Propping the center vent flap open W123
 

Anyone have a method for doing this they'd like to share?

I have seen dmorrison's excellent writeup on replacing that pod, and upon reading I decided that propping it was the way to go for me, at least for now, and use the open/close on the vents themselves to regulate airflow.

Many thanks,
dd

Mine are rigged open that way. Used a piece of thin aluminum flat stock, bent the end so it would hook over the housing, pulled off the rubber boot that runs from the housing to the vents, stuck the stock down in the vent to hold the flap open then put the rubber boot back on.
Did this about 4 yrs ago so memory is fading. Went in thru the glove compartment I think.

Take out the pod, plug the vacuum line and use a ziptie or wire tie to hold the flap open.

Pull the dash and replace the unit and all other vacuum hoses. It's an easy job, been written up many times. I did my evaporator core in less than a day, so the center pod would take no more than four hours. Alan

Do it right the first time, don't be a hack.

It's not a hack, it's for getting heat from the center vents.

Im sooooo not a hack. This is what Id like to but I wanted to wait until I have made sure when I do take the dash I know EVERYTHING that needs replacing back there before I piece it back together (I havent even attempted to turn my AC on yet). I also need a new dash cap since mine is cracked, although it doesn't bother me much. But if I pull mine, the cracked one aint going back in :-)

Is it really a single day to get a dash off and back on? Really? It looks fairly involved from dmorrison's write-up. In the writeup he says the evaporator took him 3 days...

dd

Take the glove compartment out and jimmy rig a folded up coat hanger to wedge open the vent. Didn't take that long and its pretty simple. Of course I live out in SO CA, so the minor leakage is well.....pretty minor.:cool:

25 yo cars have rather fragile dash boards. You are liable to crack the dash further by attempting to move it.

If the problem or problems get worse, then by all means you'll need to remove the dash.

But so far I haven't had to replace the evaporator!:eek:

After my center pod died, I wedged open the vent and found it to be a great modification, since I also got center vent heat out of the deal. It's an easy modification that I posted (#9 in the following thread) with pictures....

Here

Jeremy

I glued the hinge on mine. After I repaired the center pod, I just snapped the glue off the hinge. Find a way to open the flap. I used a piece of stick wedged against the arm rest. It stayed that way overnight.

Heat doesn't come out of the center vents. Heat comes out of the side vents, the lower legroom vents and the defroster vents (when you push defrost, otherwise a little bit of heat comes out of the defrost vents, "enough to keep the windshield clear")

A/C comes out of the center vents. (A/C also comes out of the side vents)
(According to the Service Manual, Heating, Air Conditioning, Automatic Climate Control W123)
(I was looking at the section on Climate Control III like in my 1985 300DT, haven't looked at the older systems yet.)

Now it does on mine - heat and cold air on the center, side and leg vents.

The pod that actuates the center vent has a spring inside, that keeps the center vent flap closed. Take the actuator out with the glovebox out to have a good sized access port. You'll need small hands.

That's not correct (you should not get heat from the center vents), someone probably hacked the system.

That's the whole point of jamming the center vent open (aside from working around a broken pod). Once you can get heat out of the center vents you'll never go back. You can always close the vents manually if you don't want the heat.

No thanks, I'm not interested in having hot air blowing in my face. I've had cars with heat there, you're much better of without it. I'm also not interested in having to manually play with the vents to shut off the heat, you're not going to improve on the original design if it's working correctly.

That's your opinion. If the others want heat there based on their past experiences, then they're much better off having it there. I don't see what's so hassling about turning a vent off, the 240D owners do it all the time.