Heat stuck on in a new to me 84 Targa

draksia · 02-21-2008, 10:57 AM

Hi All

I just picked up an 84 Targa last night. Of course not perfect but seems to be pretty good condition. The biggest problem right now is that heat is stock on and the heater switch doesn't seen to do anything. I haven't got a chance to look at it yet but I am open to any suggestions. I am in FL and I really don't need the heat on.

Thanks

Paul K · Paul K's Garage

Welcome! Please add your location to your profile. If you have the owners manual, I suggest reading it- the heating systems on these cars is quirky at best, hopefully it is just an adjustment problem. Also, please post pictures of your new ride!

Cheers,

Paul.

schoward · 02-21-2008, 01:21 PM

Check what i think are called the flapperboxes. Look under the engine where the two fan-like contraptions connect to the heating hoses off the exhaust.

My 81 came out of winter storage one year and one of those got stuck in the open position which caused neverending melting of my wife's legs on the passenger side due to the heat in full on position. My mechanic simply freed it up and sprayed a little white lube in the cable mechanism which has remedied the issue. Your 84 may be different. Sorry for the non-technical description.

javadog · 02-21-2008, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by draksia

Hi All

I just picked up an 84 Targa last night. Of course not perfect but seems to be pretty good condition. The biggest problem right now is that heat is stock on and the heater switch doesn't seen to do anything. I haven't got a chance to look at it yet but I am open to any suggestions. I am in FL and I really don't need the heat on.

Thanks

Tell us if you have 2 red-tipped levers between the seats, the automatic heating systems (dial on top goes from 0-9) or something else.

JR

JeremyD · JeremyD's Garage

When operating correctly the stock heaters will bake you like a chicken

sergeshishik · sergeshishik's Garage

worse case scenario, pull the fuse for the blower motor. the fuse for this is in the engine compartment on the left hand side.

And then "go where the climate suites your" ride

draksia · 02-21-2008, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by javadog

Tell us if you have 2 red-tipped levers between the seats, the automatic heating systems (dial on top goes from 0-9) or something else.

JR

I have the dial with 0-9 on it. Right now it seems to not do anything. I will take a look at lubing the flapper boxes. My repair manual is on way so that will probably help me figure this out.

Thanks for the help.

javadog · 02-21-2008, 05:45 PM

Okay,

If moving the dial to zero does nothing, reach between the passenger seat and the control box (better yet, remove the passenger seat - 4 screws and five minutes) and pop off the small access panel on the right side of the control box. Inside will be a bell crank attached to the servo and a rod, attached to the bell crank. There is a small ball joint (usually plastic) connecting the rod to the bell crank. Pop the ball joint off of the bell crank and you can then manually move the linkage to close the flapper valves under the car.

It sounds like a lot of work but it can be done in under 10 minutes.

JR

Hugh R · 02-21-2008, 07:56 PM

Javadog, the reason I knew PP was a good place was advice like that. In my case the heat didn't work on the autoheat 0-9 thing and I was looking at all the wiring diagram mess and did a search and found that my plastic ball joint had popped off!

javadog · 02-22-2008, 03:36 AM

Thanks,

If you own these cars long enough, you get to experience everything that can go wrong with them at least once, so it's a simple case of trying to remember what you did the last time yours crapped out.

JR

draksia · 02-22-2008, 07:05 PM

So I took the seats out tonight to get access to the heater control box. The ball had popped off on the servo side. I put it back on and verified that the servo seems to be working, zero is all the way forward and defrost is all the way back.

Now even on zero I am getting some heat out the vents but not as much as before. I would expect the fan to turn off when the heat is in the zero position but that might now be true.

Also does any know where the best place to get an owners manua is? Pelican llist it as no longer available.

Thanks for the help so far. If the weather is nice in the morning I will try and get some pics up.

javadog · 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by draksia

Now even on zero I am getting some heat out the vents but not as much as before. I would expect the fan to turn off when the heat is in the zero position but that might now be true.

Sounds like you need to adjust the cables at the valves under the car, assuming nobody had messed wth the threaded rod length in the past. With the dial set at 0, you should get no heated air flow. Check and make sure that the lever (that the threaded rod attaches to) is all the way forwatd against it's stop with the dial set to 0. The length of the threaded rod should be 118mm +-2mm center to center on the ball joints, if you want to check it.

The electric booster fan may be shutting off. That's easy to check, by looking under the rear decklid at the fan on the left side of the engine. Keep in mind that the source of air to the heat exchangers is the engine cooling fan, so if the valves are open, you'll get airflow any time the engine runs, whether the booster fan is on or not. It's just supposed to be directed out under the car when you don't need it for heating and the dial is set to 0.

JR