The front air conditioning vents blow cold air when I turn switch on, when I turn on the rear blower switch the floor vents works blowing hot air.The side and roof vents do not work.

Sonny,

I have recently experienced the same problem on my wifes 98 Winstart Limited. My first thoughts were with the heater core. I'm still searching for further details, but will keep you posted on what I find.

Regards,

Gerard

The blend door is not working, and neither is the directional control.

ModMech,

Thanks for the repsonse. Could you be more specific?

Are you talking about the vent blend door for the front AC unit, or is there one on the rear as well?
You must mean the front - which is why the heats coming out the front floor vents (in my case).

Thanks again,

I don't have my FSM here, I'll look up the system and post back.

i have had the same problem with my 97' and what i had done is took apart the line and tracd it back to the control panel. I took apart the switch and found that the green grommet in the switch is not alowwig air to pass through to the white line that actuates the rear air blend door. I had to play with the grommet to get it to pass air. You would have to replace the switch for you air to work. Also, have you heard a thumping noise when you turn of your air? It is due to the rear a/c not actuating. There isn't enough air coming through the white line to actuate the door. There is constant air suction from the black line so I just cut the grommet just a little to aloww air from the black line to go through the white one. Here is a link of pics for illustration:

http://groups.msn.com/FordWindstar/shoebox.msnw

Now that i have slow air going through the white line it actually actuates the rear air blend door. Not as fast as it should be, but eventually after a minute air comes from the top and side vents instead of the bottom vents. Cold air doesn't come out so im suspecting the heater core in there. hope this helps.

Bri

I know this isn't funny...but I just had a funny thought...:iceslolan

Try turning on the heater...when I do that cold air comes out the top and side vents in back...LOL...:naughty:

i tried doing that but on the 96-98 It wouldn't work. I also cut a small channel behind the green grommet to allow air to flow from the black to the white line. Now I have rear air and if i need heat i switch it to heat and that part works. When I switch over to cold air the blend door actuates and air resumes from the top. If needed I will got buy the part for $25, but since i dont have the money now it can wait and my jerryrigged works just fine. hope this helps someone else.

i have had the same problem with my 97' and what i had done is took apart the line and tracd it back to the control panel. I took apart the switch and found that the green grommet in the switch is not alowwig air to pass through to the white line that actuates the rear air blend door. I had to play with the grommet to get it to pass air. You would have to replace the switch for you air to work. Also, have you heard a thumping noise when you turn of your air? It is due to the rear a/c not actuating. There isn't enough air coming through the white line to actuate the door. There is constant air suction from the black line so I just cut the grommet just a little to aloww air from the black line to go through the white one. Here is a link of pics for illustration:

http://groups.msn.com/FordWindstar/shoebox.msnw

Now that i have slow air going through the white line it actually actuates the rear air blend door. Not as fast as it should be, but eventually after a minute air comes from the top and side vents instead of the bottom vents. Cold air doesn't come out so im suspecting the heater core in there. hope this helps.

Bri
This was a big help to me. I took my switch apart and discovered the the green sliding gasket had turned to a wad of goop. It had been pulled up into the black hose. I will need a new switch and will have to clean the green goop out of the black hose. I think the grease in the switch broke down the green rubber over time. I checked the rear flap, vaccum control linkage, and hose and they were in good shape. I also used a Chilton's 1995-1998 windstar repair manual chapter 6. The diagrams were somewhat helpful.
Thanks for the direction to the pictures.

That links points to an empty photo album. You might want to fix that.

That links points to an empty photo album. You might want to fix that.

You will need to click on the "show Photos". The first 4 photos are of the switch and panals. They are a little hard to figure out, but once you have the panals off and the switch apart it will make a little more since to you. The picture may not exactly match your van, but you can get a good idea. For example, my line to the rear baffle is white not green. The main vaccum line will be black on most set-ups. This line will have a "T" in it with one line going to the main selector switch and one going to the aux switch for rear selection. When you remove the line or connection I found out it takes 30 to 60 seconds for the vaccum to build back up before the front a/c vents and rear baffle work. Also you will notice a very weak vaccum but that is all it takes to work the baffles in the vents.
I bought a switch for about $28.00 from the Ford dealer. Make sure you ask for the aux rear switch and check it before you leave the dealership. My aux switch and rear vents now work correctly. If your a/c vents or rear vents do not work correctly the next day or so just wait out the 30 to 60 seconds and they will start to work. The Defrost and rear heater vents work when no vaccum is applied, so they work even if you complete vaccum failure.
Hope this helps.