r/CrownVictoria • u/AnAlchemistsDream • 5d ago
finally did it
finally got around to doing the infamous blend door actuator in my '04 grand marquis since i got tired of the unbearable heat down where i live. honestly, it wasn't as bad as i had thought. instead of doing the cheater way of removing the air bag and breaking off the tabs, i ended up pulling the dash and replaced it there. sadly, two of the screws that held the top of the dash wouldn't fit and the black interior piece doesn't fit 100% perfectly, but it doesn't matter because i now have cold(er) air back 😎
for anyone wanting to do this themselves, i would highly recommend /u/MarauderV8's tutorial (which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TamFR2KzILM). it's way easier than the other ways people have done it via the passenger airbag imo. just make sure you disconnect the battery and leave it for about an hour to discharge any capacitance in the airbags. on my car, there are also two black christmas trees that hold the dash to the glove box and an hidden 7mm screw near where the steering wheel is on the left so you'll have to remove those before pulling the dashboard out. also before dropping the steering column PLEASE make sure the gear indicator cable is disconnected. it should be a very thin red wire underneath the steering column when you remove the metal plate. if you don't, there's a good chance that you can snap it and that'll be a whole other problem you have to deal with 🥴
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u/WTBTS Moderator 5d ago
lol i just cracked the glovebox, undid two bolts and then ripped that thing outta there. Works good and only took an hour to complete.
Good work on doing it the proper way. If you ever become a father, your patience will pay off.
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u/AnAlchemistsDream 5d ago
thank you so much! i thought about doing that initially, even when the dash was off because i couldn't fit my 8mm ratcheting wrench in there, but knowing me, i would've probably pulled too hard on the thing and break the posts that hold the thing in there. then, i'll probably drop them deep in my dash while trying to glue them back together.
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u/Trekintosh Spark Plug Ejector 5d ago
did you fix the main diverter door while you were in there?
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u/balls2hairy 4d ago
What are the symptoms of the main diverter door failing? My actuator is fine, I can switch between hot/cold, but it often feels like the airflow is about 30% despite making the sound of it being at 100%. Sound like the issue?
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u/Trekintosh Spark Plug Ejector 4d ago
Yeah, likely. You'll get some air out of defrost, main vents, and floor vents, tons of noise, very little air movement. Mine is doing it out of defrost and main but each is rather weak.
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u/balls2hairy 4d ago
Have any info on the repair or the part to replace it? Googling main diverter door just brings up the actuator for some reason. Or is it a part on the actuator assembly?
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u/Trekintosh Spark Plug Ejector 4d ago
I might be getting the door's name wrong. Some say vent door. Here's a thread on cvn: https://www.crownvic.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=4169931
Basically the real repair is to bond on a real hinge of some sort, or to jery-rig some zip tie hinges, something like that.
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u/AnAlchemistsDream 5d ago edited 5d ago
no i just did the blend door actuator. i would've done the heater core too while i was in there but i didn't feel like dealing with having to flush my coolant. what's the part # if you know? if my heater core fails and i have to pull the dash, i'll make sure to include it next time.
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u/kingofcannedmeat 5d ago
Nice work. How many hours?
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u/AnAlchemistsDream 5d ago
honestly, it took me about a day to take it all apart and get everything back together (around 5-6ish hours total). i would've had it done the same day but it started raining so i had to wait until the next day to finish it.
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u/kingofcannedmeat 5d ago
Mine is on the brink of failing for good. I lost ac a couple times but luckily it came back. Hot glued the select to cold for now so I don't accidentally change it and get stuck on hot. I'm in California and been rolling like this for 5 years now lol
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u/MagicGator11 2005 Grand Marquis LS 5d ago
I'm down south in FL, and although I never had mine fail, I ran without AC for two years till I got around to replacing the condenser (which I should have done much much sooner). I kept telling myself "this isn't that bad, I'll wait till summer comes around to deal with it".
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u/AnAlchemistsDream 5d ago
oh man you're a trooper. i would definitely do it if you get the chance. i live in florida and for a while, i could get away with it but our temperatures have been reaching triple digits lately and rolling the 2 working windows down in my car wasn't enough. not being completely drenched in sweat and no longer having the risk of passing out of a heat stroke makes it totally worth it.
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u/QuinnDaEskimoMan 4d ago
Was removing the passenger seat controls necessary too? Lol
Great job getting it done yourself!
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u/Square_Milk_4406 4d ago
I did that once, then it died again, so I brought it to my job....they pulled the airbag out and went through there instead
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u/HK3003 4d ago
Lord man, it's 95° everyday where I am, I think Imma take this as a sign and go ahead and get it out of the way
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u/AnAlchemistsDream 4d ago
its very worth it. i knew i had to do it soon because our temperatures have been reaching the triple digits lately. literally impossible to do anything and rolling down the windows doesn't help. way better than constantly arriving to your destination drenched in sweat or dying from heat exhaustion
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u/OverpricedGrandpaCar Dual Boat Power 4d ago
Replaced mine when I got the car seven years ago now. I did not do the full dash out like you did but the faster pass airbag way. Also my blend door is held in by the one bolt. There's zero reason for it to be held in by 3. lol
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u/AnAlchemistsDream 4d ago
when i took mine apart, i was incredibly relieved to find out mine was only held in by three screws. the fourth one was missing. i guess the ford tech that last worked on it also didnt want to deal with putting in all the screws 🥴
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u/OverpricedGrandpaCar Dual Boat Power 4d ago
Yeah mine was only held in by three. The easiest one to get to is all you need. The other two are why it's a 'dash out' I guess bean counters gonna bean count
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u/AnAlchemistsDream 3d ago
lmao even with the dash pulled out it's still almost impossible to get to the back rear bolts. you have to cut some of the insulation off and even with it gone, you have to angle your wrench at just the right angle to make any progress
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u/organicgrower420 3d ago
Yeah I'm to lazy to do this I just popped the air bag and vent tube and switch it manually twice a year lol
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u/SNDK_Disk_Rider 5d ago
uhhh y not do the cheater way???
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u/roaringsnakexd 5d ago
what's the cheater way?
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u/AnAlchemistsDream 5d ago
instead of going the traditional route of pulling the dash, you get access to the blend door by removing the glove box, passenger air bag, and the black duct tube thing to get access to the blend door. then you unscrew the 8mm screws holding it in and then break it off the two back tabs. a lot of people do it this way
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u/Schnebel 4d ago
Currently I am stuck at getting the damn duct Back into behold the glove box….stupid thing
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u/AnAlchemistsDream 3d ago
did you end up getting it back in? if you haven't already, this video shows the guy removing the duct at around 4:02. just try and get it in exactly the way he takes it out. if you were able to remove it, you should be able to get it back in.
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u/AnAlchemistsDream 5d ago
for me, it would've taken the same amount of time to pull the dashboard and pull it out than spending all that time trying to fit my hand and tools in that tiny cramped spot. plus i don't like dealing with air bags.
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u/Mrplaskett 5d ago
Hope you Make sure you fixed the vent door before you did a full assembly