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Old 04-07-2013, 10:58 AM   #1
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Turn on blower fan for A/C or heater and no air through dash

So, I get into the van a few days ago and it is warm enough to turn on the A/C a tad. Turn on the blower fan and it is running fine. Air isn't coming out of the vents in the dash. I also am not getting air to the top vents in the roof liner for the back seats.

So, I turn on the heater. Same thing. Just the vent. Same thing.

I put it on defrost and get air coming through the dash to the windshield. I turn to mix or floor and get it coming out under the dash.

I thought maybe the chipmunks have nested or mice, etc. I take off the blower cover (Sucked as the A/C canister is in the way), but nothing was in there! I looked in under the outside grill at the base of the windshield and nothing was in there.

I am trying to sort out what is going on. Is it a vacuum issue that isn't opening up a valve or something?

It is a 1997 E350 V10 15 passenger...

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Old 04-07-2013, 11:09 AM   #2
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Re: Turn on blower fan for A/C or heater and no air through

Well that is what happened to me. Ford claimed it was a cracked hose/fitting. [edit] my AC did work through the defrost and foot setting though.
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Old 04-07-2013, 11:13 AM   #3
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Re: Turn on blower fan for A/C or heater and no air through

Sounds like the default, caused by a vacuum leak.

Mike
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Old 04-07-2013, 11:44 AM   #4
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Re: Turn on blower fan for A/C or heater and no air through

I think it is a blend door issue... Anyone have any idea how complicated this project will be? If it is a vacuum, how the hell do I test for that as I think there are a few pump type valves under the dash...

Looking for maybe a DIY or someone that's done it before to point me in the right direction...

Thanks!
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Old 04-07-2013, 04:37 PM   #5
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Re: Turn on blower fan for A/C or heater and no air through

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ford_6L_E350
Sounds like the default, caused by a vacuum leak.

Mike
Yup. If you lost blend door control on both front and rear HVAC, it is most certainly a vacuum leak. FYI rodents LOVE vacuum lines.

I had the problem once it turned out be a ruptured diaphragm in the rear blend-door actuator, but that doesn't seem to happen very often.
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Old 04-07-2013, 04:40 PM   #6
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Re: Turn on blower fan for A/C or heater and no air through

First thing to do is a visual inspection of all your vacuum lines. Most likely the damaged line will be under the hood. Just start tracing each one and make sure it gets somewhere/anywhere. Don't try to worry about where its going, since you will probably find a line completely severed somewhere, or possibly a rubber fitting that fell off (they can get soft or brittle if the wrong cleaners are used under the hood). If you can't find anything, an small hand vacuum pump with a gauge can help you pinpoint a leak. Even a harbor freight pump will work for this task.
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Old 04-07-2013, 07:04 PM   #7
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Re: Turn on blower fan for A/C or heater and no air through

Quote:
Originally Posted by carringb
First thing to do is a visual inspection of all your vacuum lines. Most likely the damaged line will be under the hood. Just start tracing each one and make sure it gets somewhere/anywhere. Don't try to worry about where its going, since you will probably find a line completely severed somewhere, or possibly a rubber fitting that fell off (they can get soft or brittle if the wrong cleaners are used under the hood). If you can't find anything, an small hand vacuum pump with a gauge can help you pinpoint a leak. Even a harbor freight pump will work for this task.

Will do! What are the odds that it is from under the dash? That scares me in terms of amount of time to fix. I will trace the lines tomorrow morning...
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Old 04-13-2013, 04:29 PM   #8
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Re: Turn on blower fan for A/C or heater and no air through

I have a similar issue with the heat and my rear vents in my dodge extended van. AC works fine, but when I switch over to the heat I can here something blowing behind the rear vents, but nothing comes out. I'm not capable enough to try to troubleshoot this sort of thing so I'm wondering what kind of shop to take it to? My local mechanic didn't seem to want to mess with it. I'm in the Phoenix area if anyone has a recommendation of a shop to take it to.

Thanks!
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Old 04-14-2013, 03:54 PM   #9
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Re: Turn on blower fan for A/C or heater and no air through

So, popped the panel up on the top of the dash and pulled on the diaphram (not sure if that is the proper perm) and I could get the air to channel through the vents.

Not sure if there is a vacuum leak for that unit or something else, but I zip tyed the unit so the plunger was pushing in and could use the vents. Allowed me to use both heat and A/C. So, seems to work...

Any ideas if the unit could be bad and how to test before buying one only to find out it isn't that?
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Old 04-14-2013, 05:31 PM   #10
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Re: Turn on blower fan for A/C or heater and no air through

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lizard1
Any ideas if the unit could be bad and how to test before buying one only to find out it isn't that?
They can go bad. My rear one ruptured.

A vacuum tester will be your friend. You can attach it to your actuator, pump it down to 15", and see if moves the rod, and more importantly holds position and vacuum.

You can also hook up the tester to the vacuum source line. You should have about 22" when the engine is running. A small leak will only show a drop in vacuum under load, such as climbing a grade on the highway, especially in OD. (But a drop when under load could also be because the check valve has failed.... looks like a 1" disc inline with the vacuum line).

I like using this vacuum pump. It's inexpensive, but pulls more consistently than those grey plastic ones.


It's also useful for engine drivability diagnostics, and can be used to bleed brakes (but foe these vans I like something with more volume).
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