Heater stuck on hot

[chip]

Hi, my air vents are stuck on hot. Turning the knob makes no difference wether it’s turned to red or blue only hot air comes out.

With the blower off and the vents closed, it was about bearable until now, but now it is intolerable.

I have looked under the dashboard on the drivers side and on the side of the box are some cable operated toothed gubbins that I can turn manually. But I have worked out this operates to which vents it sends the air as doing this turns the knob that does so on the dash.

Is there a way I can switch it from hot to cold even if it means doing so manually and leaving it there for now as I am flat broke right now so can’t afford to get it repaired professionally.

Any help will be much appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[Banshee]

Hi, my air vents are stuck on hot. Turning the knob makes no difference wether it’s turned to red or blue only hot air comes out.

With the blower off and the vents closed, it was about bearable until now, but now it is intolerable.

I have looked under the dashboard on the drivers side and on the side of the box are some cable operated toothed gubbins that I can turn manually. But I have worked out this operates to which vents it sends the air as doing this turns the knob that does so on the dash.

Is there a way I can switch it from hot to cold even if it means doing so manually and leaving it there for now as I am flat broke right now so can’t afford to get it repaired professionally.

Any help will be much appreciated.
Thank you.

This is usually the cable coming unclipped on the controller. Take a look behind there and see if it just needs to be clipped back into place.

The tell-tale sign of this will be the lever itself, if it's come off you shouldn't feel any resistance on the control when you spin it.

If you've lost or broke any clips or need a new heater control let me know as I have plenty spares at discount prices for forum members :thumb2

 

[solarman216]

Simple short term answer, squash one of the heater hoses under the bonnet to cut the water flow, flat jawed mole grips or a brake hose cramp would be good choices, Rick

 

[lo_zarro]

here in Italy it's hot as hell in summer, and to improve the efficiency of the ac unit, we use to place a ball valve on one (or both) of the hoses that feed the heat exchanger.
this could be suitable for your problem too.

 

[chip]

Hi, thank you all for your responses. Banshee I think you are correct as I remember something giving when turning the knob and now there is little resistance. How do I go about reattaching it? Does it require my taking apart the dashboard to get to it?
All your help is much appreciated.

 

[chip]

I’m halfway there, I managed to remove the front of the dash area surrounding the heater controls. And the problem is the metal clip that grips the cable housing has come off. The cable is connected still and if i hold the cable housing in place and turn the knob the control works.

The metal clip was detached but when I put my hands in it fell away and I heard rattle as it fell but now I can’t find it.

But once I do, on that side you have to clip it to the underside of the plastic, unlike the control on the other side that is easily visible and accessible.

I have undone the four screws that hold the controls in place but you can’t pull them out or pus them in far enough to try and pull through the opening for the stereo. So am I missing a trick on removing the unit so I can better see what I am doing?

 

[chip]

I have found the clip and worked out which it goes on and it looks like to me the small plastic tab it clips behind nearest to the cable is broken off and the cause of the problem in the first place. So looks like I will need a new heater control.

I will put the car back together for now as I appear to have set it to cold and replace later on if I can work out how to get it out.

Banshee if you can give me a price for the unit please for when I get some spare cash it will be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[chip]

I hope this works

 

[chip]

What looks broken
https://imgur.com/gallery/6V9Tb2I


Temporary cable tie fix
https://imgur.com/gallery/hSwIfWt


Pictures should be working now

 

[solarman216]

sorry pics not working for me, no need to use third party crap just upload a pic with the paper clip icon, Rick

 

[chip]

Here goes, this looks like it is broken and there should be a small tab to hold the metal clip in place.

 

[chip]

And here is my temporary cable tie fix

 

[chip]

Thanks for the tip, Rick.
I will buy a replacement heater control next week when funds allow. But probably not replace it till I have to as getting down to the heater control was not to hard but actually removing it, I could not do.

 

[solarman216]

Just do not crimp it too tight, just enough to stop the water flow, Rick

 

[chip]

The cable tie is holding the cable housing in place (you can’t see it as it’s on the underside of the white plastic in the photo), to allow the cable to pull for hot and push for cold. Without the cable housing held in place the cable actuated control will not work. It may last for ever, but I will buy the heater control because it probably won’t .

I really appreciate all your help.

 

[scrumpydude]

Hi, I don't know if I ever posted pics of this here but I had exactly the same problem. In truth, I had both the temperatue and air flow direction controls go at the same time. IIRC, the temperature control was the worst one to fix. In the end, IIRC, I drilled some small holes through the plastic to put tie-wraps through to hold the sheath in place. I then backed that up with Araldite (epoxy glue). The plastic housing/frame was cracked for one of the controls making the glue a definite requirement.

 

[scrumpydude]

I found the thread (https://www.nissan4x4ownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29723) but can't see the photos I posted. Dunno.