My Windstar's heater isn't working

General Questions
#1

A couple of weeks ago, I took my 2002 Windstar in to Jiffy-Lube and got the standard oil change/lube job. As always, they tried to upsell me on air filters (the big cone one in the engine compartment and the oblong one in the passenger compartment). And, as always, I turned them down.

That night, as I was driving to work, I noticed a clicking noise coming from the area around my heater controls. and the next morning as I drove home from work, I noticed that the heater isn’t working. The clicking noise is regular, and does not change frequency as I change the speed of the fan.

Is it possible that the Jiffy-Lube people didn’t properly re-install the cabin air filter? I’m going to go there today and see if they’ll check it out.

#2

My info shows the cabin air filter is not in the passenger compartment, but rather in the windshield cowl area. It is accessed from under the hood.

It sounds like the blend door motor or actuator is broken.

#3

Gotcha.

Is that something the Jiffy-Lube folks might have done?

#4

I wouldn’t think so. It takes some disassembly under the dash to get to the affected part, and presumably they were nowhere near there.

I guess it’s conceivable that while they had the filter out something dropped into the duct, made its way to the air door, and jammed it, causing something to break. There’s lot of if/maybe/speculation in that, and I don’t even know if it’s possible. However, I don’t know that it’s impossible.

#5

Oh. Okay, thanks.

#6

Agree on the blend actuator. My 98 Windstar’s went out. You can usually tell this by trying to run the fan and switch the vent flow. If it doesn’t change or seems to have a delay, that’s probably what you’re dealing with. On my van, it was under the dash and behind the radio, so it’s not really easy to get to. It’s a small plastic rectangle, about the size of a pack of cigarettes. I don’t see the Jiffy Lube causing it.