Date:         Sun, 27 Feb 2000 20:03:54 -0800
Reply-To:     "Tom L. Neal" <jneal@NETCOM.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Tom L. Neal" <jneal@NETCOM.COM>
Subject:      Re: Heater Cable
In-Reply-To:  <20000227180524.13167.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

A couple of things to try if you like before replacing the cable:
Bend the wire back straight.
Adjust the switch so the wire is driven straighter down the sleeve as the
lever is moved.
Squirt liquid graphite lubricant down the sleeve and move the level back
and forth a lot to work it down.
Pull on the lever some to make sure it is seated properly.

Open and close the valve directly at it to make sure it
fully opens and closes easily.

Worked on mine.  YMMV.

Cheers, Tom Neal

On Sun, 27 Feb 2000, Mike Finkbiner wrote:

> Volks -
>
> It's been warmer in Moscow lately, so when I was coming back from getting
> groceries, it was too warm in my '87 Westy.  I reached for the heater
> control slider, the second down from the top, and tried to move it from the
> full right position back to the middle.
>
> There was an instant of resistance, and then then, with a metal-on-metal
> dragging feeling, it moved, but felt very strange, not like the normal
> smooth slide.  The heat didn't change, either.
>
> When I got home, I took the ashtray out, and looked inside.  The wire that
> hooks to the slide handle was bowed up, pushing the end of the wire that
> went through the handle down against the metal plate, which is where the
> metal-on-metal feeling was coming from.  By holding the wire down with one
> hand, and pushing the slide handle with the other, I was able to move it
> back and forth.  If I didn't hold it down, moving the slider just bent the
> wire.
>
> I pulled the spare tire, and looked at the heater valve.  The cable looks OK
> at that end.  I couldn't move the valve by hand with the cable attached, it
> did move when I held things in place up top.
>
> Looks like I need a new cable.
>
> Should I check the heater valve before just replacing the cable?
>
> Is this a common failure point?  Is there something special about adjusting
> it when it is installed?  It looks like this cable is set up so there is
> more wire exposed than is needed even when the slide handle is pushed all
> the way to the left, so I wondered if that had left it open to more strain.
>
> What's the best way to replace it?  I can get at things through the ash
> tray, and the rear heater control pops out, but I can't seem to get the
> cover for the four slide controls off.
>
> On the Bus Depot site, in the Heating and Cooling section, this is the only
> thing that looks right -
>
>   Heater Cable, 83-92 Vanagon 7.99  251 265 473A
>
> Does that sound like it?  They are closed today, or I would ask them.
>
> It's interesting that the other three slider cables aren't listed that I
> could see.  Is this the only one that commonly breaks?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions.  You folks have been a tremendous help over the
> last year!
>
>
> Mike Finkbiner
> '87 Westy
> Moscow, ID
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