Heat stuck on Defrost

[popman]

01 Ranger Edge...I get good heat and air conditioning but my control knob to position the airflow seems to not work I am stuck in defrost mode and cant get it to go to the dash vent or floor. I looked under the dash behind the radio and glovebox and seen vacuum lines. So how do I troubleshoot this?

thanks

 

[Andres629]

Haha, funny story... one time my Explorer's control lever was actually physically STUCK in the defrost position. A/C didn't work anyway, but I took it apart in winter 'cause I wanted heat on my feets. Turns out when I was gopher hunting in the back 40, a .22 shell went down the vent and somehow got lodged in the HVAC controls! Haha!

Anyway, from the sounds of it, it is probably the switch. Those things are electronically controlled in that year, aren't they? I'm sure someone else could help more.

 

[downzero]

Mine's doing the same thing. It's 10 degrees outside and my feet are cold and I'm breathing heat. I'm just about to search around and see what I can find here to help me diagnose.

 

[BeaterMan]

Check the vacuum "servo"- think that is what it is called- under the pass. side dash. When it no longer holds vacuum or has a leak, the heat/ac get stuck on defrost. it does that for the reason that when it fails at least you can defrost your windshield. Ive had to change out a bunch of them and its real easy and cheap.

 

[odie1969]

When I first got my 01 ranger it was having the same problem. but what I cased down was a vacum leak from my canister to the inside. Mine melted on the exhaust manifold. so that is where I would start my search.

 

[1badexplorer]

Mine would do the same think also it turned out to be a vaccum leak also

 

[sgoff61]

My husband is having the same problem right now, but it started just after replacing the lower ball joint on both sides. Sticks on defrost when in 2WD, but works fine when you switch to 4WD. They did not plug the vacuum hose while they were replacing the ball joints, so we're thinking that might be the problem. So, my question is, if this is the problem, will the vacuum build up again by itself, or does he need to do something to manually build up the vacuum? And, if this is not the problem, what else could have caused it? Thanks!

 

[sgoff61]

UPDATE: Husband just told me that it now makes a clicking noise when he switches between 2WD and 4WD that he never noticed before so, personally, I'm beginning to think that they busted a hub when taking them off or putting them back on. I've been telling him for months (while he's been putting off replacing the ball joints) that he should probably convert to manual hubs while he had them off. Guess he should have listened! LOL