Air Conditioner Not Cooling

Reader Question Hi Austin,

You helped me last year (with the same car, was the IAC motor causing the rough idle problem I was having) and your advise was just perfect. Thank you.

Now is the AC:

It seems that recently my automatic climate control is working only on cold or hot.

To get cold air I have to set the desired temp at 60. If I set on 70, the hot air starts, even the outside temp is 95.

More than that, regardless the temp I set (even I set for 60), if I press on floor/defrost I get only hot air.

I am looking forward to receive news from you and thanks again for everything.

I wish you a very nice weekend,
Eugen,
Explorer 2001, Eddie Bauer, 100k

Hey Eugen, how are ya?

This probably is a climate control issue, BUT I would first have a mechanic check the Freon levels and pressures. If the Freon level is low, it could produce similar symptoms and your climate control computer could be trying its best to cool the vehicle with low Freon in the system.

A 6 year old vehicle with 100K miles on it I would not be surprised if there was a Freon leak and the system was low on Freon.

If the Freon is full, I would make sure you have a qualified mechanic look into the control problem, those controls are tricky to diagnose and a mechanic who is not real familiar with them will just waste your time and money.

IF, you find that the control head (in the dash) is the actual problem you might want to call a few junk yards in your area and see if you can buy a used one for a substantial savings.

Sorry I cant be more help, I really need to be there to run some tests to determine what is happening…or not happening.

Blessings,

Austin Davis

Hi Austin,

It was the blend door actuator. The problem is they want to charge me about 3.5h labour plus 75$ for the part.

Now I’m trying to find a way to do-it-myself and a place to buy the part.

Any help is highly appreciated.

Thanks,

Eugen

Hello again Eugen,

The blend door actuator/motor is inside the dash, this is a complex job and I do not recommend you try it yourself. The 3.5 hours labor time is correct, and the part price sounds about right too. You can only buy that part from the Ford dealer, and you would not want to use a used part from a junk yard in this scenario.

Sorry friend, don’t think there is a cheaper way, but you can always negotiate the price…..if they want your business they will cut their price. Not sure where you are located, I am in Houston and we have TONS of a/c work, so I would not cut my price much, but would cut something to get your business. Won’t hurt to ask them for a discount.

Blessings,

Austin Davis

Hi Austin,

Thank you very much for your answer. I really appreciate this.

I wish you a very nice week and God bless you too.

Eugen