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Old 05-24-2016, 12:23 PM   #1
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air conditioner fading

Hi. I have a 2006 E250 with 142000 miles. My air conditioner has been working great up until recently. I can turn it on and it will work just fine. Blows nice cold air. Then sometimes out of the blue, the volume of cold air slowly fades away and I feel no air coming out of the vents above the dog house etc. If I am wearing flip flops I notice cool air blowing on my feet. Not air conditioning cold but cool. Then after a short period of time, the air conditioner slowly ramps back up until its back to normal. The fading in and out lasts generally less than 3 minutes. Doesnt happen every day. This happens if the air conditioner it turned on to the coldest setting, medium setting or the outside air only. I think it happened once while the heater was on (I rarely use heater). I don't hear hear any noises indicating when its about to fade out or fade back in. This has happened when the outside air temp is extremely hot to mild. I had the freon checked and the mechanic said the freon level was fine and he did not find any leaks. The mechanic suggested replacing the unit but it is very very expensive...... Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated.

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Old 05-24-2016, 12:37 PM   #2
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Am no expert on this. It sounds like a blend doors are changing position on their own. The blend doors direct the fan air flow to either the floor dash vents or defroster vents or a combination of each. Am not sure if your rig has the cable operated or vacuum operate doors. If you ha the vacuum operate doors it could be that you have an issues with the vacuum system that runs them.
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Old 05-24-2016, 01:30 PM   #3
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Happened to me and it was a vacuum leak. Mine would always default to the defroster though. There are a few good posts about the issue on the site.
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Old 05-24-2016, 01:30 PM   #4
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How can I find out if my van has cable or vacuum doors?
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Old 05-24-2016, 02:03 PM   #5
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Yup, sounds like a blend door issue since it seems to change around to different vents. Once thats fixed, you can make a further improvement by installing a shut off valve in your heater core hose. More info here.

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...nts-13588.html
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Old 05-24-2016, 02:06 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wl1193 View Post
How can I find out if my van has cable or vacuum doors?
You probably have vacuum.
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Old 05-24-2016, 02:24 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by wl1193 View Post
How can I find out if my van has cable or vacuum doors?
All E-series from 92+ have vacuum blend doors. Earlier ones were cable. Even new 2016s use vacuum still I believe, unlike most everything else which has gone electric.
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Old 05-24-2016, 03:06 PM   #8
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Everyone thank you for all the replies. I have some reading to do.
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Old 05-26-2016, 04:02 AM   #9
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2006 would have an electric motor driving the blend door, mixing of hot/cold air through the plenum controlled by the Temp control on the dash.

Typically if the blend door is having problems it will not change temps or "hunt" for a temperature, suddenly changing output air temperature without any movement of the temp control.

OP's situation sounds like the infamous vacuum reservoir is leaking, most likely the part itself although the somewhat fragile plastic plumbing tubing could be at fault too. Because the air flow is re-directed temporarily is one strong indication the vacuum system could be having problems.

On FTE there is an extensive thread about a relatively easy and inexpensive work-around--here's a link: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/10...efrosters.html

Replacing the OEM vacuum reservoir is quite the chore, not something even this old DIY driveway mechanic would look forward to doing.


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Old 05-26-2016, 01:28 PM   #10
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[QUOTEOn FTE there is an extensive thread about a relatively easy and inexpensive work-around--here's a link: A/c Blower defaulting to the defrosters - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums
QUOTE]

Thanks for the great info, I've book marked the link so that when I have this problem, I'll be able to do the quck fix.
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