97 Towncar A/C Blend door actuator-cliking noise until failure

[97Towncar-4R70W]

My 97 Towncar ac blend door actuator started making a clicking noise for several moths until it stop blending the air, caused by internal failure of the plastic gear drive that is controlled electronically inside the "Blend door actuator" that positions the heater blend door in the right position as to divert part of the cold air to the heater core and thus have an output balanced mixed cold/hot air into the cabin.
I took the short cut and drop the entire dash panel to be able to reach the Blend door actuator motor that is held by 4-8mm bolts in top of the heater plenum. Boy what a task! I took several photos to illustrate what I did to reach the actuator last 2 bolt too close to the firewall.
It took me several hours, but was able to R&R it with a new Life-Time warranty aftermarket actuator bought on Nov 2016 and it work just fine until Now, thus after one year, again I am hearing the same clicking sounds, thus I assume the same gears are failing again, but at least , I know now the steps to R&R the actuator and hope to replace it in half the time it took me before...!

 

[nvnusman]

My 97 Towncar ac blend door actuator started making a clicking noise for several moths until it stop blending the air, caused by internal failure of the plastic gear drive that is controlled electronically inside the "Blend door actuator" that positions the heater blend door in the right position as to divert part of the cold air to the heater core and thus have an output balanced mixed cold/hot air into the cabin...... thus after one year, again I am hearing the same clicking sounds, thus I assume the same gears are failing again, but at least , I know now the steps to R&R the actuator and hope to replace it in half the time it took me before...!

I was faced with same issue, evaluated actual (limited) need for "total solution" here in Florida, wimped out and bypassed the heater core by re-routing hoses at firewall, connecting hose to water pump right to hose from engine block and put a short piece of hose from core inlet to outlet to keep coolant in place for rust prevention. Everything is reversible and I've put it back to original flow for a couple cool months because Frost!!! I've located a 4-port brass heated bypass valve I'll install so I won't have to keep doing this. It's designed for cable operation but can be controlled by hand. It might actually let me adjust the degree of heat because full blast isn't needed here. (If I were actually to put in the work to reach that heat/cool flap, I believe I'd try to rig a choke-style cable to move it as needed, considering the number of complaints I've read about bad motorized actuators. Wouldn't even need to punch a hole in the firewall for that cable, nor pop the hood to regulate the temps.) Here's link to part: Omega-Omega 4 Port Bypass Cable Controlled Metal Heater Control Valve - 31-60036-31-60036