EF climate control help! - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

V8 Ghia Mike · 12-01-2002, 04:20

OK, I need the collective minds of all the EF/L experts here!

I've been putting up with a few CC problems for a couple of years now. One problem is that the airflow will not shift from the centre vents up to the screen or to the floor ducts. I have checked as much as I can and all appears OK. I can hear the system attempting to change the air direction, but doesn't have any success. This would indicate that the system is working and there is a mechanical problem.

Now, I am aware of the blend door. This only controls the amount of heat coming from the heater core, right? Is there another separate flap or valve which controls the DIRECTION of the air flow? And how would this relate to the footwell ducts on either side, which appear to have their own vacuum control?

I seem to remember someone a while back commenting that this problem was caused by a broken flap in the system. Can anyone elaborate? I can see the little vaccum plunger arm moving when I change from centre to demist to floor etc. Could a low vacuum affect this? I cannot for the life of me find any kinks or loose hoses anywhere.

Also (this is getting long winded

), my fan controller only works on high speed. I saw a previous post on how to repair the transistor inside. But, is the climate control-version the same as the regular A/C unit? I suspect that it would be, although the CC version has 9 speeds.

I'd greatly appreciate your help guys- this is driving me nuts!

Mike

Aussiblue · 12-01-2002, 07:42

The Climate Control has the fan speed controller with the transistor that fails while ordinary air con simply has a resistor pack.

V8 Ghia Mike · 12-01-2002, 21:48

Thanks Aussieblue!

Does anyone else know about the airflow direction control? What I meant to say was: is there some sort of flap or door that breaks away from it's vacuum controlled spindle? I can see the actuator moving, but the airflow doesn't change direction. I figured something must be broken inside the airbox.

Mike

Xyphoid · 12-02-2002, 02:52

There is a part called the Vacume control solenoid.
This part basically switches the Vacume from the motor, to the various Vacume controlled flaps in the Airbox.
You might want to have a quick look at this page,
http://users.tpg.com.au/users/mij/Au...teControl.html
I am still in the middle of writing the page.
Its a doco on adding Climate Control to a stock Falcon.
Anyway, it has some picies there of the Climate Control Modules that are fitted to the stock airbox.

Also,
The part that you are thinking of, that is renowned for breaking, is the Fresh/Recirc Flap.
This flap is located just above the EEC module, above the Passenger side Kick panel.
Check the bottom of this page for more info i=on the Recirc Flap Problem.
http://www4.tpgi.com.au/users/mij/Au.../Problems.html

Finally, please excuse some of the smart @$$ comments in the first doco, As I said, I havent had the time lately to complete the doco, and I only placed it up on the website to give you some idea of the bits involved.

Cheers
Matti

V8 Ghia Mike · 12-02-2002, 04:45

Thanks Matti, you are a wealth of good info aren't you? Great document BTW!

I think the fresh/recirc air flap is my problem. But, does the one you refer to on the passenger side control the airflow from ALL the face level vents to the screen/ floor? Or just the left hand side? I'm sure I saw an actuator arm near the centre airbox (moving) but I WAS upside down at the time...

Thanks again, I'm just trying to get my head around all this before I go pulling out the dash!

Mike

Xyphoid · 12-03-2002, 20:24

The Fresh/Recirc Flap basically directs air that is to be sucked in to the fan, from either the Cabin (Behind the Dash), or the Vents located in front of the windscreen, on the outside of the car (Where the wipers bolt in).

If that flap is broken, then you will be stuck with either fresh air all the time, or Recirculated (Cabin) Air all the time, regardless of the switch setting.

What are the symptoms/problems that you are having ?
Is it that all the flaps seem to be doing whatever they want, or certain Air Outlets cannot be selected ???

From Memory, there are something like 4 Vacume Controlled Flaps on the airbox, so If only one of the Airflow outlets isnt working, then I would guess that maybe the Flap has broken, or that there is a leak with that particular hose that feeds the Flap.

If all of them are stuffed, then its likely that either you arent getting any vacume from the motor, or the Vacume Control solenoid is stuffed, or the Controller is Stuffed. (Also the Elelctrical Cabling going to these could be stuffed, loose, unplugged as well !)

Cheers
Matti

V8 Ghia Mike · 12-04-2002, 04:02

Ah Matti, you are a lifesaver mate!

I had a peek under the dash today and found that the driver's side footwell duct flap is broken. The actuator arm is working and moving under control from the 'MODE' switch on the CC control panel. So it appears that the system is getting vacuum.

The passenger footwell duct remains closed at all times.

The fresh/ recirc function is working.

The system doesn't show any faults through it's self test mode.

My theory: could the broken flap on the drivers side not allow the airbox to be pressurised enough to direct air to the screen/ floor (the flap is in the open position)? When changing air direction, a little air gets to the screen, but it all seems lost through the face level vents. The one thing I haven't tried is to jam it shut and see what happens. Do you still have that airbox out of the car? It would be greta if you could have a look for me and see what is going on.

Cheers bud, Mike