Experencing tunnel heat in RedBird

[Jai Ramsay]

Guess what? The excessive heat, seemingly from the tunnel in the hot weather, is not what it seemed. I just figured it out that my sweet car has her heater running full time, no matter the weather. For these winter months, this is quite pleasurable. Unlike in the hot summer when she about cooked me. Gasp!

I'm questioning, what can be done for this to make the heater work perfectly, as it should be? How can it be fixed to turn off and on? I'm asking now, so I'll have the time to get it done before hot weather strikes again. 😥

Thanks y'all, you are the best.

Jai 😇 🚘

[SteveJ]

I would have to look at the FSM to be sure. Likely candidates include a watercock that is stuck open or a heater cable that came loose with the watercock in the full open position.

If it's the former, a good flushing may loosen it enough to operate. If it's the latter, reattach the cable if it's in good condition.

[psdenno]

Do the heater control levers operate smoothly and feel connected?

Dennis

[Mark Maras]

And does the blower turn off and on?

[Patcon]

Can the water valve be seen if you put a mirror in the footwell? If so she Jai could use a mirror so see if it's hooked up and does it move...

[Jai Ramsay]

Dennis...The controls feel connected, but when I slide to the right, it slows down, then moves more easily again, frees up a bit.

Mark... The fan control, with I think 4 speeds/stops works fine. Is that what you are asking about?

Charles... I will have to look at the FSM to find out what a water valve looks like. And yes, once knowing that, I feel I can use a mirror to try to see if it is hooked up, and able to move.

Steve... I don't know if the watercock is the same as the water valve Charles mentioned? As to the heater cable, I'll look in the FSM to see if I can figure that out too. If I have to be a contortionist to view these things, it may have to wait for a more limber person than I.

Thank each of you for asking these questions. The more the merrier.

Jai

Edited December 23, 2015 by Jai

[Zed Head]

I can't remember for sure, but I think that if you remove the front panel/face plate over the heater controls you can easily see the levers and cables that move the various parts.  Might be easier than a mirror, although I do recommend the mirror also, I use one often.  Pull the rubber knobs off of the levers, remove the screws and pull the face plate off.  It's not super-difficult.

 

If you try the mirror, make sure you have a bright light.  Sit in the passenger seat and position the mirror and light and you might able to see if it's moving the watercock lever or not.  My car had a bent cable which wouldn't push, and pushing is what shuts the watercock.  

 

You'll probably use the mirror and find that the lever isn't moving, then take the face plate off and find a bent cable.

 

But Captain Obvious wrote up a whole thing on using Honda watercock valves in place of the expensive Nissan valves, if you find that the lever is moving but the water flow isn't controlled.

[Zed Head]

Here's what you'll be looking at.  The end of the lever where the cable attaches is at the upper right.

[Jai Ramsay]

I can't remember for sure, but I think that if you remove the front panel/face plate over the heater controls you can easily see the levers and cables that move the various parts.  Might be easier than a mirror, although I do recommend the mirror also, I use one often.  Pull the rubber knobs off of the levers, remove the screws and pull the face plate off.  It's not super-difficult.

 

If you try the mirror, make sure you have a bright light.  Sit in the passenger seat and position the mirror and light and you might able to see if it's moving the watercock lever or not.  My car had a bent cable which wouldn't push, and pushing is what shuts the watercock.  

 

You'll probably use the mirror and find that the lever isn't moving, then take the face plate off and find a bent cable.

 

But Captain Obvious wrote up a whole thing on using Honda watercock valves in place of the expensive Nissan valves, if you find that the lever is moving but the water flow isn't controlled.

Thank you for giving me more information to use. Especially the photo. I have my next 2 days full, so probably will not be able to look at the heater and the connections until Saturday. But I will indeed do as you, and the others suggest, just as soon as I can.

Thank you so much.

Jai

[Patcon]

If you take the screws out of the knobs pay close attention. The screws are small and easily lost

[Zed Head]

On my 76 the knobs are rubber (black with a white stripe) and just pull straight off the metal lever end.