Climate control problem

[Kneale Brownson]

Classic recirculation flap closure failure.  The door from the cabin into
the HVAC system that's supposed to open only when A/C is on so that you're
not trying to cool hot outside air is hanging open now because the spring
holding it closed has broken or has cut through the plastic bar inside the
A/C evaporator box that holds that end of the spring.  If you put your head
in the footwell and look up past the back of the glovebox, you'll see the
door hanging open.  There's a plastic grille in the way that you can remove
to get access to the door if you have skinny, longish arms. If you have
short, fat arms like me, you'll also need to remove the glovebox.  To do
that you take off the dash end cover (screw at the bottom holding it in
place and you have to sort of pull down on the top while pushing up on the
bottom) so you can look in and see the couple of screws that have to be
loosened so the glovebox assembly can drop a bit and slide toward the
outside (I think, or toward the seat) to be removed.  If the spring (about
3" long, maybe 3/4" diameter) is missing, the end probably broke off.  $2-3
at the dealer for a new one.  If it's hanging from the door and has an
intact loose end, it cut through the plastic bar.  My fix for that was to
fold a piece of tin over the bar with holes drilled through each "wing" to
serve as a new anchor for the spring.

At 11:11 AM 2/11/2004 -0800, Tom Ellis wrote:
>I've had my 20020v for a bit more than a year, and every winter I have the
>same problem.  In cold temperatures the AC compressor will not turn on,
>either in Defrost or Auto modes, which means I can't de-humidify the
>interior windows.  I took my son and a friend skiing last week and once we
>reached the mountains (and cold temps) the inside of the car windows was
>literally dripping, and I had to steer with one hand while continually
>wiping off the windshield with the other.
>
>Looking at the Bentley manual I found a reference that seems to indicate
>that the compressor will not operate at low temps.  Is this correct?  If
>not, does anyone have any ideas about what my problem might be?  And if it
>is correct, do all the cars have this problem?  I love the car, but not
>knowing if I'll be able to see while driving isn't much fun!
>
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