86 Automatic Control Heater

[JQ911]

Pardon my ignorance but when I compared my auto heat control dial on my 86 vs my cousin's 87, his dial console had a single lever red tip handle going up/down. I've seen others with two (2) levers on early models. How come mine did not have a lever just the dials. The heat in the cabin feels normal but I just need to know if I am missing a lever. I compared the housing on his and mine did not have sloted holes for the lever, normal?

[wwest]

Those with no levers at usually have auto-heat, servomotor to linearly open/close both heat paths simultaneously.

[Nico911]

My 85 is the same, no lever. I have the auto heat option, but it's broken, I'll fix it later this year.

Cheers.

[geoz]

Same here ; no lever only the dial since it has auto heat.

cheers hg

[awhnry]

My '87 has dial and levers but what I found was that the dial controls additional fans in the kickboards for distribution of heat.

[wwest]

Originally Posted by awhnry

My '87 has dial and levers but what I found was that the dial controls additional fans in the kickboards for distribution of heat.

Yes, you do not have auto-heat.

[JQ911]

That explains it! All the while I thought I had a broken lever somewhere. Thanks!

[awhnry]

That was my final determination: no auto heat, just extra fans beyond those that turn on when you pull up the levers. And of course since I didnt get an owners manual, no idea what I had.

[tomphot]

Originally Posted by Nico911

My 85 is the same, no lever. I have the auto heat option, but it's broken, I'll fix it later this year.

Cheers.

I await your report on that!
From what I've seen, it seem next to impossible. My heat works, just not the auto part. It's either full on HOT or off. When I need it, I just turn the knob until I get a little hot and then turn it back off again. At least in ATL, I don't need it that much.

[javadog]

The early auto heat controllers did have a lever which was used in emergencies, eg. when the controller failed.

When you have a dial that goes to 3, and a lever, you have the manual system with booster fan speed control.

If your dial goes from 0 to 9, you have auto heat.

JR

[wwest]

Question then...if you have auto-heat how do you turn on the footwell fans...?

Just curious.

[javadog]

Not all cars had the footwell fans. They were introduced in 1983, on the turbos. On the cars that had the fans, they were controlled by the controller. The lower dial positions ran the fans in low and as you requested more heat in the higher dial settings, the fan speeds were increased. It's spelled out in the owners manuals.

JR

[wwest]

Originally Posted by javadog

Not all cars had the footwell fans. They were introduced in 1983, on the turbos. On the cars that had the fans, they were controlled by the controller. The lower dial positions ran the fans in low and as you requested more heat in the higher dial settings, the fan speeds were increased. It's spelled out in the owners manuals.

JR

But my question was: with the auto-heat control knob in place instead of footwell fan control knob where is the footwell fan control knob? Or is it not possible to have auto-heat AND footwell fans?

[javadog]

Footwell fans and auto heat are not mutually exclusive. On the cars with auto heat that had the fans, the auto heat controller controls the fan speeds. You tell it via the dial position how hot you want the cabin and it regulates the position of the heater valves and the fan speeds.

You do not have separate control over the fan speeds but generally the first few dial positions ran the fans in the low speed, the middle dial positions ramped the speed up tp position 2 and the last couple dial positions gave you hi speed.

JR

[wwest]

So I guess if I wanted high heat but just enough airflow to maintain windshield forward vision then I would be SOL.

Germans...bad as the Japanese for human factors engineering.

[javadog]

That's why I like the manual system the best. People ***** about it because they don't bother to learn how it works but it is very adjustable.

JR

[Kidasters]

Autoheat is fine if the system is working.

If you want the fans all the way up, dial the system up to 9. Everything turns on full blast.

I had to completely rebuild my autoheat module. The plastic couplers were broken. Something was wrong with my circuit board. Once all those things were replaced, it has worked just fine.

It's way better than the two levers.

[wwest]

Originally Posted by Kidasters

Autoheat is fine if the system is working.

If you want the fans all the way up, dial the system up to 9. Everything turns on full blast.

I had to completely rebuild my autoheat module. The plastic couplers were broken. Something was wrong with my circuit board. Once all those things were replaced, it has worked just fine.

It's way better than the two levers.

Nothing, NOTHING, betters manual HVAC controls.

Not even in a Lexus.....

On a cold wintery day the secret, foremost secret, to keeping the interior windshield defogged is slightly lowered windows, HIGH heat ONLY to the windshield, but with low blower speed to prevent driver/passenger discomfort.

Bundle up to keep warm.