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Ford service manual says pull out the dash, lol

I haven't had to do this.............yet, but have read that the screw in the back is an 8mm and can be unscrewed using a short socket wrench, 1/4"
And most do not put it back in, and say it has made no difference in blend door operation

Have also read that you remove the front 2 screws then pry up on the old actuator breaking it off at the rear screw, then remove screw and don't replace it
But only read that from one person
Using the 8mm socket was from several posts

 

 

Hopefully you've gotten it fixed by now. But if not I just did this on my 2011 Ranger. There are two small screws in the front. There just isn't much room in there to get to these. I bought a SMALL 1/4 inch ratchet and got them off with an 8mm socket. But now that screw in the back - that thing's a BEAR to get to. I ended up taping a long screwdriver to the ratchet as shown below.



And it's still dicey. You can't see the screw - you just have to feel around for it and hope you get lucky without too much sweating and cursing. I did a lot of both. This screw is located behind the actuator just to the right of the electrical connection if you're looking at it from the front. There's also a small post on the rear left hand side but no screw, so once you have the 3 screws out you can simply pop the actuator up and take it out. Word of caution here that will make it easier later. When you remove the old actuator use a Sharpie or something and make two marks. One on the arm and a corresponding mark on the exterior case. This is because when you got to install the new actuator the arm will need to be in the EXACT same orientation as it was when you removed the old one.



I tried taking it apart and cleaning the gears located inside. Didn't help. Bought a new actuator. Connect the electrical plug on the new one, turn your engine key to the ON position, and manipulate the warm/cold **** until the arm is as close to the position of the old one as you can get from eyeballing it. Line up your new actuator with the arm above the hole into which it fits. Heads up - that little hole is difficult to see. Extreme patience is required here. Gently press down on the entire unit. Have someone else make SMALL (tiny even) movements on the warm/cold **** until you're able to press that sucker all the way down. Once it firmly seats turn the key off. Replace the two screws in the front. If you feel like a challenge you can replace the one in the rear. Or at least try to. I didn't even bother to attempt it.

FINAL JOB ANALYSIS:
Time required - now that I have the correct tools and have done it before if I had the part in hand I could complete the job start to finish in less than an hour. Maybe even a half hour. Your mileage may vary.
Curse level - high
Frustration level - high That screw in the back is a mother to get to.
Satisfaction level - very high. Dealership wanted $199 to do it. Local shop wanted $175. Went to O'Reillys and got the new actuator for $40 and the small socket set for $20 so I saved at least $100 doing it myself.

 

With all of your help, I was able to replace the actuator, including putting the back screw on the new one. If it hasn’t been sufficiently emphasized, the shaft on the new actuator has to be EXACTLY in the right position. Pain in my left side from laying on the edge of the passenger seat (worth it).

However, I still have all hot. I’m guessing the blend door is stuck and that’s what caused the actuator motor to die.

How do I get to the blend door to free it up?

 

You should start you own thread

What year Ranger?

Cut a hole in the air chamber behind glove box, big enough for your hand to reach inside, seen here: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ytSaN7l2xBs/maxresdefault.jpg
He just cut 3 sides and folded it down

You can then reach inside and see if blend door is jammed
You will need remove actuator FIRST, as that would hold the door in place
And you may have installed the actuator in the wrong position, if heat was stuck ON, so blend door was open all the way, you would need to plug in actuator first then turn on the key and select HOT on the temp ****, so actuator turned to the correct position, then turn off key and unplug and install actuator

The blend door connection can break, seen here: https://www.therangerstation.com/Mag..._Axle_View.JPG
And here: https://www.therangerstation.com/Mag...blend-door.JPG

You see that the connection is square so actuator can be installed 90deg off
You need to pull out the whole dash to access and replace the blend door if connector is broken

But with hole cut in air chamber you can reposition blend door where even you want it for now

Use duct tape to reseal the chamber, seen here: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bpsul3ynEyA/maxresdefault.jpg

Those colored lines are Vacuum hoses, just FYI, they run the VENTS in the cab, i.e. defrost, panel and floor air direction

 

Thanks, RonD. You’re right, I should have started a new thread. It’s a 2008. Pretty sure the shaft is OK because the new actuator wouldn’t go in until I aligned it just right. Looked the same as the old one but was off by a couple of degrees. If it was broken, I think it would have been more forgiving. Do you agree?

What you’re recommending is to remove the actuator, cut the hole and try to move the door. If it moves reasonably, put the actuator back in and hope. Otherwise either deal with how it is or take the dash out to replace. Correct?

 

Yes, its a square peg with one side curved out, so "in theory" it should only go into the slot one way, key words, "in theory"

I would pull out actuator and test it, if you didn't before
Make sure its moving as you adjust TEMP **** with key on

See if you can find a "tool" or something that fits the blend door connection(slot), and try to move it that way
You have the new and old actuator for correct size for blend door "slot", if the old one is not working(test it like the new one) then maybe you can take it apart and use its peg
Actuator with top removed: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Gts1sRuqAcQ/maxresdefault.jpg
The 90deg gear(white) is the "peg"

Put the "tool" in a pair of needle nose pliers(visegrips) and see if you can move the blend door, you don't want it to drop inside, lol

Last resort is to cut an opening in the air chamber to see whats what, but make it large enough to work with