Review on Dorman 902-207 Air Door Actuator: Efficient & Sleek in Black by Owoeye Reed

The original factory door broke on my 1998 F150 after 14.5 years. It is very difficult to get to the air conditioning chamber behind the dashboard where this door is located. Basically you have to tear off the entire dashboard to get at it, about 8 hours of work. In any case, this Dorman replacement door is made from much stronger molded polymer filled plastic, a much better quality material than the original plastic part. The original part broke off completely at the hinge shaft about two inches from the bottom of the door, so you know the plastic Ford used was cheap. Another thing Dorman does with their new door is they add an aluminum spigot to the underside of the hinge slot, which is intended to reinforce the attachment point to the door motor where those pieces would normally fail. Unfortunately, I couldn't fit the door all the way into the motor hole because the aluminum bushing made the hinge slot too big. I gave up trimming the engine hole while trying to get the spline seat all the way down. I just went ahead and removed the aluminum bushing. I figured that the improved reinforced plastic that Dorman was using would make the wedges stronger anyway, plus they would probably last at least another 14 years before breaking again. Then the truck will be at istl? Who knows. Either way, that job at the garage will cost you about $800 to replace that $20 part. If your faucet door fails, you won't be able to control the heating and cooling climate in your truck. My advice: get one of those Dorman replacement mixers and spend your Saturday taking the dash apart and save yourself some serious repair money. And while you're there, don't forget to check the condition of the heater core. If it looks completely rusty or shows signs of leaking, now is the time to replace the core before you get a leak. Or, if you're there for a heater core leak, I highly recommend you buy one of those Dorman doors and replace the original part while you're there, it's only $20.