my heat switch has been giving me trouble for a while until something finally snapped. before it was hard to move, now its easy but it doesnt do anything. the part its connected too doesnt move when i play with the switch. n when i manually move the part, no heat comes out in either direction i move it. my mechanic says i need a new blend door assembly. please help!!
Ha sorry, just felt like sayin' that. Look for one online and try to find a way to install it yourself. Thats pretty obvious stuff really, but some people don't know any other life but to get a mechanic to do their work for them...
my heat switch has been giving me trouble for a while until something finally snapped. before it was hard to move, now its easy but it doesnt do anything. the part its connected too doesnt move when i play with the switch. n when i manually move the part, no heat comes out in either direction i move it. my mechanic says i need a new blend door assembly. please help!!
no your mechanic doesn't know what's up probably.
this is common to 5th gen's where the cable controlling the heat valve strips down. what you need to do is pull out the climate control unit and see if it stripped or pulled free there. (it'll be held down by a small metal clip). If not, run down the cable into the passenger footwell, this is where there is another cable and where it could have possibly stripped or popped out of the clip. the other possibility is one of two cables came off of their posts. (the cable inside the cabin is connected to a hinge to a small metal post, on the other end the cable controlling the valve in the engine is also connected in this manner).
hmm.. the one in the footwell seems to have come loose i think. if i knew what it is supposed to look like i could probably figure it out. couple of friends had prelude but sold them, so i cant ask to look at theirs =/ but thanks a lot shimee, ur theory seems promising ^^
hmm i hooked the footwell one.. where would the climate control one be located? i took it apart a week ago but didnt see it. man this is confusing =p sorry dont know much about cars..
ok! i took it apart again, and the climate control one did pop out of the clip. the weird part is the black piece holding in was on my passenger side floor but the screw was still attached to the climate control. in any case.. i put the cable in n screwed the clip back on. but now the switch barely moves at all. n the cable is stripped. what do i do now? ><
you may have to manually turn the hinge in the footwell. try that because sometimes the valve gets stuck.
another thing i found is getting a long screw driver and loosening and tightening the screw on top of the valve in the engine. have someone move the cable so you can locate it. if not, it's easy to spot. its a cable that comes out of the firewall with that same kind of eye hole end that hooks to a small valve in between two tubes.
i connected everything appropriately (i hope). put the cables back into clips, manually turned the hinge in the footwell so its pointing towards me. but still no heat.. i guess the only thing left is the valve in the engine.. going to see if i can spot it. the cable in the footwell doesnt seem to move so easily..
found the valve.. unfortunately for me.. the screw is rusted.. do u kno by any chance is the eye hold end is supposed to face the front or back of the car?
i read at other threads that the hinge should point towards the front of the car, n it seems like it pulls the cable from the firewall thus having the valve arm closer to the firewall.. but it wont budge.. and i read somewhere else that the valve arm should point away for cold. either way.. the stupid thing wont move =/ i managed to loosen the screw but it wont give. time to pick up some wd40! ^^
bad news.. got the screw off.. but i may have snapped it in half.. is it the screw that turns the valve to heat? i dont get it.. the valve arm wont budge. anyway i put the screw back in. what function does the valve arm perform?
the valve i'm talking about is immediately in front of the firewall, so i think you got the right one. i hope you're not screwed with the screw (no pun intended); i didn't mean for you to pull it out all the way but just loosen it a little and tighten it back.
the screw supposedly holds down the control arm that controls the valve inside the tube. to this arm the cable will be attached.
but it doesn't matter which way the damn thing should point now. i'm focusing on why the valve on your car won't open/close at all.
get into the footwell again and pop off the cable that goes into the firewall. grab it with some pliers and try yanking and pushing the thing. (not too hard, but enough). also the hinge in the footwell has two posts. you may have mistakenly mounted the cables in reverse. try one way and the other and see if it helps.
another thing, if the jacket on the cable is stripped to the metal, the cable won't work anymore. usually there's little slag to jam it into the clip on some rubber further down the cable, so you may need to hit up honda for a new one. a quick solution (which i had to do) was get some "friction tape" from autozone and ghetto rig a new jacket. i started at where the metal underjacket begins and wrapped no more than two layers on the stripped part and overlapped onto the rubber, essentially just to cover the metal.
mmm.. the cables are no longer a factor in my heat problem. i assume that as long as i get the valve arm to turn, i will soon have heat. thats my main focus considering the weather is gettin pretty nasty.. its already snowed while i was workin on the car =/ . in any case, the cables are stripped and i do plan on gettin new ones or ghetto riggin it but for now i just wanna get the valve arm moving. im beginning to think that the cable is stuck. i guess i should detach it from both posts n see if i can get it movin. only pain is that the cable is a little hard to remove from the valve arm and gettin it back on will suck too. thanks again for all ur help! if this fails, time to take it to the shop =/
I HAVE HEAT!! the cable was preventing the valve arm to move. now i just have to replace both cables n im set. thanks for all ur help shimee! thank God for forums, saved me a whole lotta money =p
yeah no problem. i'd take some pictures and all but both spots with that cable are miserable to get a decent pic from.
i had essentially the same thing happen to me. first the jacket on the interior end of the exterior cable stripped, then the interior cable ripped from the clip on the climate control module. everything else on the car was perfect ........... except that.
one more thing. you shouldn't need to pull the cable off the valve (in front of firewall). the cable is really a steel line within a steel tube so it can slide back and forth. i'd keep it on since i found it's easier to use some pliers on the cable than screw around with a metal bar to play with the valve.
mmm.. i tried to move the cable while it was off valve arm but it doesnt slide at all nor did it slide when it was on. the valve arm moves pretty smoothly n easily with the cable off. im not sure whats causing the cable to stick, maybe its the clip? its really hard to see, but ill get it replaced asap. my mechanic thinks my cars been through a flood considering my previous problems, and the clip is rusted. so who knows ^^ im just glad i gots heat! =p
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