The blend door on my 1997 ford explorer failed. This failure did not allow proper de-fogging of the windshield.
1997 Ford Explorer visibility complaints
Page 2 of 4: complaints 11 to 40 of 90, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The heater blend door failed on my 1997 ford explorer while driving it in snowy conditions. I only had cold air blowing on my windows. After reviewing web sites, I have found that the top piece of my heaters hot and cold blend door is broken. The cost of replacing this one piece of plastic is around $1000. Ford has a replacement part that is now stronger, but fails to realize the defect in the older doors.
Temperature out of control, defogging/defrosting challenged on a 1997 ford explorer. Was told it will it is due to defect in the air blend door. I can't defrost the windows which could be an accident waiting to happen.
1997 ford explorer developed a defect in the defroster and defogger system. *mr the problem was due to a broken plastic door in the A/C/heater plenum. This created a condition of fogging the windshield uncontrollably and impairing the drivers vision.
Dt: contact stated while using the defroster system the windshield cracked from the outside to the inside. Vehicle had not been to a service dealer, but was scheduled to be taken in this week.
I own a 1997 ford explorer that since its been purchased the air conditioning and the heat were always giving me problems, I have since found out that its a problem with almost every ford explorer out on the roads today. This is a major concern to me due to window defrosting during the winter months, the blend door has a mind of its own and will open and close at any time. Please advise me on how I can get this looked into. I believe that ford should be responsible for this and they believe that they dont. Thank you for your time
I bought the explorer last april and the A/C worked fine, but when winter got here the heater would not blow warm air. I took it to a mechanic who replaced the thermostate and looked at other things, but could not fix it. I then took it to a second mechanic who looked at it and told me that he had just fixed the same problem on another 97 ford explorer--and it was the blend door. That the door was a factor defect and would cost about $650.00 to replace it. I did not have the money to have it replaced, and it is a safety hazard when it is stuck on A/C air and you can not defrost your windshild while you are driving. It has not been fixed and restricts vision out of the windshield when fogged or iced which could cause me to have a bad wreck.
Heater in vehicle became inoperative during a sleet and ice storm. Heater blend door failed causing only cold air to blow out of heater and defroster, windshield and windows fogged up and I could not see the road. Heater box and blend door replaced that cost me $700.00. 8nm
Heater blend door on my 1997 ford explorer does not change positions. It is stuck in the position only giving me air conditioning full time. No matter where the dial on the dash is turned the heat refuses to activate. Through a quick series of odd weather occurrences I found my windshield covered in a layer of ice that could not be removed since the heat did not work on the defroster. This almost caused a near fatal head-on collision. I have no option now but to have the heater plenum replaced at a cost $1010.
The heat actuator "broke" and eliminated any heat to defrost my windows.
In searching the internet, I've found there are many people who have suffered the same problems that I have had. I have a 1997 ford explorer eddie bauer edition. The climate control system failed in 1998 and I took it to les pinkam lincoln mercury in elizabethtown, ky for repair. Without even looking at it, the technician told me that the blend air door had broken and it would costs $800 to repair it. Thinking he was lying, I took it to bill collins ford in louisville, ky. Again, the same results and repair estimate. Technicians at both places, told me it's a common problem. I eventually had les pinkam repair it. It seems that ford would design a system that wouldn't require the complete removal of the dash to repair it, much continue with a design with so many problems. Years later and the problem has happened again. In addition I came across tsb article number 98-23-20 in my searches, but couldn't find the article at your web-site. I also have had the transmission rebuilt twice and finally replaced it with one from a salvage yard. I couldn't see repairing it a third time when a ford technician and private yard couldn't fix it. Both times within 13 months after repair, the car would suddenly completely fail and tach out as if it were in neutral. I could get it to do it with a ford technician and his code sensor plugged in. This has come close to having me get rear ended on the interstate 65, especially when its in cruise control. For no reason at all the transmission would completely disengage and the engine would almost completely tack out before I could hit the brake pedals to dis-engage. To make a long story short, I've spent almost $6000 in repairs since owning this vehicle. In addition, I've had it in for many recalls. All I've ever got out of ford or the dealers is, sorry about your luck. Surely there is something your agency can do about this. My transmission problems, were pretty scary.
The blend door is broken on my heater...ever try to defrost a window when it is minus 5 with the air conditioner on..? This needs to be addressed in a recall campaign it is poorly designed and dangerous!
The rear windshield wiper motor has gone bad in my 97, 4wd, ford explorer for the second time. It has 93,000 miles, it was replaced the first time at 58,000 miles. This is due to a maunfacturers defect and should be reviewed for consideration as a national recall or covered by ford as a out of warranty repair. This is a hazard to allow it to remain unrepaired the cost should be paid by ford.
Heater/AC temperature control. Temperature control door is stuck in the position for heat. Have talked to dealer they say inexpensive part, labor for repair is about 7 hours to be charged for. This dealer has had other complaints and fixed some. Checked with other dealers in area, they gave same answer as to cost and complaints. I am told this is a plastic bracket on door assembly that breaks when servo moves door to control hot or cool air flow.
Temperature control blend door does not work properly. Stuck on cold. Unable to defrost and defog windows.
Defroster does not defrost/defog windshield due to the heat/AC blend door being broken. Common problem for ford explorers. Ford is remiss in not recalling the vehicle to fix this hazardous condition.
Consumer stated that while driving and without warning rear window shattered. Dealer notified.
Invalid design of plenum door leads to part failure resulting in inability to control temperature setting. Condition causes inability to control inside air temperature and possibly failure of defrost/defogging system (safety issue). Cost to repair is prohibitive ($500 to $1000) due to the need to remove the dashboard and the replacement of the entire air channel (because plenum door itself cannot be purchased/installed alone).
My explorer only produces warm air for heat and defogging when the temperature outside is too hot to want or need warm air. The dealership service center says it is the blend door & actuator assembly that has failed. I say it defective by design and should be repaired at their expense, they disagree. Not being able to properly defogg a windshield is a serious safety issue.
Ford explorer heater plenum/actuator stopped working this past winter. Climate control is stuck on cold and defrost does not work in cold weather. During a road trip to a nearby city early this spring I was barley able to see out the windshield because of the ice and fog on my windshield. I believe this is a known mechanical defect by ford and dealers. This is a very dangerous problem. In contacting several seattle-area dealers, all refused to fix as a safety problem, said no recall had been issued, said I was out of warranty, this is absurd for a problem they caused with faulty design and parts that causes serious visibility problems in many older explorers.
1997 ford explorer equipped with an electronic automatic temperature control system. The plastic air blend door in the heater plenum has broken, preventing the system from regulating the temperature.
My heater temperature control became inoperative. The blend door inside the plenum chamber is broken and no longer moves (on full heat). The new plenum chamber now contains a nylon door in stead of plastic. This looks like ford knows there is a problem with the old style doors but will not give any assistance on repairs. The cost of repair is steep! I was quoted $108.00 for the plenum chamber and $598.00 to install it. From what I have learned the problem is not isolated to me, in fact the dealer I phoned had just sold a replacement plenum the previous day and was waiting for one to arrive to fill there stock. When a dealer stocks a part there usually is a large demand for it!
Consumer noticed when turning dials on heater unit from hot or cold the unit only blew hot air. The technician stated the heater blend door needed to be replaced.*jb
The lend door is broken...ford knows that they put faulty blend doors in and will not replace them! How do I defrost my winshield with A/C???? Is a frosted winshield not a hazard???? This happens every day!
With heater failure frost builds up on the windshield causing serious driving hazard. Dt
The A/C and heat was unable to come out of the blend air door. The dealer was notified. Ford found that they installed the wrong blend air door acuator during the manufacturing process. Ts scc
From what I have read this is a common problem that ford should have to fix via recall. This failure could be quite dangerous during winter conditions. It is apparent that ford knows of this and has made changes in the way this door is constructed. Dt
Driver's side electric window motor is going out. The motor seems to have trouble rolling the window up and down, and speeds up and slows down when operating. Dt
I have discovered many ford explorer owners have this failure--due to a manufacturing defect. When defroster does not work can result in serious accident. Mr
The failure of the heater blend door causes uncontrolled windshield fogging and icing. Visibility is often reduced to zero. Mr
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 1997 Ford Explorer?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history