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Hi Crew,
I have a 1981 SL/E 308 and I am having trouble getting hot air emitting from the heater inside the car, all the slide controls on the dash seem to be working i.e. fan works well, both the heater hoses under the bonnet are hot (coming off the thermostat and water pump), is there some kind a tap/air control that may be turned off from behind the dash?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Craig
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Is your SL/E a VC or VH ? Does it have Harrison a/cond or Air International a/cond ? The Harrison system has the big black GM compressor while the Air Int. system has the smaller Sanden alloy compressor.
They are 2 totally different systems, especially in the heater area.
The 2 things to check are the engine's running temp. (should be around 85 C) & is the temp slider control actually attached to its lever at the heater box end.
My memory of these is now very rusty, but one of those systems doesn't supply hot air to the face vents, so it's best to check for hot air at the footwell vent outlets.
Dr Terry |
If at first you don't succeed, just call it Version 1.0 |
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Thanks for your prompt reply Dr Terry.
The SL/E is a VH, just had a look at the compressor and it's a Sanden SD7H15.
I have not checked the lever at the heater box end, in which I will do.
Just one other question, is there a certain way of checking my engine running temperature?
Cheers,
Craig.
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Hi Craig,
I'm wondering if the heater core is blocked? And is the heater tap vacuum operated- I'm wondering if a vac hose has fallen off/leaking?
Like Dr Terry, I'm rusty on 'em too, but I thought the VB-Cs used vacuum controls on the factory AC cars?
Have you tried any of the dedicated Commodore forums?
Cheers,
Chris
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That sounds like an Air International system which most VHs had.
A blocked heater core is one possibility, but I'm pretty certain that neither system had a heater tap.
Yes, the Harrison system had vacuum controls for just about everything, similar to HQ-WB factory a/c. The Air Int. system had a vacuum servo for the recirc flap only.
Dr Terry |
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No tap in a VB-VH system at all (both types) - they are a full-flow core, relying on a temperature blend flap to direct the air through the core, or bypass it.
As Terry mentioned, the blend flap in a VH is purely mechanically operated - you should be able to feel it moving when you move the temp lever up & down. If there's no resistance in the up/down lever, then it could have come adrift at the screw connection under the dash, in front of the console.
How hot are the hoses though? Could it just be engine bay heat that you're feeling?
It could be a blocked core, a lack of a thermostat in the engine, or something is restricting the flow somewhere.
Has the water pump been replaced recently? Years ago I bought a car that had no heat, and found someone had replaced the water pump with the cheap one, but failed to drill out the holes for the heater & bypass hose connections. |
Cheers,
Mick
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Rank: Member
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Thanks Guys for your great feedback, I'm sure this will help towards getting the heater to work.
I will start at the water pump and work my back, but as mentioned I think it may be up/down lever on the console because there doesnt feel like there is any resistance at all when moving from cold to hot?
Cheers,
Craig.
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