[V8] never complain again...

[dsaad@icehouse.net]

... about changing a heater core or temperature regulator motor on an Audi
again.

The flap motor on my 1998 Explorer stopped working - stuck in full freeze mode
of course. I have the official Ford service manual on CD. It had a fairly good
procedure for testing the flap motor, with the exception that they have you
remove the motor for testing.
To remove the motor? simple. Just remove the dash panel, then remove the flap
motor. But first you have to remove the steering column, passenger side air bag,
windshield trim, and center console. Then just undo ALL OF THE WIRING IN THE
ENTIRE VEHICLE, remove the clearly marked bolts, and with two people, lift out
the dash.

Sounds simple enough. It would have been simpler if the clearly marked bolts
were actually the ones you needed to remove. The two that they neglected to
identify - and which were well hidden, turned out to be very important to the
success of the operation.

Bottom line is that the flap motor needed its terminals soldered down to the
circuit board. Apparently the monkee that installed did not push it into its
socket tight enough. The repair cost was free, but it took me a good 8 hours to
fix it. On the bright side, I got to clean out the center console. I now know
where my long lost Steely Dan CD went.

Dave