Club 80-90 Forums

Apologies as I suspect the answer to this is fairly simple but...

I have no idea how to adjust the temperature of the air coming out of the lower (knee height) blowers in my '83 1.6D T25.

I'm assuming that one of the heater controls (probably the middle slider?) is supposed to adjust this? Mine blows hot at all times and is making the van a bit unbearable unless wearing shorts!

Any ideas what I can look at to sort this?

At the same time I guess I may as well ask what the purpose of the heater? flaps in the door is? I'm guessing there's a good chance something isn't connected properly somewhere, but they don't seem to do anything at all...



Cheers folks,

Andy

In your handbook.

If the centre lever does nothing then the cable is likely at fault either at the knob end or the valve end. The valve end can be seen when you remove the spare wheel.

Those door flaps have been a big subject of debate, especially recently at the last "Pikey meet". It seems they might only have been used on the proper Caravelle (mini bus) versions of the van where they linked to some vents in the rear roof area. However one of my vans was a Caravelle and the flaps on that one don't do anything either. If you look down the channel that runs right through the doe from front to back, you will note that the flaps are not actually connected in any way to that air duct It seems they just open and close the lower space in the door for some reason. I keep mine open just in case it helps keep the lower inside of the door dryer

I'll second the bit about the heat probably being down to a sticky valve in the coolant hose. Usually mine works but sometimes the cable bends instead of pushing the valve and like Ghost123uk said can be seen by dropping the spare wheel cover and looking in the space there.

As for the door flaps, my understanding is these are extract air when the vehicle is moving by being linked to the narrow openings between the hinges which is a low pressure area when moving. Not to be confused with the through ducting which lies above these extractors and feeds roof level vents on some models eg Caravelles. The front end of this ducting is would be connected to the front crossmember which on the right van will be fed from the extra flaps in the heater. My Westy does not have these vents and the heater box flaps are not present although you can see where they would go when the box is dismantled. There is a corresponding hole in the top of the crossmember in my van where the air would flow from if the heater had the correct flaps. I've seen pictures of other vans where this crossmember under the heater is solid so probably another difference between vehicles destined for passenger use or goods use.

I'll second the bit about the heat probably being down to a sticky valve in the coolant hose. Usually mine works but sometimes the cable bends instead of pushing the valve and like Ghost123uk said can be seen by dropping the spare wheel cover and looking in the space there.

As for the door flaps, my understanding is these are extract air when the vehicle is moving by being linked to the narrow openings between the hinges which is a low pressure area when moving. Not to be confused with the through ducting which lies above these extractors and feeds roof level vents on some models eg Caravelles. The front end of this ducting is would be connected to the front crossmember which on the right van will be fed from the extra flaps in the heater. My Westy does not have these vents and the heater box flaps are not present although you can see where they would go when the box is dismantled. There is a corresponding hole in the top of the crossmember in my van where the air would flow from if the heater had the correct flaps. I've seen pictures of other vans where this crossmember under the heater is solid so probably another difference between vehicles destined for passenger use or goods use.

door flaps are like your appendix
they are a vestige of the past.
and indeed extraction or outlet from what would have been a smelly cab with a bulk head

Cheers folks, I didn't have a manual, but have since managed to find a download on here - thanks for the pic tho

I will have a look and check for the cable bending instead of adjusting the valve. Van is currently away being fettled with by a mate... the wiring is erm, interesting to say the least!

Interesting about the side vents, guess air extract makes sense (sort of!).



Thanks for all your help.

Andy

Update on the heating issue...

Right, have checked and bottom slider moves flaps to lower heat channels correctly, top one adjusts top vents correctly. Middle slider moves correctly, and also does pull/push cable correctly but regardless of which side it is set to, the heaters always blow hot (and it is really quite hot). What do you guys think? Replace the valve? Or is this a sign of something more sinister?

Doesn't help that my dash PCB is currently fried... hopefully found a replacement so will be able to check engine temp soon (which will be a bonus!).

If you look under the gearstick boot around 2' o'clock area you can see the heater valve and you can check if it is moving when you move the lever. (This is why when the valve leaks you get a smell of coolant leak that you can't trace - it is right under your nose , so to speak)

Oldiebut goodie wrote:If you look under the gearstick boot around 2' o'clock area you can see the heater valve and you can check if it is moving when you move the lever. (This is why when the valve leaks you get a smell of coolant leak that you can't trace - it is right under your nose , so to speak)

Thanks, will have a look later on this eve then. Worst comes to the worst I'd like to at least set it to 50/50 so I don't boil during driving it!

Oldiebut goodie wrote:If you look under the gearstick boot around 2' o'clock area you can see the heater valve and you can check if it is moving when you move the lever. (This is why when the valve leaks you get a smell of coolant leak that you can't trace - it is right under your nose , so to speak)

Finally got round to having a look for the valve, turns out it was located above the spare, just forward from where the gear selector comes through. I'm not sure that my heating pipes are setup quite as the should be (for a start there is a zip tie holding the two together), but it appears the the cable is moving the valve. Very hard to see though due to the positioning of the valve and wire. I'm tempted to replace both wire and valve to be honest, would also mean that I could get the coolant drained out properly and refilled - not a job I look forward to, but probably a necessary one! Don't suppose you happen to know how much coolant should be in the entire system do you? I know you're supposed to raise the front when draining it, but that is about it!

dugone wrote: Finally got round to having a look for the valve, turns out it was located above the spare,

ghost123uk wrote:If the centre lever does nothing then the cable is likely at fault either at the knob end or the valve end. The valve end can be seen when you remove the spare wheel.

Told you it was

If the cable is moving the valve there seems little point in changing it imho. You will have to drain, re-fill and bleed to check the valve itself. Whilst the valve is disconnected you can test it's operation by attaching a temp bit of pipe and blowing down it or using a garden water hose, to determine if it is not closing properly. I had one on our Scirocco that didn't shut off even though the lever was going right over.

All the info re capacities and bleeding is in the wiki and your Haynes. It is not a big job at all. Folks just "go on" about it a lot

ghost123uk wrote:

dugone wrote: Finally got round to having a look for the valve, turns out it was located above the spare,

So you did, but I still struggled to find it! It's quite well disguised by its clamps!

ghost123uk wrote:If the centre lever does nothing then the cable is likely at fault either at the knob end or the valve end. The valve end can be seen when you remove the spare wheel.
I don't think it is necessarily moving the valve fully, but I'd have thought it would be enough to stop my legs from boiling! lol.
I think I'll have a read of the manual and get on with it soon. I'm sure the system would benefit from a clear out anyway, so might as well bite the bullet and get on with it really!

Just read in the manual that the heat does not flow through the adjustable vents in the middle (3 in the manual), that is just fresh/ambient. Seems very random!

Oops - quote fail!