help with temp lever in AC truck

[gman]

Question........the temp lever, controls a door that appears like you need to access it from the engine compartment. Is this correct? I've got my ductwork apart on the inside of the truck but I can't seem to get to the door for the temperature control from the inside. I've gotten to the outlets door and the defroster door and have those working great now. But when I slide the "bowden" cable (what its called in the service manual) for the temp lever, the arm on the top of the firewall just above the blower motor moves about 2 inches max. When I disconnect the cable at the arm on the firewall, it won't move anymore by hand than it does with the cable. I'm assuming there may be crap in there or that the arm that attaches to the door may need some attention but I'm not sure how to get to it. I can always feel very warm air coming from the vents and I'm assuming the door isn't closing completely. Anyone know the best or easiest way to access the temp door? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks alot!

[JimKshortstep4x4]

The temperature lever does move the door that is in the engine compartment. I just measured the movement of the door arm and it moves 1", which opens and closes the door. The cable actually pulls the door closed. If you have measured a 2" travel of the arm
then there must be a problem with the shaft and door connection.

Those doors don't usually give any problems, so I am wondering if your water control valve on the heater hose is shutting off when your AC is on.

I would make sure that it is working.

Jim

PS: to get to the door, the outside plenium has to be removed.

[gman]

Jim,

Thanks for your reply. I certainly appreciate it. After looking and actually measuring the movement of the arm, it is in fact closer to an inch as you stated. I am attaching a few pictures from above and in front of the arm and was wondering if you could compare these with the movement of yours and see if they are similar. Each set of pics have a shot of the arm in the "hot" location and the "cold" location. Also, my temperature control lever in the cab doesn't slide to the extreme left (for cold) or the extreme right (for hot). Is this unusual? Should the lever slide all the way to left and right? I've adjusted the cable so that the control lever in the cab is the same distance from the extreme left as it is from the extreme right when it is moved as far as it will go. One thing's for sure.........after removing the cables and lubing them, it made a world of difference. Thanks again.

Tim

[gman]

Arm in COLD position

[gman]

Another view of arm in HOT position

[gman]

Another view of arm in COLD position

[JimKshortstep4x4]

From your pictures the movement looks ok. You can get at the door if you remove the blower motor, at least enough to look at the door to see if anything is trapped.

Before doing that, I would suggest removing the cable and swing the door back and forth by hand to see what it feels like. You can
run the blower and listen to the air movement and perhaps judge whether it is closing or not. Even though the movement looks good in the picture, there might be room for an adjustment.

Good luck!

Jim

[gman]

Thanks again. I removed the cable to free up some binding it had. I tried moving the arm and there is no binding in the arm. It moves very nice with no catching of any kind. After your 2nd reply, I feel pretty certain it is moving as it should. I will be removing and replacing the blower motor soon so I'll clean inside and check what you recommended. I was wondering if the door would be visible from within the blower motor area. I will also be replacing the water control valve you mentioned since its pretty rusted and looks like hell. I applied vacuum and it closes as it should but I'm replacing it anyway. Thank you for the info.

Tim

[JimKshortstep4x4]

You are welcome and be sure to let us know how you make out.
I am sure others have the same problem.

Jim

[mark460]

I was just working on my and I noticed it doesn't move very much at all. It seems like the cable and lever move a lot more than the door allows. I had my apart and I didn't see anything wrong with it.

Mark