Rant: A 2006 Ford Escape blend door actuator took me three hours

Had a customer come in with a weird clicking noise behind the dash on a cold start. I figured it was the usual blend door actuator, a one hour job. The whole dash had to come out because the mounting bracket was rusted solid. Ended up using a torch and a ton of penetrating oil. Anyone else run into these being way worse than they look?

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3 Comments

adam6756mo ago

Honestly, I've always found those to be a pretty straightforward job. Never had to pull a whole dash for one.

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pathenderson6mo ago

Guess you've never met the special ones, @adam675. Some of those dashes are held on by hopes and prayers.

7

hernandez.morgan6mo ago

Read a forum post once where a guy had to pull the entire dash on an old Volvo just to get to the blend door, @adam675. Said it was basically glued in place with factory sealant. Some cars are just built different, makes a simple job a real nightmare.

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