2007 Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (P71)Blend Door Actuator Replacement

(If I did it, you can too.)

I'm not saying this is the only way, or even the right way, but it worked for me. First time I've been into the dash. I started at 11, took a 45 minute lunch break, and was test driving to verify everything worked by 3:00. Book time is five hours... You can do it in about three!

1) Start by disconnecting the battery, then removing the trim that runs along the passenger side of the dash, under the airbag and vents. This photo shows the Alpine amp that was “installed” by laying it in the glovebox. While I've got things apart I'll tuck it neatly away, along with cleaning up a bunch of other wiringstuff (mostly ring terminals left from hots and grounds tapped everywhere for police accessories).

2) Remove the passenger side airbag. Two bolts on the lower front face are revealed when the dash trim is removed; two bolts underneath are accessed through the glove box. Slide it forward, unplug the wires.

3) Removing the airbag leaves you a nice sized hole to work in, but the air duct is in the way.

4) Two screws hold the duct in place, one on top and one below the vent. Access is from the rear, using a 1/4” socket with a swivel. Most of this job is 7mm and 8mm. I think I also used a 10mm, 12mm, 13mm, and 14 or 15mm.

5) Brass colored self tapping screw goes on top of the vent.

6) With the duct out, you now have a clear shot to the actuator. Pull the right front bolt with an 8mm wrench. If you can get the left front now, too, you'll save a lot of time and hassle. I couldn't, so had to pull the right side (only) of the dash forward.

7) To move the right side out, you need to free the driver's side up to rotate. Pull out the driver's side centerdash trim like you did the passenger's. It's a small piece, so I left the wires attached and let it dangle.

8) Light switch panel comes out with a putty knife.

9) Radio comes out with the center of the dash – instrument cluster stays behind.

10) Middle of your dash should now look like this.

11) Driver's side like this.

12) Pop the “sun trim” off of the top of the dash. Starting at the passenger side, it just peels up and out.

13) Three more 7mm bolts exposed – left, center, right. Angle isn't straight enough for the nut driver, so add the swivel.

14) Now before sliding the dash forward, remove the door rubber, sill plate trim, and A pillar trim.

15) As you start to pull the passenger side of the dash toward you, you'll feel where it's held in place – underneath, and at the sides. Ignore those wires in the glovebox opening... remember that amp?

16) Sorry this pillar pic is rotated – Open Office is giving me fits... This is the passenger side, remove the big nut under the dash. Now's also a good time to clean up the wiring – I had lots of extra empty ring terminals to remove.

17) On the driver's side center, remove these two nuts and pull the bracket off the studs. No need to removecompletely, just rock it out of the way to let things move.

18) Loosen but do not remove this large dash bolt. You don't want it to come fully out, just give the dash room to move. Then back to the passenger side, pull the dash toward you, and wedge a small wood block between the rear of the dash and the windshield. You only need to move one end three or four inches to be able to get that left front bolt out of the actuator.

19) After the front two bolts are out, unplug the actuator, put a large screwdriver under it, and pry up until the rear middle mounting tab breaks. The fourth tab, left rear, rests over a post – no bolt. Pull the actuator out, and leave the rear middle bolt in place. Fish the broken tab out so it's not in the way.

20) Using a pair of sidecutters, make that rear middle mounting tab into a notch that will slide right under the mounting screw you left in place. Don't forget to plug it in.

21) “Assembly is the reverse of removal”. But in my case, I tucked the amp on top of the plenum with zip ties first.

22) Passenger side duct didn't want to go back into place, so I used the sidecutters again to remove the lower mounting tab. Top bolt only seems to hold it just fine.

23) Tightening the top bolt on the duct – easy access behind the dash while it's forward.