Greetings,
Well, my car has fallen into various forms of disrepair. There is leakage in the rear driver's side footwell (eventhough I've cleared ALL drainage points near the hood hinges), the power locks work only 80% of the time, the row of switches above the ACC controls no longer light up unless they are turned on (like the defroster button), my sway bar bushings in the front need replacing, my AT slips a bit sometimes when shifting, and my ACC isn't working perfectly (the topic of this thread).

I noticed yesterday that when I set the ACC fan speed to max, it wasn't blowing as hard as it used to. My observation was proven to be correct today when, for a few minutes, the fan blew at its old max speed after I switched back to EC mode from defrost mode. Oh, to add to my list of woes, my windows fog up ALL the time and the only way to defog them is to use the defrost mode often, which is a nuisance because it blows really hot air.

So, do you think I have a problem here? All the other ACC functions seem to work ok, although the temp control isn't so precise (if I want heat or warm air, I need to set it pretty high, but I don't think there's a problem). Is this fan speed thing just a quirk of the ACC system? Will it fix itself? Is it related to the vacuum system? I'm very puzzled. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Alex

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1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

Probably the brushes in your blower motor going out. Give the passenger side footwell ceiling a good kick, it should come back, if even briefly.

Does your tranny actually slip or "flare" between the 2-3 shift?

TD,
Thanks for the blower motor tip. I'll try having someone kick it tomorrow to see what happens. If it is my motor, is there a way to fix it without replacing the motor? It's not terribly expensive, a few hundred dollars on FastLane, so I could probably swing it, but cheaper is always better right? Well, ok, it's only better if it doesn't compromise longevity.

Regarding my trans., I guess I'd call it a flaring? It only happens when I go soft on the accelerator. If I keep firm acceleration, the shift is nice and crisp. So, to prevent the flaring I just avoid reducing acceleration and it seems to work ok. Maybe this is a vacuum thing. I haven't tried tampering with the modulator valve yet (where is that again?). Thanks again!

Alex

__________________
1983 300D (parked for four years)
2012 VW Sportwagen TDI Manual
2001 Miata SE
1962 Chevrolet Corvair Rampside

The blower motor itself should only be about $60. If mechanically inclined, you can get the brushes out of the motor and find new ones, and clean and sand the armature.

As for the trans, drain the fluid in the pan and TQ converter and change the filter. Take the cap off the modulator (on the drivers side right above the pan) and turn the key clockwise 2 turns. That should firm up your tranny.

I believe it is possible that the 'amount of air from the fan' problem could be vacuum related. Does the fan seem to blow as hard but not as much air comes out? On my 85 300td, when the fan comes on, a vacuum actuator is opened immediately behind the glovebox. I suspect that if this actuator does not open or does not open completely, it could modify the air flow. This may account for why it blew hard when the system was changing from one mode to another since at that point vacuum is rerouted.
It should be fairly easy to pull a vacuum on the actuator behind the glovebox while the system is operating and see if it makes a difference.
All this assumes that your system is somewhat similar to mine.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13