[Vwdiesel] Heater controls

[Sandy Cameron]

At 10:46 AM 01/01/05 -0600, you wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>The airflow control on my '92 Jetta Ecodiesel has stopped working.  
>The top airflow direction lever will still turn the air flow off 
>when all the way left, but in any other position for the selector 
>lever the airflow only comes out the vents, no defrost airflow 
>and no lower heat airflow.  This car has AC system.  I've read 
>through Bentley which describes the vacuum system and servoes.  
>
>Are there some common problems to check first?  A suggested 
>plan of attack? 

On every A2 I've had anything to do with, there is a plastic gear on the
bottom of the air box that breaks, disengages, sticks, misindexes, etc.

To get to it:

Lift shift stick boot by prying up the plastic flange from the console
remove one screw from the forward edge of the hole
remove screws holding the console in each footwell One in each side.
I cant remember if there are screws into the console from parcel racks, I've
thrown out all mine.

Console will now slide back a few inches. Slide seats back as far as they
will go, when the console is back far enough that it's front end clears the
dash, tip it up and out.
You will have to unplug the wires to the cigaret lighter. If you have
electric windows, you might want to just lay the console back, or hang it
from the rear view mirror while doing the rest.

Now, on the bottom of the air box, straight ahead of the gearshift, is a
vacuum actuator that flips air to the dash vents, or to the floor and
defrost vents. Start the engine , operate the airflow control lever and
watch the actuator and the plastic crap it's attached to.
Lie on the floor or use a mirror to watch the gears on the bottom of the
airbox. Best of luck sorting it out. I have usually set the levers/gears  in
the heat/defrost position and hot glued them in place. I threw out the A/C
years ago, (Canadian, eh?) If you MUST have A/C, you will have to figure out
how to repair the gears.

The 91 I'm parting out must have had the same problem, I discovered the gear
on the floor, and a screw driven through the flap shaft to hold it in
position, when I went to salvage the heater core.

I just cut up the air box with a sawsall.

The whole air box system is a nightmare that can only be dealt with by
completely removing the whole dash and steering wheel.

At assembly, I think they mounted the air box on a stick, and wrapped the
rest of the car around it.


Sandy