Broken or unattached heater control cable?

This is on my '91 EX, auto. The hot /cold switch is not working--there is no resistance at all until it get 3/4 to the hot level where it stops. Everthing looks OK under the hood--cable is attached to heater valve, etc and can operate by hand but the inside switch does not move it at all. What happened?? Did it break or just become disconected?? More importantly how expensive to fix--I'm not sure I want to tackle this unless it's an easy fix. I remember reading about switching out these cables Appreciate any feedback on this!!!

Anybody??

Hi, I just joined this forum to find out any information I could about this subject.

We own a 92 Accord and ever since Day 1 we had a problem with the heater temparature control. Maybe your EX is the same way.

I think the problem is that whatever rubber or sealing compound that the flapper seals against when the selector is in the coldest, or off, position, hardens in cold weather. The cable mechanism simply is not rugged enough to "break free" the flapper from that position, and it ends up bending, coming loose, and eventually failing.

We paid Honda to fix the thing once and it cost us a pretty penny and then the thing failed again the next year of cold weather. I ended up disengaging the cable and now I reach under the dash and operate the little lever by hand. Even by hand, the lever can be very difficult to move. I find that the easiest way to accomplish the task is to warm up the engine FIRST, before attempting any adjustment of the temperature control - particularly if the weather is cold. Then I nudge the lever and, if it resists, I just wait another couple of minutes and then try again. Usually it then moves easily.

I just happened to be at a local body shop one day looking at a truck they had for sale. The guy at the shop saw my car and asked if we were going to be selling it in the near future, because his daughter needed a good car for school. I replied "no", but it reminded me of our heater temp control and I asked him if he had ever seen this problem on Accords of that year. He said that he had done much work on Accords of that year and that they ALL have this problem.

I just checked out the TSB's and didn't find any mention of this problem.

I find it hard to believe that Honda doesn't know all about this.

Check that cable to make sure it isn't bent and sloppy.

Good luck.

Honker HI! Ive not had any such problems with my car but Tony1M seems to have done some research on your very problem...

I think both of you together should draft up a letter together and bring it up to HONDA's boys from the service department...post us if you get help and find a way to fix the problem...

Merry Christmas...
WheelBrokerAng



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quote:

ORIGINAL: WheelBrokerAng

Honker HI! Ive not had any such problems with my car but Tony1M seems to have done some research on your very problem...

I think both of you together should draft up a letter together and bring it up to HONDA's boys from the service department...post us if you get help and find a way to fix the problem...

Merry Christmas...
WheelBrokerAng

Thanks for the input.

I'm a complete newcomer to this site, so I'm not sure what you are advising. I understand the "get together and write letter" part, but then - which "Honda boys" at which service department? Some national Honda center?

I'm a Canadian, by the way. Maybe this would change your advice.

Thanks again.

Tony

EH...sorry about that..
Your Honda Service Center for your area up in Canada will be glad to help you out..

WheelBrokerAng....Eh...

quote:

ORIGINAL: Tony1M

quote:

ORIGINAL: WheelBrokerAng

Honker HI! Ive not had any such problems with my car but Tony1M seems to have done some research on your very problem...

I think both of you together should draft up a letter together and bring it up to HONDA's boys from the service department...post us if you get help and find a way to fix the problem...

Merry Christmas...
WheelBrokerAng

Thanks for the input.

I'm a complete newcomer to this site, so I'm not sure what you are advising. I understand the "get together and write letter" part, but then - which "Honda boys" at which service department? Some national Honda center?

I'm a Canadian, by the way. Maybe this would change your advice.

Thanks again.

Tony

well the cable is easy to replace. no big deal at all. but i think everything is easy to fix on a honda


lightshow

quote:

ORIGINAL: honker3

This is on my '91 EX, auto. The hot /cold switch is not working--there is no resistance at all until it get 3/4 to the hot level where it stops. Everthing looks OK under the hood--cable is attached to heater valve, etc and can operate by hand but the inside switch does not move it at all. What happened?? Did it break or just become disconected?? More importantly how expensive to fix--I'm not sure I want to tackle this unless it's an easy fix. I remember reading about switching out these cables Appreciate any feedback on this!!!

possably the plastic piece that holds the heater cable in the heater control panel broke off,or the gear came out of sync i have seen both happen a few times...as a matter of facts there is a bulletin or service news on how to replace that gear .........
before you do anything,, pull out the heater knob and make sure it is not broken, if it is install a new knob and retry, if knob is ok,,,,,,,
try this.......disconnect cable from heater valve under the hood, ,,on rt side, lower center dash ( end of center console ) there is a black plastic cover . remove it, very easy just pull out the plastic plug, that,s where the inner heater cable is, disconnect it from there as well. now turn the knob and watch how far the cable will travel , it should extend and retract fully,,, if not,, it could be what i have said ,,,,, heater control needs to come out and repaired ,,,,if that's the case you might want to have a honda tech do it ,

DesertHonda...Now that is Great Reporting for all of us members..

Thank You!

WheelBrokerAng

my heater contol works fine. the only thing is i cant direct where its going. i cant put the heat on the floor or throuth the top vents it only comes out the middle... any ideas how to fix? ps its a 91 DX!

Does your heater control look like this?

yes thats wat mine looks like

On the right side of the DRIVER's footwell, near the end of the plastic console, you can see the various linkages that the air-direction-slider controls.
 
Get your head down there and look at those linkages as you operate the air-direction-slider.  Make sure that there's some linkage movement as you operate the slider.
 
Let us know what you observe.
 
Good luck.

well i looked and the cable was disconnected. i connected it. now i can only get the face and feet to work it wont go all the way over to the defroster. i tried with a little force.. not too much and it still wont go over. i actually have to adjust it from the bottom not the lever. but even that way it wont go over to the defroster. any ideas or should i just replace?

quote:

ORIGINAL: iamgooderer

well i looked and the cable was disconnected. i connected it. now i can only get the face and feet to work it wont go all the way over to the defroster. i tried with a little force.. not too much and it still wont go over. i actually have to adjust it from the bottom not the lever. but even that way it wont go over to the defroster. any ideas or should i just replace?

Well, things are getting a bit better, right?
 
Are you saying that the cable will now control air-direction somewhat, but that it will not go to either defrost position?   That is, when you're using the slider control on the dash, will it go as far as the "feet + defroster" (second from rightmost) position?
 
From what you've said, I'm not exactly sure if the cable is attached or not attached when you tried to manually move the linkage from below (when you still could not get defrost air alone).  So, to clear up my confusion  - when you disconnect the cable from the linkage and operate the linkage entirely by hand, can you then get a big flow of defrost air alone?  If you can, then it's a cable or slider problem. 
 
If you cannot, then it's a linkage problem. There are several sliding, rotating, interlocked pieces in that linkage.  I believe that it's possible that something may have slipped out of position or, less likely, broken.
 
A couple of other questions to narrow down the possibilities, when the cable is disconnected from the linkage, does the slider then move freely all the way to the defroster position?  If it does, take a look at the linkage end of the cable.  Is there any cable still poking out from the end of the cable housing/casing? 
 
(As far as replacing anything yet, it's better to narrow down the problem a bit more first.)
 
 

yeah they're gettin a lil better i can now toast my feet a bit!

    when the cable is free the slider moves all the way to the defrost position, but once the cable is on, it only goes half way. when i move it manually, it also only goes to the feet and head, not to the defroster. so yeah when its disconnected i still only get to use half the function of the heater. i havent looked at the cable in detail but it appears ok but i will look at it further to see what else may be wrong.
by the way i appreciate the help!

Just another thought. 
 
You sound like you live in a cold climate. 
 
Have you tried moving the linkage by hand to get full defrost after the engine and heater have been running for quite some time?  Maybe something's frozen stuck, so it might be worthwhile to let the heater really get everything nice and warm under there before trying to move the linkage over to full defrost.
 
(We're -18 F in Edmonton tonight, so that's why I had the thought.)

oh no it gets no where near that cold! i think the coldest i gets here is aroung 45f.. thats considered cold! well i guess im going to have to look around here for the linkage assembly and assembly to the heater because i cant get it to work properly. but again thanks for your help!

in regards to the cable, I had the same problem on my '92.  all i did was go under the dash and take the flap cable and tie it to the valve cable, and JB welded them together, now they both work great

Some interesting comments.
I have a 92 Accord EX-R and have owned it for 6 months.
I just noticed that I can't adjust the heat! Its on full on any setting. hadn't noticed before because its been cold and I have wanted the heat on. Doesn't matter even if I turn the heat down to the lowest, it comes out HOT!
I imagine its a similar case to the others here, in that the cable could be stuck, except mines hot and not cold like others are mentioning here, so will have a look this weekend.
If anyone thinks it could be something else or has any suggestions would be good to hear!
Thanks

quote:

ORIGINAL: iamgooderer

oh no it gets no where near that cold! i think the coldest i gets here is aroung 45f.. thats considered cold! well i guess im going to have to look around here for the linkage assembly and assembly to the heater because i cant get it to work properly. but again thanks for your help!

 
I had this problem on a Toyota w/ manual vent selection. I found the push/pull wire was bent at the heater controls (opposite end from actuator) end. This prevented full extension. I was able to "straighten" the wire w/ pliers and it worked acceptably. The problem is too much friction between wire and sleeve (possible rust?) caused the wire to buckle and fold. Some lube down the wire sleeve would help this problem.
 
good luck

quote:

ORIGINAL: Trickster

Some interesting comments.
I have a 92 Accord EX-R and have owned it for 6 months.
I just noticed that I can't adjust the heat! Its on full on any setting. hadn't noticed before because its been cold and I have wanted the heat on. Doesn't matter even if I turn the heat down to the lowest, it comes out HOT!
I imagine its a similar case to the others here, in that the cable could be stuck, except mines hot and not cold like others are mentioning here, so will have a look this weekend.
If anyone thinks it could be something else or has any suggestions would be good to hear!
Thanks

 
Read above responses. Possibilities are 1) actuator wire is disconnected at controls end or at heater control valve end, or 2) heater control valve is frozen which may have damaged actuator wire or linkages, or 3) temp control knob is broken and heat control valve is not being actuated (pull knob off and check).
 
good luck