hi all,
i have pushbutton style control panel on the dash for the heater/vent/ac etc. my pushbuttons for the heat and defrost position stopped activating the fans. i had also had some issue with controlling the heater heat.
so, in typical fashion, i take things apart. the lever that slides a cable on the heater control slide valve down by the heater core had broken and the slide valve was stuck in full on. that meant that in certain conditions (slide lever slightly on to activate the microswitch that turns on the coolant pumps and solenoid valves) then the heater core was receiving hot coolant while the dash air was trying to cool. explains why i usually didnt have more real cool air even though i had the compressor replaced last summer.
so, thanks to richard, i took the cable out (easier said than done). it also had two vacuum lines wire tied to it all the way to the plenum behind the genny blower in the front passenger bay. so, i tied a string to it and pulled it out from the drivers area and got the cable out.
richard gave me a site that had 80" boden cables that i ordered and got yesterday with the right eyelets on each end and the plastic hook that attaches to the lever on the dash unit. about 60 bucks.
btw, the dash control panel is a chrysler. for sure used in mid 80's to 1992 or so ramcharger. the first few years used all chrome buttons and after that they were black. newell had modified it some as i said by putting microswitch on the slide cable lever and some other mounting mods. i found one on ebay for 50 bucks, but ended up not buying it.
the switch unit that is attached to the control panel is a common delco switch and vacuum control unit. i found a new old stock (NOS) one on ebay believe it or not for $10 dollars shipped. it was for a 1976 chrysler cordova. a buddy of mine took the old switch apart and there was arcing inside that had destroyed the terminals to the heater and defroster position. the new one ohms out fine. you can see on the white piece that has the wires and terminals on it that they are burned. the new one went right on. you can see the cable hanging loose in one of the pictures and the new cable. you can also see the red microswitch that newell added on that is activated by the lever arm moving.
the new switch i got has all black buttons instead of chrome but no one will know but me and you guys....
so i will slap it all back in tomorrow and it should work fine.
the boden cable is shown here.
http://www.evanstempcon.com/servicep...ullID=RV218377
if you contact evanstempcon, they will give you the distributor closest to you.
below are a few pictures of the pieces.
i will add a few more as i finish the job.
tom