ChrisWhewell Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 (edited) Sybil. My '90 finally confessed to me her name is Sybil after I've by now discerned 16 separate and distinct personalities in her. After finally getting the AC to cycle again (O-tube, dryer, sensors, switches, fixed the non-responsive buttons on the climate control) I had a blend door issue,. I disconnected the lever from the blender door motor behind the glove department and piano-wired it in place so she has no choice but to blow only cold air. Three days later, in her attempt to sh*t test me, Sybil has now decided to go into defrost mode only - all that good cold air I finally got, is now exclusively directed onto the hot windshield. Is there a lever that's reasonably accessible that I can wire or JB weld in a position sufficient to cause cold air to be expelled exclusively from the vents in the front of the dash ?? I'm pondering cutting a hole in the roof and strapping on the AC unit from my RV on top, and I told her that. But, I love her and really don't want to take the sawzall to her roof Edited July 9, 2016 by ChrisWhewell (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 No need to cut a hole in the roof. Just pull the dash out and look for the little lever in the photo below. You might could use that Sawzall to get the dash out. I've heard it is a bitch to get out. (Thanks to who ever provided the photo. Machiner 55 I think) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Here is another view of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisWhewell Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 Thanks. Maybe I'll duct tape a long strip off a cardboard box across the top of the dash as a deflector, adhere some of that vinyl wood-grain to it for visual effect. Fortunately I'm in Texas and there's few zoning laws and it'll draw positive comment from some of the other rednecks !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 5 minutes ago, ChrisWhewell said: Thanks. Maybe I'll duct tape a long strip off a cardboard box across the top of the dash as a deflector, adhere some of that vinyl wood-grain to it for visual effect. Fortunately I'm in Texas and there's few zoning laws and it'll draw positive comment from some of the other rednecks !! Sounds like a plan to me. Carport engineering at it's finest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisWhewell Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 She's telling me she wants to live in a colder climate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machiner 55 Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Ronnie. You're welcome. Chris. You can tell if the arm, shown in the photo above, is broken by inserting a dowel rod or other such thing into the center dash vent opening and pushing on the door (rust colored thing). I believe that it is in the normally closed position so, if you push on it, you would feel some resistance as it is pushed open. When you pull the dowel back, the door will return to the closed position. With the arm broke, you will feel no resistance and the door will just swing on it's hinges back and forth like it's not connected to anything (which it isn't). As mentioned above, you can pull the dash but, I can attest to the fact that the arm can be replaced working from under the dash. It's a toss-up as to which way is the least frustrating but there's plenty written about how to go about it on the ROJ site. Too late (tired) to provide a link tonight but I'll try to post one tomorrow. If you look for it yourself, look for a really long thread with a post started by "Merlin". If you want to try some rocket science engineering, you could put a magnet on the end of the dowel and push and pull on it to direct the air flow. Brush paint the rod some spiffy color then with a magic marker make some reference marks on it to make it look professional like. John F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machiner 55 Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 OK... I found the pages over at the ROJ pertinent to the matter at hand. The thread is 6 pages long with the first three being mostly of diagnostics and troubleshooting the programmer and vacuum system to find out why the door isn't operating as it should. If you use the "stick in the vent method" you can quickly determine if it truly is the broken actuator arm or a HVAC programmer/vacuum issue. So... Starting on page four of six, you get into the meat of the problem and the two methods of attack to get at the root cause and fix it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisWhewell Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 Thanks a bunch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDirk Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 I'd add here that the dash in the 88/89 is easier (but still not easy) to pull for service than the 90/91 design. This is due to a minor difference in a mounting bracket between the column and center console on the lower portion of the dash panel on the 90/91. I have removed a few 88/89 dashes complete now and it really isn't that bad. The 90 I parted a few months back had me cussing up a storm trying to get that one bracket loose. Finally used an angle grinder to destroy it since the dash was in poor condition anyway and I wasn't keeping it. Something to keep in mind. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisWhewell Posted July 11, 2016 Author Share Posted July 11, 2016 Ya'all, thanks for the help, it turned out to just be a vacuum hose that'd come loosed under the passenger knee panel. I've saved this thread however for future use, so your help was not in vain. Thank you all again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machiner 55 Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Well... there you go. I should have directed you to start reading the first three pages of posts from that thread. The checking of the vacuum components prior to ripping into the dash can prevent a huge headache. Please tell me though, did you by chance try the stick in the vent method to determine whether the door was attached or not? John F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisWhewell Posted July 12, 2016 Author Share Posted July 12, 2016 No, I did not try the stick. but apparently there's no issue, as soon as I hit "auto" on the climate control, after re-attaching the vacuum hose, she blew air out of the right places Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry yarnell Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 The HVAC defaults to DEFROST when vacuum is lost. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordrodsteven Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Hey John, (Machiner55). I would like to review that thread at the ROJ. What should I enter in for my search so that I can find it? I know my door is still attached. (it will move off the defrost ports when I can get the car to pull a hard vacuum, such as happens on deceleration) I suspect a vacuum leak and I can just look everywhere on the car or.... I can review the post and go after the vacuum leak in a more sane manner. Thanks in advance, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machiner 55 Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Steve, This is the link to the thread over at the ROJ that takes you the first post on page 1 of 6. Enjoy. John F. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 This is the series of posts as it relates to replacing the arm that controls the door directing air from the defroster vent to the dash vents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 Thanks Dave. I've been looking for John's thread on ROJ and couldn't find it. It covers this subject well. "This is the link to the thread over at the ROJ that takes you the first post on page 1 of 6. " 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 (edited) 15 hours ago, 89RedDarkGrey said: Could you make that link a "How to" in the "Common Repairs" category? (or something similar). The link probably needs to be saved but I don't think it would fit in the common repairs category. I've only known of 2-3 of the arms breaking. Also the average mechanic wouldn't want to tackle the job of replacing it. Perhaps a method for testing the door to see if the actuator arm is broken might make a good tutorial so that a broken arm could be ruled out when troubleshooting an air flow problem. 90% of the time there is a vacuum problem when air only comes out the defrost vent. Sometimes the programmer is at fault but rarely is a broken arm is the cause of the problem. Edited March 27, 2017 by Ronnie (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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