Late heater controls - repair tips - Update 16/11

[Kevin Bacon 5]

The information from this thread has now been compiled into a Wiki article, so I've locked and un-stickied this thread.

 

 

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Got a very stiff or non-functioning heater direction control? Here are some hints and tips.

 

Picture 'Controls' shows a couple of Passat (from a 91 H reg) facia panels I picked up from the scrappy for a tenner. The one on the right is perfect and has been modded to Corrado spec. The one on the left is standard Passat but look at the sheared plastic where the Bowden cable retainers sit! VERY VERY common problem.

 

Passat ones fit the Corrado OK but there are a couple of small things to change. These are described in pics 'passat' and 'passat1'.

 

Picture 'bowden cables' shows the root cause. Basically, the screen vent cable is very stiff and becomes even more so over the years. This reluctance to move causes the control mechanism to struggle and eventually shears off the plastic cable clip and the metal detent plate slips underneath the main gear wheel, causing that grinding feeling when you turn the knob.

 

Picture 'vent flap' shows another problem, whereby the face/feet vent flap lever jumps teeth, causing the air to go nowhere in particular. You need to prize the lever off and reset it's position so that the bowden cable resumes it's normal on/off cycle. You can hear when the flap is sychronized properly by means of a 'thunk' at the limit of each cable direction.

 

Well I hope this helps. You will faint when VW tell how much a new facia control panel is, believe me. My scrappy has loads of passats, luckily, and £10 for two of them is a real bargain. I have made one perfect panel up using bits from the Corrado one and the passat ones.

 

Cheers

Kev

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Two more pics:

[dan 0]

Nice one again Kevm

 

I had problems with my controls last year. I left it with my (ex) VW specialist to get it fixed. He had it for 10 days, found so many problems, fitted several new parts, charged me £40 & still did'nt fix it.

 

I ended up taking the car with half the front dash sitting on the pasenger seat.....grrrrr

 

Anyway on the way home I stopped in with the local VW breaker & bought the fascia controls from a Passat. When I took them home & compared them to the c controls I found a few small differences, so I thought they were no good.

 

So I refitted my original controls & everything has worked since :D

 

Don't ask my why but, I think the problem lay with two of the round controls being switched. This does make a difference as the little nicks at the back are different in the controls.

 

Seeing Kev's post now tells me that the Passat controls I bought may come in useful in the future :D

[Kevin Bacon 5]

You have to stick at it. It looks really daunting and fiddly when all the dash cables and wires are hanging out, plus you have to be a contortionist to get the cables on and off the heater column!

 

When all the cables are free of kinks and stiffness, the whole lot works perfectly. Just have to remember not to force the knob if it goes stiff again.

 

I've also found that on fan speed 4, there is a lot of pressure exerted on the direction flaps, so it's best to lower the speed to 2 or 1 and then adjust the direction - just to be on the safe side!

Kev

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Well it's all sorted now. The vent control is now sweet and slick :D So nice to have them working again after 6 months.

 

Total cost of the repair was £14. £9 for a new cable and a fiver for a Passat control panel. I love cheap repairs. At VW rates, I saved myself £400 in labour and £250 for the control panel :lol:

 

DIY rules 8)

 

Kev

[2cc 0]

That's a great post Kev, a candidate for the proposed 'how to' section. Touch wood my cables all work nicely; as you suggest I always turn the fan off before changing the flow direction as there can be quite a bit of pressure in there.

[Bolster 0]

Excellent post. I've just done mine (in my lunch break at work) with the aid of this post. Only thing to add is that it's not necessary to remove half the dash before you realise that the front facia of the controls just pops off to reveal the screws that hold it in place. (as if you'd do that!! :oops: )

 

I had my stereo out at he same time which gave much more room to get a hand in behind the controls also.

 

With mine the cable that controls the face/feet part doesn't travel the whole distance so I'll have to get at the other end of it - any more tips on accessing the other end of the cable?

 

Thanks again for the tips. :D

[VR6 0]

Ok to shift this to Common Questions Kev?

 

Could make it a sticky in there as well if you like?

[akacheesy 0]

how do you disconnect the cables from the controls? I heard somewhere that Mk2 Golf heater controls are the same? Is that true?

[Bolster 0]

Metal clips wrap over the end cable casings. I used a flat bladed screw driver to lever them off and they were pressed back on using my fingers. You should be able to work it out by looking at them.

[akacheesy 0]

cheers m8, had a look last night but was reluctant to even attempt to diconnect the wires just in case I ciouldn't get them back on.

 

Gonna take a look over the weekend in the comfort of my girlfriends double garage (ooh err) :D

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Ok to shift this to Common Questions Kev?

 

Could make it a sticky in there as well if you like?

 

Yeah of course, you are the governor after all, guv :lol:

 

Kev

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Well I've found the root cause of the late heater control failure.

 

See attached pic. You'll see a metal spring tab. This clips onto the main plastic housing and provides the notch at each vent direction. In all the cases I've seen where the controls break, this metal tab falls off it's mount and jams under the gear wheels shown in the pic. Then of course, people tend to force the knob round and then the bowden cables snap off their mounts too :(

 

My advice is to remove this stupid little metal tab altogether. You won't get the click stop at each direction but it's not a major issue and it's better than a not being able to direct air onto the screen during the colder months.

 

Kev

[chris CORRADO 0]

ok i got the heater problem ok spent all day today and nothing..... so

 

my heater controls work perfectally but (removed the cover in the pasangers footwell) behind there is the gears which change the direction of air flow throught the car and i manually move the slider under the foot well with my hands and the 4th posistion (just face air does not want to close the flaps..... i feel ristance someware..... please help coz at the mo i have all the cales behind the dash lose.......

 

cheers

---------

chris

[Chris VR6nos 0]

Good post Kev!

Got to try this as i have exactly the same prob and £9 for the cable from dealer is worth investing as mine is git stiff!

 

Hate having to bastardise things that are meant for other things, but if it works!

 

 

 

Chris

[Ady_G 0]

I got the same problem on mine, I got to change the directional cable cos there's a kink in it. Also the hot/cold cable keeps popping the clip off at the back of the control unit, so I might just change both of them.

 

Is it an easy job to do, locating the other end of the cables or is it dash board to bits job?

 

Cheers

 

Ady

[Kevin Bacon 5]

If you're replacing cables, then both ends need some minor stripping. The trickiest part go get to is the heater distribution box as it's buried behind the dash. The facia control panel is easy to work on.

 

Be careful where you route the new cable to avoid kinks and tight bends.

 

K

[akacheesy 0]

Kev, your pic vent flap.JPG is the bit I am having problems with. It won't move at all, I guess its jumped cogs or something at some point. Any tips on how I get it moving again?

[Bobbywhacker 0]

Hi all,

 

My heater fan directional controls have been balls'ed up since the year dot I think. Today I bit the bullet and got the tool kit out. Managed to fix the snapped cog, and the bottom arm aswell.... but now it appears the bowden cable is super tight and I expect needs replacing.. only thing is I'm not sure which 1 it is!!! Its the cable on the bottom arm of the directional control cog.. is this the face/feet or screen one???

 

Cheers for now

[akacheesy 0]

how did ya manage to relocate the cog & arm?

[Eug 0]

Its the cable on the bottom arm of the directional control cog.. is this the face/feet or screen one???

 

Cheers for now

 

The cable with the white stripe around the end is the screen vent open-close cable and goes on top.

 

The cable with the yellow stripe around the end is the face/feet cable and goes at the bottom.

 

Easy to remember because the vent is on top, and the feet is obviously down below.

[Bobbywhacker 0]

didn't relocate it, fixed it! bolted and countersunk the cog into place and used a self-tapping screw thru the bottom of the plastic into the underneath of the bottom arm.. still got a lovely super smooth action.... going away from the point, just finished my custom cold air relocation kit.. makes a beautiful tuned sound aswell!

[Bobbywhacker 0]

The cable with the white stripe around the end is the screen vent open-close cable and goes on top.

 

The cable with the yellow stripe around the end is the face/feet cable and goes at the bottom.

 

Easy to remember because the vent is on top, and the feet is obviously down below.

 

 

cheers for that.... I remember port from starboard because 'left' only has 4 letters aswell!

[Bobbywhacker 0]

confused now... completely taken it all to bits and the cables seem ok.. as does the flap! But with the flap connected to the cable and cog, it gets real stiff.. confused :x

[Eug 0]

Try disconnecting the cables and see if the dials turn freely.

 

And then manually push and pull each cable and check for play.

It could be the the cable has a kink or is jammed at the other end.