thanks for the video... I had the exact same problem. I drilled a hole in what was left of the door arm and tied actuator together with a zip tie. Will see how long it lasts. BTW I replaced the blend door actuator at the same time. That was not fun. Thanks again.

Out all the videos I seem. this is the one who hit the jackpot. Thank you! Easy fix

I would have knocked the pin out and installed a small machine screw with a nut.

Thanks a lot for posting this video! I had a quote of $1200 to fix this issue. I have been searching this issue for a few months and could not find anything on the web. My wife will be happy, living in TX-it gets hot. Thanks!!!

MANY THANKS for this video. Saw it last night and fixed my '03 this morning in about 45 minutes (only took that long because I considered other solutions). The plastic piece attached to the door was broken at the hole. Instead of just prying the handle in the open position, my first thought was to epoxy a metal repair piece to the plastic on the door flap and reattach the actuator to it. I decided that would be more difficult than necessary (there is a darn metal piece that really gets in the way of working on this) so instead I drilled an additional hole into the plastic arm and ran a zip tie through it and the actuator's hole. Seems to work fine for the time being with full functionality. I suppose the zip tie could wear out but I basically only flip it back and forth between summer and winter so it won't get a lot of use, and it is easy enough to reinstall another zip tie. I'm guessing it will be good for a hundred cycles at least.

thanks so much for the video!! Your a life saver!!! Turns out I had the same exact problem... easy fix wedging the door open. much appreciated!!

So while looking for information on "2003 explorer rattling noise on passenger side" I ran across this video, which I have a problem with. Super easy, now I have airflow😊 also i think noise is from shocks. Thanks so much

thanks man. really helped me a lot. i was ready to start tearing up the dash. it's 110 here in vegas and it just crapped out on me but this was the problem and solved with a simple zip tie.

Thanks for your post. It precisely diagnosed my issue and I was able to repair it myself!!

Great video saved me lots of time to diagnose the problem. Very grateful you posted this

thx I have a Ford van with the same problem air flow on defrost vents only, going to see if I get just as lucky as your customer here. Thanks for the info

Start the video at 4:42 to skip all the unnecessary intro.

Excellent upload my man. I have a 2005 Ford Explorer and I was having the same problem. So I checked under the glove box and saw that that little plastic piece on mine was also snapped. I ain't fancy like you and don't have access to weapons grade foam so I used a piece of cardboard and that did the trick. Thanks so much

Hey just watched this video and earlier I bought (because the guy at the auto parts store said it was this part) the air door actuator and now i know it is like this problem is the vacuum arm is broken from the air vent door. I hope i can replace that part with no difficulty. Thanks for the information!

Fixed my car in 5 minutes. Great Job!!! Thanks man.

Great work man. I always love and appreciate your work man.

I'm having the same issue in my 2002 Expedition... Now I think I'll give it a look and see if there is anything like this in it... Was having an issue in my Subaru but simply removing the cabin air filter fixed it. Can't seem to locate the cabin air filter in the expedition if there is one... Thanks for the help. Hopefully I can figure out the air flow issue in the Expedition now.

Thanks Ivan - Awesome Video! Gotta love AllData

Thanks man! Sincere appreciation for the video. Saved me from doing a bunch of crazy stuff

Ivan good fix, I ran into this about a month ago same year exploder. I used a drill extension on a right angle drill and drilled a small hole into what was left of the arm. it had broken in half. then threaded a piece of mechanics wire thru it and thru the hole in the actuator and twisted it ,cut off the excess. I explained to the customer that the wire would eventually cut thru the plastic but for now it all works.

perfect for showing the problem, mine was completely broken off, so I used a broken phone charger cord, put it through the metal hole, and through the hole in the round part and tied it tight in the vent open position with blower on, fixed it right up

Mine works up to about 10o degrees here in AZ. (2003 Explorer XLT, front A/c system only). Then so, so, and I notice that the "Max Air" setting (recirculate) position doesn't change do anything different than the regular setting. No increase in fans speed, no nothing. In other words, the two A/C settings function the same, no recirc. Any thoughts on this??

Hello. i was watching your video but it does not answer my question. i have a ford explorer eddie bauer 2003 and the auxiliary air conditioning is only heating. no matter if i turn the heat/cold auxiliary knobs. the front air conditioning is colling and heating well. on he auxiliary knobs i can chang the air from the top to the bottom by clicking the little button available and it changes the location really well. there is not clicking or any noise apparent. what do you think is the problem. is the blend door acuator from the auxiliary air conditioning responsible for moderating the cold and hot temp?

thanks for the videos you samples are of good help I have a 2004 ford explorer and have problems with the heating sistem when I put defrost mode does not work but everything else works if you can help me with this problem? Thank you.

This video helped me find the problem, but my issue isn't exactly the same. The control arm is still connected to the vacuum motor/actuator, but the contol arm connnected to the vacuum motor/actuator doesn't move at all when I turn the vent selector knob on the dashboard. Any thoughts on why the control arm doesn't move the control arm? Any comments are greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much bro. Kind from you sharing info. since you paid for that program. We should be thankful.

BTW, my explorer is an 02. Same exact issue. Thank you again!

So if I wanted to wait for parts I would just replace this? Do you have a video on how to replace it?

This was exactly my problem thanks so much for posting this

Mine isn’t broken but it doesn’t move whatsoever. In or out. I checked for cracked vacuum lines and nothing. Also replaced blend door actuator and nothing. Not sure if replacing this actuator will fix my problem. Any pointers?

Can u please help me, i have an 03 expedition the back ac is working front is not at all, it starts making a grubling sound and u can hear water swishing around passenger air bag, what can i do?

Followup, Your vacuum schematic helped me find the problem. You talk to much but your video totally helped me find and fix the problem thanks. Problem was it was missing about 10" of vacuum hose under the hood, where it went I don't know.

I'm dealing with this exact issue, only problem here is that the little arm IS being pulled back when the vents are turned on, and there still is very little air coming out of the vents. The a/c is on full blast, makes more noise than actual air coming out. It does get cool after a good while, though. But it should be blowing more, stronger air....right? Right?

thank you for a understanding of what i could only guess.tomorrow i will hope to fix. thanks again, saving big $$$$

Hi so I have a similar problem, except the defrost vacuum pump does not move the arm at all? Could it be a broken defrost pump or vacuum issue? Thanks.

dude hell yeah i have 04 fordnexplorer and thanks tonyou i fixed my ac problem. yeeesss!!! from the las vegas desert. Thank you great video

Totally just fixed mine!!! Great video. Mechanic told me between $300 and $500 to fix it! cost me NOTHING. Did i mention i'm a girl ....but i am quite handy :-)

Mines isn't working. It's still connected , so I pushed the door arm in with my finger and the air came thru the main vents. Any suggestions on how to fix or should I just try and replace the part.

hey guys i have the same exact truck 02 explorer and mine is actually connected but it just deosnt move ??? so idk if it’s like a wire that’s not connected but when i push the actuator in it blows cold air out fine!!! please someone help very much appreciated

Hi, 07 nissan altima recently has weak air flow when turn on AC. If AC is off, the fan working fine, air comes out fine. Turn on AC, it works for few minutes then the air flow becomes weaker and weaker to the point there is no air comes out (whether re-circulated or not), when set the air on high you still hear the motor blowing noise but no air, cool and heat still work because when you turn off AC and just use the fan, air does come cool, or hot depends on the setting of the AC before turned off. New cabin air filter. I am very confused, so it works fine for few min then no air, but if turn off AC and set the fan run only, air does come out strong. Will coolant cause the problem because I recently notice the coolant reservoir is low so I toped it off (buying the coolant from dealer and mixed up wit water as instruction) and it stayed between min and max level since then... please help.

Have the same truck ac not working, the front blows hot and the back blows cool would love some advice

I get air flow the only thing is I don't get any heat? would this work for my 2005 ford explorer?

This video was so good i fixed my same problem to day thanks to this video by my self

You forgot to mention the famous rear tailgate panel crack. LOL. I could see it in your video. They fixed that problem in 2006, by eliminating it. I just bought a 2005 Mountaineer with the modular V8. I really love it. I just hope it doesn't cause too many headaches. It's just a second vehicle, but still. Seems like the best ones of these to get are the 2006-2010's with the V8, because they came with the 6 speed auto. Still they are decent SUV's.

same thing happened to me. except i used a zip tie, didnt tighten all the way but just enough slack so it can move back in forth, havent had an issue since, been over a year.

This was my exact problem. Also mine lost overdrive planetary and windshield leaks horribly. Still gets me to work everyday

That’s great. This is the second video On the same fix and it worked . 03👍

I got a 2002 exolorer., 250,000 on mine. No problems. Had a 1998 with 159,000. No problems. Had a 1991 ford explorer. 200,000 . No problems. X wife had a 1996. No.problems

Exactly what I needed! Thanks!

My 04' XLS blows through the vents and the vent for the defroster. Solution?

Hi I have this issue with my 03 expedition! It was blowing hot air and then no air at all!! Can you Help??

With this fix , do you still have function for floor of defrost ?

muchas gracias por tu explicación, eres un genio, pude resolver el problema de mi ranger 2003 , thankyou very very much.

Thanks for this video. I had this exact problem. Crazy LOL.

My 2000 Ford F150 5.4L has the stuttering around 50-55 mph when you let off the gas a bit. Had a mechanic friend replace some module and I cannot remember what it was. It worked for 2 years. But now back to this again. Wish I got that info from him. He moved and changed number.

Is it the same set up on the sport trac 2004??

if anyone can help my 03 EXPLORER the panel works but alot of air is still going to the floor?what can it be

will this work for no heat??

Came here years later with a 99 exploder 345,000 miles. Tried vacuum lines to no avail. After seeing this it helped however my vacuum control vents was above the gas pedal took off a few arms and stereo dash and ac panel to access two vacs. The one with the red line it did open manually upon pushing the arm. My quik fix came shoved a long screwdriver into it it made a hole lol but works. Back in morning to permanent it in there. Texas is hot in May. Thanks for the video May 2023. Go Brandon

Thanks for the good tip. It's very helpful.

crown victoria 2003 lx Vents stuck on Defrost how to fix it please

Did you ever change the transmission fluid? If yeah when?

My truck has same problem. How do i find that flapper. It's missing on my truck

I currently have this problem, but with mine the arm is broke off altogether.....can anyone tell me the part name needed for that arm? Auto parts stores are no help....go go try the junkyard so I have a permanent fix for winter

I've noticed on fords and dodges (atleast the trucks), without the a/c on and you have the temp dial turned to cold, the air always seems to come out somewhat warmer than the outdoor temp. My old caprice does not do this. it is like the fords/dodges dont seal off from the hot coolant or something...also, our '07 dodge trucks at work had the issue with the plastic being stripped and the air direction thing wasnt vacuum...they had to take it all apart to get it to work. what a pain. the vacuum on my caprice works just fine...29 years old with 300 000kms...cant complain.

thanks for the video that works on a ford explorer 98?

freaking thank you. was told repeatedly it was the filter, it wasn't. going to use a cotter pin though. And yes all those issue do happen at once it's a mess.

Awesome thanks both my parents explorers have this issue

Awesome. I have a E350 and im having this problem. 👍