Location of mode door actuator?

EXPLORER1000

MEMBER
2010 FORD EXPLORER
4.0L
V6
2WD
AUTOMATIC
199,000 MILES

Air is coming out of wrong vents. When I put the control lever to floor vents, air comes out of the front vents then when I switch to front vents, air comes out of the defrost vents. I tried resetting by pulling the climate control fuses, but it doesn't seem to help. I want to change the mode door actuator to see if that helps, but I can't find it. Where is it located? My 2010 Explorer has manual controls and an auxillary a/c and separate manual controls for the rear (which works as it should). Ocassionally when I do a reset, the air comes out of all the correct vents, but only for one cycle through the vent control settings. When I go from floor only back to front vents, the air goes to defrost vents and then when I put it in the floor only position it, it comes out of the front and it stays that way (front=defrost vents, floor=front vents).

Thursday, February 19th, 2026 AT 9:09 AM

1 Reply

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
15,553 POSTS

You won't find a mode actuator like you are looking for, your truck uses vacuum actuators to move those parts. From your description of it working once when you reset the controls it isn't one of the actuators that is the problem, it is either the control head or the vacuum control solenoid block that selects which ports are active based on the position of the control switch. These are only on-off valves and you say that a reset sometimes returns function, that would point me to the control head in the dash as the problem. It is the only electronic part that a reset can effect. If it were a different failure you could replace the individual switches but as yours works after a reset it isn't the switch that is bad but something in the electronics of the control panel itself. Replacement of that part ( 7L2Z19980AA ) however isn't going to be easy as it has been discontinued for a while You might get lucky and find one on a shelf somewhere or opt for a used one.
Replacement isn't that hard, the central trim panel comes off and the module has a few screws that hold it in place. You remove them and swap in the replacement. Then connect the scan tool to tell the module what vehicle it is in. Attached are images of the control solenoid location as well as one of the vacuum door motors, the other is where I believe the problem is, the control head itself.

Images (Click to make bigger)