svopaul

As these cars age we discover new problems....in this case if you own a 1994-98 Mustang then this first picture is your inevitable future if it hasn't happened already....This is my 94 GT and the car didn't even move, just parked and the blower motor cover literally just fell apart. Whatever composition Ford's supplier used in the molding of this plastic, it just dries out and falls apart. what happens next is now the blower motor is allowed to move downward and the wheel starts grinding into your heater box housing. Of Course this part is obsolete from Ford.


This is an intact cover on my '94 Cobra and I am honestly afraid to touch it but I know this needs to be addressed before the inevitable happens.

The 94-98 covers use this retaining ring, these were discontinued for 1999 and no longer used.

Now the Ford parts listing shows that the part application is 1994-2000...in 2001 the dash was changed for the new radio and they changed the heater box as well. While it looks similar, the 01-04 cover is different. But even the 99-00 cover is different from the 94-98 cover. This is a cover I removed from a '99 GT parts car I have.


Here you can see the part number is XR3H-18515-AB, the original 94-98 Cover started with F4ZZ denoting it as a 94 initial part. The XR3H notes this part as 1999 which means Ford Changed the part for the '99 Model year. This may be the change that no longer required the retaining ring pictured above but the bolt attaching points are in the exact same location through the entire production range from 94-04...But the later 01-04 version does not work on the 94-98 cars.

I removed this cover from a 2001 Cobra parts car I have, you can see the engineering/part number is 1R3H-18515-AA which notes a change for the 2001 model year.


Here is a comparison of the bottom of the '99-00 cover and the '01-04 cover...they look very similar except for the square relief holes in the '99-00 Cover.


Again, very similar but there are differences.

Here you can see the height difference between the two with the taller one being the '01-04 cover.


So what this means is that you can use the '99-00 Cover on your '94-98 car, you just discontinue the use of the metal retaining ring as the '99-00 version does not use it. The later '01-04 version will not fit the earlier cars. Now all these parts are obsolete but the '99-00 covers do not seem to suffer from the same quality issue as the earlier covers and seem to still be sound in structural integrity. So if yours has fallen apart or you want to get a jump on things and replace it before it falls off on it's own then visit your local salvage yard and grab the '99-00 version.

Also note that the blower motors changed as well...the '94-00 are interchangeable and have the same plug but in '01 they changed the plug enough that the earlier harness will not plug into it.

05stangkc

Thanks Paul!

Very Useful Info For The SN-95 Guys! Also a Good Area to Look if Purchasing One! I Can Only Imagine What the California Heat Would Do To One of Those in My Area!

Mgb,

KC