When driving with the air vents open to allow outside air to come in, the air is extremely warm. Even on these chilly nights we've been having. Temperature **** is turned all the way to cool, but still the same. Any ideas what could cause this ?

 

When you turn the temperature **** you're doing 2 different things. In the heater unit (inside dashboard) you're moving an air-blend door. From there, a 2nd cable goes out to the valve in the heater hose.

Find the heater hoses that go through the firewall; one of them has a valve operated by a cable. Have someone operate the temperature control back & forth while you watch to make sure the valve actually moves. Disconnected or broken cable??

If the cable is attached to the valve, but doesn't move, then the problem is likely under the dashboard. The levers around the air-blend door might break, or the cable might become disconnected down there.

 

There are a couple of ways to test this.

The **** could be cracked on the part that wraps around the metal peg. Try pulling off the heater **** and inspecting the plastic part. You can also try turning the metal part of the **** to see if you can control the temperature with a pair of pliers.

This happens in the first few minutes of this video (the repair is for a different problem).


He also talks about a valve that allows the car to heat up with a black and white photo later in the video. That valve is on the passenger side of the car in the engine bay and would go into the car between the glove box and the floor board. Check to see if that arm moves.

 

Thanks everyone for the suggestions & quick responses. At least now I have an idea where to start looking.

 

Also on that valve under the hood, be sure the cable is closing the valve all the way....if memory serves me right there is a blend door cable adjustment procedure....part of this is confirming that the cable from the blend door to the valve is adjusted properly, closes the valve all the way.