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Posted by: mdwman Mar 30 2008, 06:04 PM

I have heat constantly coming into the passenger side of my cockpit so I'm guessing I have something stuck or broken in my flapper box (the cable is attached and seems to move freely when the heat knob is pulled up and down). With summer in Tennessee coming on I want to address this. Next weekend I plan to get the car up in the air to check things out. If there is something broken in the flapper I plan just to disconnect the tubing for now. Should I use something to close off the openings in this case? Any suggestions for safety?

Thanks,

M

Posted by: Pat Garvey Mar 30 2008, 06:35 PM

Sounds like the flapper valve is either blocked from moving by something (rust), or it's gone south from age. I'd just plan on replacing the entire valve, though you may be able to work it loose.

Had this problem many years ago & the flapper was stuck in a half open position, caused by corrosion arount the pivots. Took it off, soaked the pivots in wd40 overnight & worked it loose. Lasted another 5 years before I replaced it.

There are almost always flapper valves (new & used) on eBay. They aren't particularly expensive (50-70 bucks). You don't need reverse air conditioning in Tn dduring the summer.

Good luck!
Pat

Posted by: SirAndy Mar 30 2008, 06:59 PM

Posted by: Dave_Darling Mar 30 2008, 10:26 PM

There's also a potential problem that the two halves of the flap separate inside the valve. (There's a rivet that holds them together, and it can eventually fail.) A simple nut and bolt can take care of that particular problem.

Pull the hose off of the flapper valve and see what's going on in there.

--DD

Posted by: eg914 Mar 30 2008, 10:52 PM

Another possibility is that the hose from the flapper to the body is gone. This seems to let the hot air that has collected in that area generate a chimney effect, resulting in a fair amount of heat at all times. This is from personal experience, Sacramento summer and a missing hose made for some very warm commute days.

Posted by: biosurfer1 Mar 30 2008, 11:22 PM

I got the same thing going on, but on both sides I think. I saw my hose was off the flapper box a bit and thought that was it, but once it was fixed, still got air coming in....haven't gotten around to checking the boxes though since its been cold and nice to have heat. I'll check into it soon...

come to think of it, last time I messed with the controls, none of them did anything!

Posted by: rhodyguy Mar 31 2008, 07:44 AM

the spring inside the valve assembly may have failed also. push the interior lever all the way down. in a perfect world this should stop the heat flow. the sealing gaskets are usually shot but the heat will be a trickle. sending the heat thru the dash vents and mixing with cooler outside air using the dash controls will help with broiling your passengers feet.

k