Heater lever Broken

The lever on the dash that controls heat flow from defroster to floor no longer works. The cable as it comes off the lever is now bent and the cable does not want to move at all.

Where's the duct valve that controls this, and can I manually move the flap or whatever to help straighten this cable?

thanks -


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Mark Szabo
1986 911 Targa 3.2

ON MY 76 911S THE FLAP IS IN THE TRUNK ON THE DRIVERS SIDE, BELOW THE WINDSHIELD. IF THAT HELPS...

Mark:

Szervusz again!! I have the same problem, and will get to this once it gets warm. The kink in the wire cannot be straightened; it has to be replaced.

The control flap is reachable by getting at it via the front trunk. You have to remove the fibereboard covering under the windshield (just a few screws), and remove it. Then you will see all the controls, including the wiper motor, etc. Look for the one wire that is kinked, and pull or push on the lever to which it is attached. You should be able to close that air duct by so doing.

However, note that Porsche dealers will not sell you just a wire; they want to sell you the entire control unit, which is crazy (and very expensive for just needinga wire). I have even tried to get such a wire from Porsche swap meets, but most folks also just want to sell you the entire unit.

I have thought of buying piano wire from a piano tuner; that should be just fine, since you can actually replace the wire, if you can find it. I have delayed this operation while I am finishing building my house. This Spring ought to have it finished, and can thus do this little fix.

Let us know how YOU solved the problem...Andras

I'll give it a shot, Andras, and let you know what happens. I can actually reach the wire from inside the car, I just don't think I can move the wire - it's quite jammed.

I will see what I can do this weekend. I'll probably try to straighten the wire anyway; at worst it just won't work. Oh well, no loss.

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Mark Szabo
1986 911 Targa 3.2

Has anyone looked to a Porsche dismantler? Perhaps this is what you were talking about. I suspect, the dismantlers will sell the wire seperately. Perhaps not. :-)

I would look at Parts heaven in Hayward CA. Since they are relatively close to me. They are also listed in Excellence magazine.

I am sure there is one closer to you tho!

HAve fun.
Nick

Nick:

Yes, I have asked Aase Brothers, Kempton, and Oklahoma; they all just want to sell the entire unit, since pulling out one wire would make their entire unit inoperative.

Mark:

Do try unkinking the wire, but my experience was that once you unkink, it will just kink up again. Don't forget that wires are good in tension, but bad in compression. Have you ever tried to push on one end of a wire? It will not work. Therefore, when you move the control lever in the "compression" mode, it will just kink again. The only thing not allowing all the wires to kink is the individual "jacket" surrounding each particular wire. It's the jacket that keeps the wire from kinking in the "compression" mode.

Then, when I thought the whole thing through, the only source for such high strength wires is the piano tuner (see the Yellow Pages). THEY can sell you one wire.

Also, even though you can see the wire from the inside of the car, once you remove that fiberboard cover, the entire unit will be visible, and thus accessible. It's just so easy to remove that fiberboard cover, that you will be able to work on the unit more easily.

I guess Porsche's use of wires in control units was a cost-containment issue, for they sure are not the well-engineered feature other things are. Plastic gears would have been less trouble........Andras

What about using the wire from a manual choke lever. Its been a long time but if I remember correctly, the older style manual choke levers used the same type of wire and these can be picked up at any auto parts store.

Steve
76 Targa

I'm just gonna pull off the cover, push real hard, and hope the flap moves. Then I'll try unkinking the wire. As a last resort, I'll get to a tuner and get some wire...shouldn't be terribly hard, depending on the location of the flap, which I would think would be in the same general area.

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Mark Szabo
1986 911 Targa 3.2

How about taking out the cable that is broken,use it for comparison, and go to a U-Pullit yard.Find a VW van, bug or what ever else uses cables(there are a lot of car makers that uses push-pull cables)and make one of your own!! At least thats what I would do..

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