2010 Fusion Hybrid - Passenger side has no heat

[md40022]

I did search the forum for this symptom before posting and I did find a few related topics, but nothing seemed to ever have a resolution, so I'm bringing it up again in hopes that someone might know of the cause....

2010 Fusion Hybrid with dual temperature control (driver and passenger)

The last week or two I’ve been using the heat in the mornings. I just click the “auto” button for the driver side setting, set it to the desired temperature and that’s that. The blower would come on once the car engine warmed up and everything “seemed” fine, but in my 30 minute commute the actual temperature in the car never seemed to warm up. It hasn’t been terribly cold yet though so I just kind of ignored it. Today I did some more research though. It turns out that when I turn the heat on, the driver’s side vents blow hot air like they should, but the passenger’s side vents blow cold air – feels like A/C air.

I played with the settings. Tried using just the “auto” setting. Tried raising the temperature setting knob up to 85 degrees on BOTH the driver’s side and the passenger’s side both. Also tried using the manual dashboard vent buttons and the floor vent buttons instead of the auto button and still the same thing…. Driver’s side is putting out heat, but passenger’s side is putting out what feels to be all out A/C air. It’s not just cool air, it’s COLD air. I confirmed the A/C buttons are not lighting up at any point. The A/C seems to work fine on both sides. Seems to be strictly the passenger side putting out cold air and no heat.

Any opinions here?  

[bbf2530]

7 hours ago, md40022 said:

I did search the forum for this symptom before posting and I did find a few related topics, but nothing seemed to ever have a resolution, so I'm bringing it up again in hopes that someone might know of the cause....

2010 Fusion Hybrid with dual temperature control (driver and passenger)

 

The last week or two I’ve been using the heat in the mornings. I just click the “auto” button for the driver side setting, set it to the desired temperature and that’s that. The blower would come on once the car engine warmed up and everything “seemed” fine, but in my 30 minute commute the actual temperature in the car never seemed to warm up. It hasn’t been terribly cold yet though so I just kind of ignored it. Today I did some more research though. It turns out that when I turn the heat on, the driver’s side vents blow hot air like they should, but the passenger’s side vents blow cold air – feels like A/C air.

 

I played with the settings. Tried using just the “auto” setting. Tried raising the temperature setting knob up to 85 degrees on BOTH the driver’s side and the passenger’s side both. Also tried using the manual dashboard vent buttons and the floor vent buttons instead of the auto button and still the same thing…. Driver’s side is putting out heat, but passenger’s side is putting out what feels to be all out A/C air. It’s not just cool air, it’s COLD air. I confirmed the A/C buttons are not lighting up at any point. The A/C seems to work fine on both sides. Seems to be strictly the passenger side putting out cold air and no heat.

 

Any opinions here?  

 

 

 

Hi md. One possibility: A faulty or failed blend door/blend door actuator issue.

 

Perhaps on of our tech members will jump in with more assistance.

 

Keep us updated and good luck.

[md40022]

Well after browsing numerous forums, it doesn't seem that there is a known cause or pattern for this in fusions. Just a lot of speculation and guessing. So, I'll be digging into the dash to check the blend door and BD actuator within the next few days.

 

Has anyone done this before, and if so if someone's able to provide a few pointers or even a step by step for accessing the blend door / BD actuator I would really appreciate it. Otherwise I'll be going in blind. it's a 2010 fusion hybrid and it's the passenger side I'm trying to access.

 

On a side note, in some other forums I've seen some people suggest things like resetting or re-calibrating the BD actuator. That's probably a long shot, but if it's as simple as pulling a fuse or disconnecting a batter terminal for 60 seconds then it's probably worth a try before ripping open the dash...... Again, anyone with any knowledge of if "resetting" it is a real thing or just some message forum people talking crazy, and if this is a real thing what would be that procedure? 

 

For what it's worth, I did replace the 12 volt battery a few months ago, right in the middle of summer. Prior to a few days ago, I haven't used the heat since the battery replacement. So if that could have played games with some sort of calibration I wouldn't have even known about it at the time..... So again, if anyone knows if resetting/recalibrating these actuators is even a real thing - if you could shed some light on that procedure it would be awesome..... Otherwise, I'll be digging into the dash within the next few days.

Edited October 29, 2021 by md40022

[bbf2530]

6 hours ago, md40022 said:

Well after browsing numerous forums, it doesn't seem that there is a known cause or pattern for this in fusions. Just a lot of speculation and guessing. So, I'll be digging into the dash to check the blend door and BD actuator within the next few days.

 

Has anyone done this before, and if so if someone's able to provide a few pointers or even a step by step for accessing the blend door / BD actuator I would really appreciate it. Otherwise I'll be going in blind. it's a 2010 fusion hybrid and it's the passenger side I'm trying to access.

 

On a side note, in some other forums I've seen some people suggest things like resetting or re-calibrating the BD actuator. That's probably a long shot, but if it's as simple as pulling a fuse or disconnecting a batter terminal for 60 seconds then it's probably worth a try before ripping open the dash...... Again, anyone with any knowledge of if "resetting" it is a real thing or just some message forum people talking crazy, and if this is a real thing what would be that procedure? 

 

For what it's worth, I did replace the 12 volt battery a few months ago, right in the middle of summer. Prior to a few days ago, I haven't used the heat since the battery replacement. So if that could have played games with some sort of calibration I wouldn't have even known about it at the time..... So again, if anyone knows if resetting/recalibrating these actuators is even a real thing - if you could shed some light on that procedure it would be awesome..... Otherwise, I'll be digging into the dash within the next few days.

 

Hi md. There is a battery reset procedure for when the 12v battery is replaced. The technical reset procedure can not be performed at home, unless you have FORSCan software. However, it can be done at home by simply leaving the car locked and totally undisturbed for a minimum of 8 hours. That means with the car locked, do not enter the car for any reason, do not use the Ford app on your phone (you would not have it on your 2010), do not even come near the car with the fobs, in order to keep the system asleep and undisturbed. This is explained in the Owners Manual, in the section covering replacing the battery.

 

Essentially, leaving the car alone overnight will do. So it is unlikely that the lack of a battery reset is the cause of your Climate Control issue, since it has likely sat undisturbed for many 8 hour time periods already.

 

This is usually a blend door issue, but there are no absolutes.

 

Keep us updated and good luck.

Edited October 29, 2021 by bbf2530

[md40022]

Update....

 

I did gain access to the blend door actuator after removing the glove box door. I was only able to access one of the bolts. In removing that one bolt I was able to get the actuator's motor shaft removed from the door itself. Then with the actuator removed from the blend door I played around with the temperature control knob on the passenger side and absolutely NOTHING was happening with the actuator. There weren't any clicking sounds indicating a stripped gear, there was no life to it what so ever. And for comparison sake when I play with the temperature control knob on the driver's side I do hear some noises from within the dash which would lead me to believe the blend door actuator on the driver's side is obviously doing its thing. But on the passenger side there are no noises at all and I was able to visually confirm that the shaft on the actuator is not moving at all. The actuator seems completely DEAD DEAD DEAD. I'd love to say this is a bad actuator, but now I'm curious if it's even getting voltage given that it's not making any noises or anything.

 

The good news would be that I don't think this is an issue with the blend door itself, because the actuator seems to be completely dead. Unless of course the blend door was so jammed up that it KO'd the actuator. I'm hoping that's not the case though, ecause the door itself looks like a NIGHTMARE to get to.

 

So at this point I believe I either have a bad actuator motor or a bad temperature control module in the center console (I'm assuming that's what feeds the voltage to the actuator?). Does my troubleshooting logic seem solid here or am I missing something? 

 

And I was able to do this testing by just removing one of the 2 (or 3?) bolts on the actuator. Assuming that I have to completely remove the actuator to replace it, does anyone have any tips on how to access all of those bolts because the others look very difficult to get to!!!! Any tips would be appreciated.

Edited October 30, 2021 by md40022

[bbf2530]

1 hour ago, md40022 said:

Update....

 

I did gain access to the blend door actuator after removing the glove box door. I was only able to access one of the bolts. In removing that one bolt I was able to get the actuator's motor shaft removed from the door itself. Then with the actuator removed from the blend door I played around with the temperature control knob on the passenger side and absolutely NOTHING was happening with the actuator. There weren't any clicking sounds indicating a stripped gear, there was no life to it what so ever. And for comparison sake when I play with the temperature control knob on the driver's side I do hear some noises from within the dash which would lead me to believe the blend door actuator on the driver's side is obviously doing its thing. But on the passenger side there are no noises at all and I was able to visually confirm that the shaft on the actuator is not moving at all. The actuator seems completely DEAD DEAD DEAD. I'd love to say this is a bad actuator, but now I'm curious if it's even getting voltage given that it's not making any noises or anything.

 

The good news would be that I don't think this is an issue with the blend door itself, because the actuator seems to be completely dead. Unless of course the blend door was so jammed up that it KO'd the actuator. I'm hoping that's not the case though, ecause the door itself looks like a NIGHTMARE to get to.

 

So at this point I believe I either have a bad actuator motor or a bad temperature control module in the center console (I'm assuming that's what feeds the voltage to the actuator?). Does my troubleshooting logic seem solid here or am I missing something? 

 

And I was able to do this testing by just removing one of the 2 (or 3?) bolts on the actuator. Assuming that I have to completely remove the actuator to replace it, does anyone have any tips on how to access all of those bolts because the others look very difficult to get to!!!! Any tips would be appreciated.

 

Hi md. While I am not a tech, your troubleshooting logic seems solid to me.

 

Perhaps one of our tech members will be able to jump in and help you further.

 

Keep us updated and good luck.

[md40022]

So, I've put a very bootleg "fix" into place and I am happy with things on my end, so that is the end of that. Just in case anyone runs into a similar problem and is okay with a bootleg fix, here is how I "fixed" the issue.....

 

Initial problem was I would only get cold air from the passenger side on my dual climate control. Driver's side was fine, changing between hot and cold as needed. Passenger side would only blow cold.

 

I removed the glove box (very easy) and from there was able to remove the passenger side blend door actuator. It was a little tricky the first time, but after doing it once or twice it actually becomes easy. I tested the actuator while it was removed from the actual blend door. And when I switched between hot and cold the actuator gave no response at all. No gears grinding, no clicking, nothing at all. Completely dead. This led me to believe it was either the actuator itself, a wiring problem, or the temperature control module in the center dash. I ordered a new actuator since it was only $30 - figured I'd take a chance on it. Installed the new actuator. Same issue though. Completely dead. No response at all. At this point though, I was able to determine that the blend door itself was fine. I was able to move the shaft of the door by hand and in one direction I get cold air, in the other direction I get hot air. Perfect. And what I realized in this test is that the default position of the door's shaft will release cold air. So while I can manually move the shaft to get hot air, it will not stay like this. So when I move it to get hot air, as soon as I take my hand off the shaft the door returns to the default position and the air is cold again. It's not spring loaded or anything, it's just the way the weight of the door and gravity seem to fall. But at this point now I'm now pretty good at the process of getting the actuator in and out. And I have two actuators in my possession now. The default positioning of the cam on the actuator is in the cold air position. So I took one of the two actuators, opened up the gear box, and adjusted the gear and cam positioning for that one of the actuator's default cam positions are now for hot air. By now I'm sure you know where I'm going with this, and YES it is a bootleg fix. So now I have one actuator positioned for the fall/winter and one actuator positioned for the spring/summer..... and being that it's a 5 minute job, I will just be swapping out one actuator for another at the start of fall and the start of spring. The 5 pin harness is disconnected and the dash is not throwing any codes, so the only purpose the actuator is currently serving is it is holding the shaft of the blend door in the exact position that it needs to be held for fall/winter or spring/summer.

 

Is this an ideal fix? No, not at all. But this specific symptom seems to pretty much go unresolved on every single thread on the forum - so I'm satisfied with this fix. It's a $35 cost for a second actuator and it's 5 minutes of labor every 6 months to switch them out..... it is what it is haha.

Edited October 31, 2021 by md40022