Date:         Wed, 22 Feb 1995 08:46:58 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Steve Johnson <sjohnson@pcocd2.intel.com>
Subject:      Re: Air leaks in ventilation system

So Donald Baxter says:
> 
> Regardless of where I set the levers on the fresh-air and heat controls, air
> continues to come through the vents in my '85 Vanagon.  Anyone else have
> this problem? Will I have to go through what Gerry is going through with his
> malfunctioning heater (i.e. dash removal, separating heater housings, etc.)?
> 
> 

Well it depends.  I had a problem with my ventilation malfunctioning like 
this.  In my particular case, it was the actuator on the glove box side
of the main air distribution box (ADB).  This actuator is controlled by the
defrost lever.  So, if you remove the glove box (real easy) and grab a
flash light and look up where the ADB is through the opening left by the
glove box and you can see a couple of wire linkages routed to that side
of the box.  Move the defrost lever on the dash to see which one it 
belongs to.  You will see the actuator I'm talking about move as the
lever is moved.  In my case, this actuator was loose and the clip 
that holds it in is actually part of the actuator.  You can it the actuator
out by just pulling it straight out.  If it is hard to pull out, then
it's not the actuator.  We checked this out on David Garths van at 
Pfieffer and it seemed to be okay.  On my van, because the ridgedness
of the clip was worn, it wasn't holding the actuator in.  So I stuck a
small piece of cardboard between the clip and the actuator body and pushed
the actuator back in and the flap worked great.  Whether the actuator
is loose or not, you may want to pull it off anyway to make sure the it
is engaging the flap bar it's suppose to be attached to.  David, if you're
reading this, I think you should do this too.  

If all is well with the actuator, you probably have to take out the box
and break it open and replace the flap.

The defroster flap is the one that allows air in or not.

Let me know if you need more info.

Steven

sjohnson@pcocd2.intel.com