My Mercury Gran Marquis A/C

After about 2 years of putting up with it I decided to finally try and figure out what was wrong with my air conditioning on my 2003 Mercury Gran Marquis. All it would do (Heat or Air) was blow through the defroster.

It had heat, through the defroster.

It had AC, through the defroster.

It was an equal opportunity pisser - offer. Wouldn't work well in summer or winter.

We live in Georgia, so both times of the year are bothersome, not too extreme in the Spring or Fall, and can put up with it in the winter, because it doesn't get too cold. In the summer though, different story. 90-100 degrees outside and the pathetic AC blowing through the AC was , well, pretty much worthless.

You got better cooling with the windows down.

Took it to the dealer. What a joke. "Well buddy, your EATC (Electronic Air Temperature Controller) is probably out or you need a new vacuum line." $100 to diagnosis it (that's a hundred bucks to see if a vacuum line is holding vacuum), which is a ridiculous price. "The part is around $600 new or you can get one on eBay for $200, costs about $100 to put it in." He said this with a serious face and didn't even crack a smile, or cough or look away like most con men do.

I said "HAH". Cya. Bye. I'll put up with it for $600-800 dollars to fix it. No friggin way.

Then me and my good friend Google looked upon the internets for salvation and behold a wise man told unto me, "Follow these direction and get the parts from McMaster-Carr (dot com) and do it yourself. Takes about 45 minutes, costs about $1.00 to fix and its no big deal.

Apparently Pretty much any 2002 - 2010 big body Ford, Lincoln, Mercury uses this part and has the same problems about 4 years after you buy the car.

So I took off a piece of trim, undid (4) - 7mm screws from the front, unsnapped (2) electrical connectors and screwed off (2) speed nuts and had the unit out of the car in 3 minutes. No kidding (3) THREE friggin minutes !!

Took the unit into my shop, followed the directions exactly, replaced (4) 7 mm o-rings. lubricated them and put it all back together and guess what. Factory air , just like new car at the showroom. Total time, 35 minutes. Most of that time was spent reading the directions.

So thank you to the internets for giving me this gift.

The directions came from ( http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=36922 ) and were posted by some guy with a handle of JACook Senior Member and he fixed my car.

$700 my aching ass.

Oh, same internets fixed my wife's dual zone AC problem on her Grand Prix. $39.95 for a new electronic vent controller and it will freeze you out. Dealer wanted $650 to fix that.

What a bargain , I used google (and using my wife's logic) I saved $1310.95 and fixed two auto AC's

Pretty Cool huh? Thankx Internets !!!!

Thankx for reading my rant !

bigmike

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BTW - IN case you need them the directions are at :
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=36922

and are inserted below. Thankx Internets !!!!

**** Direction to Fix a Ford EATC Controller ****

Replacing the o-rings requires disassembly of the solenoids, but that's really not that hard to do, if onehas reasonably good mechanical aptitude. But first, make sure they hold vacuum when not energized. Connect a hose to the center vacuum port (where the black tube was connected) and suck it. It should hold vacuum. If it doesn't, the following fix probably isn't for you.The solenoid assembly comes off the EATC module by unscrewing the two T-20 Torx screws on the back side of the module. Pivot the rear of the assembly up, and disengage the tabs at the front of the module. Disconnect the solenoid connector.Lay the solenoid assembly on it's back, and remove the 10 screws holding the solenoids and plenum strap to the plastic frame. At the wiring end of each solenoid, you'll see two metal tabs folded over, that hold the solenoid coil and armature to the solenoid frame. Straighten these tabs and then carefully pull out the armature, while watching you don't lose the spring or plunger that are inside. Note the o-ring on the armature. That's what we're after.Next, slide the coil off the end of the plenum tube, and then pinch the ends of the solenoid frame together to release it from the plenum. Once the solenoid is all apart, fit the armature back into theend of the plenum tube to check that the o-ring has a good snug fit. If it does, clean the inside ofthe tube, and reassemble the solenoid. You can replace the o-ring if you like, but if it fits well, there'sno need.Make sure you pay attention to the screw flanges on the solenoid frame. Pinch the end of the frame together to fit it back onto the plenum. The spacer that goes at the plenum end of the solenoid has the inside diameter undercut, and four grooves. The undercut end goes toward the plenum, and you'll see four ribs at the base of the plenum tube that mate with the four grooves in the spacer. The armature slides back on next, followed by the plunger, and then the spring. (The flat end of the plunger goes into the hole first, if you missed how it came out.) Use a bit of dielectric grease on the o-ring, (I used Nylog) but do not use any oil or anything on the plunger. Make sure the tip of the armature where the plunger seals against it, is clean and shiny. Don't get any dielectric grease on the tip of the armature. Clean and dry is what you want here. Slide the armature back into the end of the solenoid, and while pressing everything back together, fold the metal tabs back over.Repeat this for each of the four solenoids. On mine, the one that was leaking was for the floor vent door (red hose). It was obvious when I got to that one. The armature came out much easier than the others, and when I test-fitted the armature back into the plenum tube,it was a much looser fit.You might be tempted to only replace the O-ring on the leaking solenoid, and leave it at that. Don't.(Guilty as charged, yer honor...) Do them all the first time, or you'll be back in there again.