Air conditioner box

[Dan Wing]

That is the kind of thoughtful reply I really appreciate. Thanks, Henry.
Still leaves the question, though, of why the car gets a little fogged in
the winter with three passengers in it. I would think it would not do that,
with the outer flap open to dry winter air. Perhaps it is half open-- I did
not see what the mechanic was talking about

I think I will just leave it open until I see whether the AC can cool the
car this summer-- which should help keep the mildew smell at bay. As it is,
I always turn AC off and open the window 10 minutes before I get to my
destination, leaving the fan on, to dry the system out in any car I drive.
We can do that, in Vermont.

Dan Wing

----- Original Message -----
From: "Henry A Harper III" <hah at alumni.rice.edu>
To: "Dan Wing" <wagons at sover.net>; <200q20v at audifans.com>
Sent: Friday, April 09, 2004 6:36 PM
Subject: RE: Air conditioner box


>
> My friend James has an '89 200q with a similar broken
> recirc-door-motor-mount issue...he is blocking the outside door closed in
> summer (to help the a/c) and open in winter (to avoid fogging) - actually
if
> you remove the block the spring should hold it open so you just block
closed
> in a/c season and remove block in heater season. As long as the vacuum
line
> to the motor is plugged the climate control won't really get all that
> confused. I don't think that it's *impossible* to rebuild the mount
without
> replacing the box, but it would require a certain amount of innovation and
> fabrication. If that one guy can build a Cobra Daytona coupe out of sheet
> aluminium with a hammer and welder, fixing this recirc door motor mount is
> cake. A good source for used a/c box if you want to go that route is
> probably Chris at force5auto.com.
>
> HTH
> Henry Harper
> http://www.henry-harper.com hah at alumni.rice.edu
> 1991 200 quattro, 120k
> 1988 GTI 16v, 239k
>
> > I bought my car in Florida a year and a half ago, and it fogged
> > up in cool weather and smelled musty. The mechanic found an oil
> > bottle wedged down in the air conditioner box to hold the recirc
> > door closed, and after it was removed the car dried out. This
> > winter I noticed it did not defog as well as expected with
> > passengers in the car and a different mechanic has found that the
> > air motor for the outer door (slide?) on the box has been broken
> > off of its mounting in such a way that it "cannot" be reattached.
> > Apparently the air motor itself is OK (though disconnected and
> > the lines are plugged) and the door is OK, but the mounting on
> > the box is irretrievably broken so the door cannot work. Mechanic
> > estimates hundreds of dollars to replace box, even if I find one
> > (disconnect air conditioner, replace box, R-134 conversion,
> > replace components).
> >
> > Anyone seen this situation? Anyone done a less expensive fix?
> > Mechanic says climate control probably confused by constantly
> > open outer door, but perhaps that is not so big a problem and I
> > can just leave it, or perhaps fix the door in a half-open
> > position? I live in Vermont (cold winter, not too hot in summer),
> > so could I just fix the door in position seasonally? If so, what
> > would the positions be? What is the consequence of this door not
working?
> >
> > Lastly, does anyone have a good air conditioner box to sell me,
> > if I go that route??