I have a 1999 Acura Legend and the temperature control slide came loose so to adjust the temperature I have to slip a small screwdriver inside the dash to slide the cable inside one way or the other. Has the cable come loose or did the plastic slide break? Does anyone have any tips on how to remove the climate control console so I can get a look inside?
Have you tried holding a mirror under the dash so you can look up at that control from the other side of the panel and see if you can spot the problem that way?
Pull the controls out…only 4 screws hold it in. Usually the plastic gears strip or some other plastic snaps because over time that cable can get hard to pull…and or the valve is hard to manipulate. The plastic gears and levers just arent up to the task when things get a bit more stiff than when new.
Happens all the time. Gone are the days when they actually used METAL levers and cables…aint progress grand?
Blackbird
Bros car failed safety inspection in VA for that. Cost $375 for new module.
I don’t know if VA can fail you for the temp control, but I know they will fail you if you can’t make the defrost work.
Check youtube. There’s a video for just about everything no there.
My truck’s heater slide control got really stiff to operate this past winter. I sprayed some WD 40 on the valve mechanism in the engine compartment where the heater hoses go through the bulkhead. Freed up nicely. It won’t solve your broken lever handle problem, but if you vehicle uses the engine compartment valve method to control heat to the heater, worth a try once you get the handle revived.
This reminds me of what is the probably the most humorous thread ever posted on Car Talk forums, about frugal ways folks have used to fix car problems. Jay Leno on his show called such a thing “Hillbilly Repairs”. One poster said they had this same problem on an older car of theirs, but the valve was stuck fast, unusable. So they re-routed the coolant flow around it, using some garden hose segments laying around, and for the valve itself they installed a hose bib, like you’d see on the side of a house to turn on the garden hose. Just poked a hole in the dash and out poked the hose bib. Want some heat, twist the handle and turn on the hose, worked like a charm . OP, you always have that as a backup! … … lol …
I love hillbilly repairs, had a preacher friend driving through africa in a vw bus, rotor was bad so he fashioned a replacement out of a cork and paper clip!
I remember three cars my dad owned, a 1939_Chevrolet, a 1947 Dodge and a,1947 DeSoto where the coolant flowed constantly through the heater core as long as a valve was open under the hood. The heater was a box under the dash containing the heater core and a fan ans, just heated and recirculated the air in the cabin. In the summertime, you turned the coolant through the heater core off at the valve under the hood.