I decided to try my hand at fixing the climate control blend door actuators after our recent road trip. When it's just me in the car I can crank the temp to the extremes and use the fan control to adjust to taste, but with other people in the car I get the idea of setting it to a "known temp", say 72°. Also, I agree it is convenient to just hit one button and it automatically does it all for you. It's nice, and I get it now. And after driving 500 miles with a loud squeaky cricket in the dash and my wife in the passenger seat I decided it was time.
The first tip-off to the need for a fix was a TSB that Ford put out (Technical Service Bulletin) saying that you should replace the blend door actuators if the date codes are prior to 30808. Sounds like they got a bad batch of parts and didn't figure it out until too late. Anyway, I picked up a pair of new actuators on ebay for about $20 each from am-autoparts.
I found some good instructions on another site, and am summarizing them below. I tried for 2 hours to replace the upper actuator without removing the airbag, but it's just not possible.
The lower actuator is easy to find and change out in under 10 minutes. It is located near the center console by the passenger's feet. It is attached by two 8mm bolts.
The upper actuator is directly above the lower actuator, but buried deep in the dash.
Remove the three 7mm screws below the glove box attaching it to the dash. Open the glove box and squeeze the top edge and you can pull it completely out.
Looking up from below there are two bolts holding the air bag in place. If you don’t feel comfortable removing the air bag then stop and take it to the dealer. Remove the two bolts and then pull the air bag out towards the passenger seat. Note that the airbag dash panel is attached to the air bag. The panel is held in place by a few clips around its circumference that easily release by being squeezed in gently. After removal, disconnect the two air bag leads, there are releases on the sides and they pull straight out. Set the air bag aside somewhere safe.
Now you should be able to see the actuator looking in through the air bag hole with a flashlight. Remember it is directly above the lower actuator. You don’t have enough room to get to it, so you need to loosen the air ducts so that they can be pushed slightly out of the way.
Remove the trim around the vents and display above the stereo. Next there are three screws to remove from the vent tubes, all are are 7mm. All bolts are accessible through the air bag opening. Start at the left upper passenger vent, the first bolt is head facing up right near the vent exit. The second is a few inches below the first with the head facing the front of the car. The third is almost center in the air box opening on the metal support tube. The head of it is facing up.
Now that the vent is free to wiggle and move a little, you will have just enough room to squeeze your hand over to the actuator. I was able to lift the vent up and pull it forward enough to get my hand and a ¼” socket wrench with a 8mm socket on to the two bolts holding the actuator in place. Once loosened you should be able to use the socket and your hand to unscrew the two bolts and remove them.
The actuator should be able to lift up and out and then pulled into the air bag opening to disconnect the wire lead.
Attach the wire connector to the new actuator and shimmy it into the opening. Press it gently into place. You may need to twist it side to side to get the splines to align with the current opening of the door. Bolt it down and reassemble.
I am pleased to say that not only did I feel like a total boss after completing this procedure, but it was successful and no more crickets in the dash!! Huge win. And now I don't have to mess with the temp control either, just leave it set at 72° and on auto. It's easy when it works right.
Here are Ford's instructions for this replacement, which are similar:
http://ww2.justanswer.com/
http://ww2.justanswer.com/
Hey Jack, I appreciate you creating this blog. I found it after googling something like 'wrench actuator' as I had the same traction battery actuator issue you'd described in 12/28/2011.
ReplyDeleteI browsed the rest of your entries and also have the AC actuator issues, so will need to tackle that soon as well. I live in the Bay Area myself (Sunnyvale) and found this vehicle to be very good at fitting into our family, minus the usual FEH problems. Keep on trucking, and thanks again.
Rob
Rob, great to hear from you and I'm glad to be able to help. The hybrid escape has been a great vehicle for us and I am very pleased with it.
DeleteSince my post about the yellow wrench I've started seeing it again. I thought I'd "fixed" the rear actuator, but after reading through the Ford TSB I decided that the parts were not broken, but rather defective. It's the same part as the front pair, and I have a new one sitting on the shelf waiting for the time to get in there again. Swapping the rear actuator is pretty easy, except for that third screw in the back of it. That screw is really hard to get a wrench on. The others are better but I think I still couldn't use a ratchet, I had to wrap a rubber band around the bare socket and squeeze really hard.
how to remove left actuator ford escape hybrid 2008
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