[T3] Heater cable connectors ?

[William Jahn]

Thank you Jim:

I did look at the connectors and the plastic just seems to insulate them
and did find they are actually electrical slices, The two screws and inside
is brass. They are fine.

 On the lever stops, I didn't really pay attention if the upper stops hit
the stop before I replaced the front foot well cables. I put the cables
back in the level holes they were in originally and checked again to get a
better idea of which of the three holes might make a difference. The very
top hole closest to the knob was never used and looking at the temp or
right lever it has one hole that is the same distance from the lever pivot
as the rear foot well cable and they line up with the metal tubes so the
cables are not on an excessive angle. The rear foot well tubes are higher
than the front tubes so the lowest hole offers the best angle.

 I adjusted the front cables with the lever fully down and pulled the short
cables to the flap so the floor flap was as closed as it would go this
would shut off air flow to the front floor and direct it to the defrost, I
didn't see any stop when the flaps were open and don't know if one exists.

 Once I pull the heat/defrost cable fully up both rears are fully open as
are the fronts meaning the fronts allow air flow to the floor , in this
position the full up lever stop is about 1/4" away from the stop that is on
the lever pivot threaded stud  where the nut sits against for the friction
adjustment. I just thought the lever stops should hit both full up and full
down. When I noticed looking with mirror and flashlight that both front
flaps were not closing fully I readjusted them yet it didn't alter the
distance of the lever to the stop . I understand if the lever hits the full
up stop before the doors are open then you need to adjust the cables. I was
just curious why the levers have two stops. I was going to loosen the rear
cable connectors and pull the lever up till it hit the stop yet think if I
do it will alter the front flap position, since the fronts push the cables
to open and the rear pull to open , If I do this I would have to readjust
the fronts lever down to close the front flaps for defrost and then I may
find the down cable stop will not hit. I imagine this is what you were
saying to adjust lever full down.

 I noticed the tubes for the front cables at the lever end have surface
rust inside yet the other tubes for the temp and rear foot wells do not and
have no idea how the surface rust developed unless since these tubes are at
the lowest point and when I got this car the fresh air fan housing drains
were plugged and the floor filled with water when I was wet sanding for
paint so it must have been condensation. I did grease the cables and tubes
fort he front cables I replaced even used one old cable to push grease up
the tubes to the levers and those tubes are impossible to see unless I
remove the left lever off the pivot and move it to the left side , Though I
might run trans fluid down those tubes yet they were not plugged at all the
cables came out and went in easy all that came out was old grease.

  My only other question is , is there a way to access the front floor
flaps? it has a hinge at the top and if I need to replace the short cables
on the floor at some point. I see no way to get at them. Do I need to
remove the step plate and move the carpet that is glued from the step plate
down over the area where the floor vent is, is there an access slot there?



On Mon, Dec 30, 2019 at 8:09 AM Jim Adney <jadney at vwtype3.org> wrote:

> On 28 Dec 2019 at 18:58, William Jahn wrote:
>
> > I  replaced my front heater cables from the heat/defrost lever . I wanted
> > to know if the connectors that you connect the cables together like the
> > ones used for the rear foot wells they hold the two cable ends together
> > and also are an adjustment of the cable length are still available .
> >
> >  Mine seem fine yet I didn't know they were plastic. In case I need them
> >  is there something like these that can be used?
>
> I believe those cable connectors are just electrical splices which VW
> repurposed for their heater cables. I've never seen one that needed to be
> replaced, but I must have a few from parted out older cars. They are
> plastic
> on the outside, but metal within. They should last forever unless they are
> abused.
>
> The little folded-over section at the end of the wires is not important,
> and
> actually makes installation a bit more difficult. I cut mine off so I
> could slip a
> length of Teflon tubing over that part of the wire that slides inside the
> metal
> tube. That made those slide much easier. Being down on the floor makes
> them prone to rust and sticking.
>
> I would adjust the cables so that everything is off when the lever is
> fully
> forward. No other adjustment should be necessary, and the lever will stop
> short of it's upward limit when the cables run out of travel. If you find
> that
> "fully ON" does not open both cables equally, you could experiment with
> moving the lever ends of one of the cables to a different hole in the
> lever.
>
> --
> *******************************
> Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
> Madison, Wisconsin, USA
> *******************************
>
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