HEATER LEVER QUESTION: 280se 1972 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

jtatarczuk · #1 10-18-2006, 01:21 PM

hi- it's us again. we have the 1972 280se. our heater levers (on the left side) are snapped off. we know we have to replace them, but there are ones that are just the levers, and ones w/ a spring loaded blower switch mounted to it.

if our blower doesn't go on at all, even when the levers on the right (which are still intact) are moved, do we need the blower switch mounted levers? or is it more likely that the blower is out entirely? the air conditioner works. does the heater and the a/c use the same blower? then i assume we would need the blower switch mounted levers and we would be replacing all four.

is there any way of testing any of these hypotheses before buying and/or attempting installation?

regards,
jamie and keiran

kmukherjee · #2 10-18-2006, 02:20 PM

Jiggle the green switch knob a little bit while turning it slowly. The switch knob acts funny sometimes.

Good luck

nhdoc · #3 10-18-2006, 03:23 PM

Heater blower is separate from AC. It's common to have them be DOA. Also common to find people who would first junk their cars before tackling replacing them it is that much work...of course I am planning on doing mine TOMORROW!

It could be your switch, the fuse, the motor itself may just be stuck or could be completely dead. Does the heat work if you move the red (lower) levers to the outside? If so you may want to just live with ram air heat when you drive and forget the blower if it turns out to be the motor. Mine needs both the heater core and blower replaced so I am biting the bullet.

kpb · #4 10-18-2006, 03:48 PM

Marty is right on his observations. I replaced my blower motor with one made as a cooling fan for a CPU after seeing a "how-to" thread. It saved me about 12 hours of dismantling and frustration. However, it still produces barely beyond the ram air produced simply by driving. Since my 108 is a 3-season car only, does not matter to me.

It is mandatory that you do a search here. I also did my levers and it was rather tedious, but do-able with the advice and guidance from various threads here.

Good luck, enjoy the ride, they are getting fewer and farther between.

meltedpanda · #5 10-19-2006, 04:30 PM

Assuming your is like my 72 114 - could also be the switchover valve, I beleive yours has one. Does it Kevin? You should be able to hear it ( above gas pedal) working as you go between hot and AC. you can also access the heater fan through the outside cowl , give it a spin and perhaps lub it with a bit of ATT dripped out of the end of a straw.

kpb · #6 10-19-2006, 05:19 PM

I'm thinkin' the 108 chassis has no switchover. Ron renders good advice on manually spinning the blower fan and using a lube as well. More than one "dead" blower has been resurrected this easy way. To get to the fan, remove your wipers, remove the cowl vent, stand on the passenger side and peek under the solid area of sheetmetal in front of the driver -- you'll see the fan and motor tucker under there. Suck out any debris with a shop vac and try the lube and spin technique.

Ron does the 114 have a seperate AC blower in the passenger footwell?

Also, Ron, have you hit 100,000 views on your project yet?

Shab · #7 10-19-2006, 09:51 PM

I believe the 108 has a switch over valve. I had a working blower but no heat. While the radio was out at Becker, I also removed the glove compartment and lubed everything up. Still no heat. Then I saw one lone vertical valve lever.

Good size lever/valve behind and to the left of the radio all by itself. If I recall, I flipped it to the right. Got heat immediately. Had been stuck closed a long time because junk ( bits of paper, varnish, tiny leaf bits) blew out from every vent in the car, side demisters, floor vents, rear floor vents and finally the defrosters. Had to pick it all up with a shop vac. Car was from AZ so probably didn't get used as much as the AC.

Heat works fantastic now, defrosters and all. I think you can get at it reaching up to the right of the steering column on the firewall.Installed new OEM insect screens / filters in the outside fresh air intake as well to protect the sacred holy blower.

nhdoc · #8 10-19-2006, 10:19 PM

The switchover they are talking about is not on the 108. That is a vacuum powered actuator that switches the doors and turns from A/C to heat which models like the 114 and 115 had.

The 108 has two separate systems; one for heat and one for A/C. The valves shab are talking about are just the heater valves on the core. The post was about the blower motor, which is separate from the A/C and is controlled by the top left slider control switch.

Shab · #9 10-19-2006, 10:33 PM

I guess “switchover” as in 2 systems sharing components in an “either / or” configuration was the wrong terminology to describe my 108 issue & fix, as heat & A/C are indeed independent, unlike my long gone 114 coupe.

Bear with me, I'm very confused. To quote the immortal Curly from the 3 Stooges, "I'm trying to think but nothing happens."

meltedpanda · #10 10-20-2006, 09:06 AM

I was not sure about the valve, the w114/5 does have seperate blower motors and the switch over valve operates when going from hot to cold(ac)
In reality the cowl blower and heat delivery is not the best design nor the strongest point in the W114/5 or as it seems the 108
Mark I am up to over 17,000

, I hope to hit 100,000 -someday

take a look at the latest
1971 220

jtatarczuk · #11 10-21-2006, 10:20 AM

Okay. thank you for all the feedback. we think that the following excerpt is our next plan of action:

"Ron renders good advice on manually spinning the blower fan and using a lube as well. More than one "dead" blower has been resurrected this easy way. To get to the fan, remove your wipers, remove the cowl vent, stand on the passenger side and peek under the solid area of sheetmetal in front of the driver -- you'll see the fan and motor tucker under there. Suck out any debris with a shop vac and try the lube and spin technique."

once we potentially resurrect the fan, the ominous job of replacing the levers will have to be undertaken. does anyone have a link to a DIY page for this? we tried to find one but we couldn't.

also if there are parts of the dash (ie woodwork) that we want to replace is this a good time to do it? (while the dash is dismantled?) or we were thinking of replacing the whole thing. is this nuts? if not, is there a website anyone knows of that would have replacement parts of that caliber?

we are so impressed with everyones breadth of knowledge. but we know there are never dumb questions so we will keep asking them!

cheers
jamie and keiran

psfred · #12 10-22-2006, 04:37 PM

I remember seeing dash covers on eBay, but that was a bit ago. Wood is scarce except from MB Classic, and it was something like $600 for the bow last time I heard. I refinished mine, and will do so again when I get the new window gasket in (hopefully soon).

Dash levers: There are four wires going to the heat levers (two for the valves behind the glove box, two for the flaps in the heater box) and two wires for the air flow flaps. The whole assembly is held in place by two blind bolts behind the dash, accessable by removing the radio speaker or speaker cover (most 72's had a stereo installation, I belive, and only a blank in the front speaker hole). 10mm nut on each side.

The wire clamps are accessable from above and below -- at some positions you can reach through the top lever and use a phillips screwdriver through the speaker hole to unscrew them.

Once you get the wires off, the levers themselves slip over a post, retained by a plastic cap top and bottom. You can change the lever withough pulling the whole assembly. Top cap holds the light bulbs, so if they dont' light up, this is the time to replace the bulbs.

Mark the wires so the flaps and valves work correctly, and you should also probably remove and clean the heater valves -- the levers usually break because the valves are stiff.

Check the blower fuse, unless replaced fairly recently it's probably bad. Fuses are on the drivers side kick panel next to the footweel lamp on that side.

Peter

Tomguy · #13 10-22-2006, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtatarczuk

once we potentially resurrect the fan, the ominous job of replacing the levers will have to be undertaken. does anyone have a link to a DIY page for this? we tried to find one but we couldn't.

For some people this job is difficult. My radio was already out - it took me 2 hours max to do the job.

You DO realize that the blower won't turn on without the top left lever, right? That's the lever that controls the fan (blue). The bottom 2 (red) are for the heat (driver's and passenger's heat controls) and the top right is directional. Looking at the "Defrost" diagram, it gives you what you need for max fan, max heat, and the air blowing 100% up.

MikeTangas · #14 10-25-2006, 01:29 AM

I would also add that you do not want to attempt to reroute the cable wires. When I did my levers I thought I would "clean" things up and reroute everything neatly. Big mistake, couldn't get the heat levers to move one iota. Once I routed the cables they way they were originally the levers moved as if coated with butter.