Hi,

As it has suddenly become very cold here this problem is now rather urgent for me.

A while ago, while still hot, my heater control dial suddenly went loose (it usually has some resistance), I found that I could only get cold air. Apparently this is because the cable has either come off or broken. I do not want to take this to a garage as I am getting rid of the car very soon, but it takes 30 minutes in the morning to de-mist, and its a nightmare to drive in the rain as I can never keep it de-misted.

Is it possible to temporarily fix it so that it is always blowing hot, I can always open a window :D

I have not got much talent when it comes to cars, so any basic/simple help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Andrew

If you're saying what I think you're saying, try pulling off the dial and having a look at the center where it connects. As they are made of plastic they can crack in the center which means it free wheels around instead of turning the potentiometer (<--- I assume its a Pot). I fixed a microwave yesterday in the same way, though granted microwaves and cars differ somewhat.

Yes it is the dial in the center console.
Does the dial need to be in a certain position to be pulled off? Seemed pretty well attached :irked:

I will try this afternoon.

I reckon a control cable has become detatched from the heater unit itself.


Identify it and clip it back in - jobs a good un!

Sorry, I have about as much knowledge about cars as I do about flying to the moon.
Where would be a good starting point, I can look under the bonnet but I would have no idea what I am looking at.

I just had a similar problem with my heat control dial too so instead of starting a new thread, I thought I'd ask for advice on this one.

it's the opposite on my car where the heat is always on and the dial is very hard to turn, but with enough brute force it turns with a craking noise, as if the thing behind the dial was stuck.

any help appreciated.

Bump.................

I think its behind the glove box.

it's behind the middle console from bellow, a cable coming from the heater control dial activates a yellow plastic arm that switches the heat conduit.

I found out the dial when turn toward the heat side activates the cable, but when I turn it to the other side, the cable doesnt move thus keeping the heat on.

it looks like the mechanism behind the dial is broken, how to I remove the dial?

after better inspection, it seems the mechanism is handeled by two cables... the one that should pull the arm to close the heat conduit doesnt seem to work... it's getting complicated...

solved it yet?

no, I couldn't find why the rear cable doesn't pull when I turn the dial to the left. that cable goes too deep inside behind a massive block of plastic.

so I turned the yellow arm manually to make sure it lets cool air in, which would be the solution for the thread starter who wanted to let hot air in.

here's a picture of the yellow arm that switches between cold and hot air:

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/2269/aircontrol1mw.jpg

the cables pull the black plate right behind it which then activates it.
does anyone know what could be wrong with the second cable in my car?

My dial started to go to 75% only... wow

p.s. will post as soon as I solve it..