I have the manual A/C controls and split heater system. The system described in my manual is not like the one in my car. Is there a copy of this section of the manual availible online? Can someone explain the logic behind the arrows on the various slides? I feel I can understand their operation better if I knew. For instance, the slide lever that opens the two center dash vents points to the right...for what reason? The two levers that control the heated air distribution, right and left, also have arrows that point up--but if the levers are to the lright, the air flows to the floor; not up.
Finally, my A/C control is the edge-mounted wheel with markings "0" to "max". I assume this is thermostat that cycles the compressor. The manual shows a rotary knob and states that rotating the knob also changes from recirculate to fresh air depending on where it is set. Does my "edge-wheel" also effect this changeover?
Thanks for all your help!
Michael

My 240D appears to have the same controls. My owners manual does describe in detail what all of the levers do...I have no idea if these are available online. Maybe I can help a little with your questions.

The fresh air vent that controls the center vents has an arrow that points to the closed position (right). Open is to the left. I have no idea why?????

The slide levers functions are as follows: The one on the left controls the windshield defrost; far left = maximum. The one on the right controls the front and rear footwell airflow. Far right = maximum to the floor. It is interesting that the owners manual depicts the left lever with an up arrow, and the right lever with a down arrow, which would seem logical for the functions they control. However, both my lever arrows point down like yours, so again this puzzles me, but I believe the engineers intended for the left one to be an up arrow and the right one a down arrow. Perhaps the purchasing people bought too many up knobs????

You are correct about the A/C control. The temperature control knobs and blower controls are pretty conventional also.

Hope this helps. Maybe someone can point you to an owners manual, that will help even more.

Good luck.

__________________
1976 240D
1987 560SL
2007 E320 Bluetec
1998 C280 (now son’s car)
1982 240D Manual - Sold

Michael and frankyspeaking,

The logic behind the levers is not that they are necessarily arrows. The logic, for the rotating fan and heat control knobs and the flow balancing levers is that more of whatever the knob/lever controls comes from pushing it in the direction of the icon getting thicker. For the directional flow controls there is a small arrow pointing in the direction of flow, up or down, at the thick end of the flow control icon that designates this control lever for controlling flow in the direction of the arrow.

I hope this helps, Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Remove the arrow on the right slide control and put it back on so that the arrow is pointing down. The left slide controls the defrost, the right slide controls the floor heat.

The slide for the vent shows the wide end for open and the thin end for closed.

__________________
Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

Michael,

All the posts so far correlate to the controls of my 240D. The A/C control wheel is meant to control the thermostat for the A/C compressor kicking on and off. Closer to the off position, the compressor comes on less frequently (less a/c).

When the control wheel is set at the Maximum position, you will also feel a detent at the maximum position. At this detent, the recirculation mode is activated which provides maximum air conditioning. On my car, I had to replace the diaphragm that controls that recirculation door because it was worn out. You definitely hear "clunk" noise when you place the switch at the maximum position which indicates that the door is closing.

Herb
'82 240D
'87 300SDL
'92 300D 2.5 Turbo

Thanks to all for the replies----especially the hint not to think o fhtem as arrows, but icons---that helps me to understand.

Give MBUSA a call and get the owner's manual. Costs about ten bucks and will explain this plus a lot of other things you should know.

Len
'83 240D 334,000 miles - owned since new