<VV> Heater control cable question...

[N. Joseph Potts]

The procedures for frozen cables are petty intuitive, and involve trying to
get lubricant/solvent to drain into the sheath from the high end. And they
take time. CLOCK time, not necessarily actual WORK time. The procedures also
benefit from detaching BOTH ends of the cable.
     I know the south end of this cable is now difficult to get at, but you
might consider detaching it anyway, in order to set the flapper over to the
Heat position manually (without the cable attached), and leave it that way
until you get the cable working (if you're patient, you're very likely to
succeed, in my opinion).
     Meantime, if you've got your flapper over manually, (a) you will get
some blowing of cold air while the engine is warming up; and (b) after that,
you'll get the heat you're after. Consider taking the plunge and detaching
the cable from the flapper while you're working on the cable. You can also
confirm that the flapper itself isn't sticking.

Joe Potts, heater expert
Miami, Florida USA
1966 Corsa coupe 140hp 4-speed with A/C

-----Original Message-----
From: virtualvairs-admin@corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-admin@corvair.org]On Behalf Of Joe West
Sent: Friday, December 31, 2004 8:49 AM
To: VV
Subject: <VV> Heater control cable question...

Hi,

After restoring my rear undercarriage (and engine) for the past two months,
I start up my Corvair for the first time with the rebuilt engine and go to
turn on the heat and discover that my heater control cable is apparently
frozen.  I didn't want to force the control because I didn't want to break
anything, but I need to get the heat working (it worked when I started
working on the Corvair two months ago).

Is there a recommended procedure for fixing frozen cables? I'm kicking
myself in the butt for not checking the cables before putting the engine
back in because I could have fixed the problem easier with the engine out
and free access to the heater flapper :(

Any suggestions are much appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Joe