Couple questions

[Shack Bauer]

Here is the problem...
The heat in my 86 GN does not work.
I am new to turbo regals so I have been soaking up as much knowledge on these cars as possible. I was told that I had an after market control valve and that that was most likely the problem.
So I installed a new stock control valve. This did nothing, I looked around a little harder and found a vacuum line had gotten disconected over on the drivers side against the firewall. When I reattached the line the valve on the controller opened and it fealt like the heat started working for a very short time. Soooo back under the hood I go..... I start following vacuum lines all over and most of them feel like crap! Very brittle, some are cracking and some feel like a sponge. I followed one all the way up to the drivers side head light area only to find that it went to nothing and a screw had been jammed into the end to block it off. This must have been dome some time ago because the screw is deteriorated to rust.
Could this be a reason for the heater issue?
How difficult is it to change out the vaccum lines in the car?
Are there filters for the vacuum lines?
Can anyone tell me what the line going up to the headlight might have been for?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
wade

 

[rb68rr]

Are you saying it doesn't get warm or it's not blowing?

 

[Shack Bauer]

It doesn't get warm. It blows cold air.

any ideas?

 

[rb68rr]

Does it have the digital one touch climate control inside or does it have the slide bar for the hot and cold? Look behind the glove compartment and make sure the control is opening and closing the door flapper.

 

[turbojd]

The one by the headlight probably used to go to the charcoal cannister right by the headlight if your car still has one. Is the vacuum line on the heater control valve hooked up. What thermostat are you running, what about the heater core. Check vacuum lines by firewall. Can you hear the door shut in the car when you have the selector on hot and turn the heat on?

 

[Shack Bauer]

The car has the slide bar controller. I hear a hiss when I slide the bar but I do not hear a door closing. I am running a 180 degree thermostat, and the vacuum line is connected to the control valve.

I think I'm going to start with the vacuum lines. I just realized the cruise control does not work either. The vacuum lines are crappy and it would be pretty hard to find a problem without just replacing them all anyhow.

Thanks for the info on the charcoal cannister that is probably the culprit.

 

[TurboJunky]

My T did the same thing so I took it in to an A/C shop. They immediately checked behind the glove box and found the problem. The lever that is attached to the door that blends the air was stripped. The cable attaches to this lever and the cable moves it back and forth BUT the portion of the lever where it connects to the blend door was stripped if this makes any sense. He said it's a big and expensive project to take it all apart and replace the door so it'll have a new piece for the lever to attach to. He put it permanently in the COLD position so I'll have full A/C in the summer when the car is mostly driven.

Hope this helps.

 

[GNRick]

My T did the same thing so I took it in to an A/C shop. They immediately checked behind the glove box and found the problem. The lever that is attached to the door that blends the air was stripped. The cable attaches to this lever and the cable moves it back and forth BUT the portion of the lever where it connects to the blend door was stripped if this makes any sense. He said it's a big and expensive project to take it all apart and replace the door so it'll have a new piece for the lever to attach to. He put it permanently in the COLD position so I'll have full A/C in the summer when the car is mostly driven.

Hope this helps.

I think I replaced that lever where the cable attaches to, for a few dollars. You should look at it yourself and then post back as to exactly what is broken. You might be surprised.

 

[TurboJunky]

I think I replaced that lever where the cable attaches to, for a few dollars. You should look at it yourself and then post back as to exactly what is broken. You might be surprised.

The guy actually removed the lever and showed me the hole where it attaches to the door. If memory serves it was supposed to be a square hole and it was ground out to look like a round hole.

If I can get back there myself and manually move the door for seasonal use I'd do it but I have no idea where the hell it is. Yesterday I looked behind the glove box but nothing looked like the lever he showed me. Where can I get to it?? If the post and the lever are rounded out I'd just epoxy them together and fix it.

 

[GNRick]

Maybe you should take it to your local Buick dealer and let them have a look. Then they can tell you which part is broke or missing. I also think that I read somewhere that GM no longer makes that plastic piece that the cable attaches to. So is the plastic piece missing now? Sounds like you already looked at the hole in the plastic housing. I'm sure Brian at GBody Parts would have one for you. Or your dealer might have some extras laying around. I'm just going from memory so I can't be of much more help to you. If you post a pic then probably someone here could help you more than I could.

 

[TurboJunky]

Maybe you should take it to your local Buick dealer and let them have a look. Then they can tell you which part is broke or missing. I also think that I read somewhere that GM no longer makes that plastic piece that the cable attaches to. So is the plastic piece missing now? Sounds like you already looked at the hole in the plastic housing. I'm sure Brian at GBody Parts would have one for you. Or your dealer might have some extras laying around. I'm just going from memory so I can't be of much more help to you. If you post a pic then probably someone here could help you more than I could.

All I can say is the tech at the A/C shop (which is highly reputable) had some of the dash taken apart, removed this lever looking piece and showed me the hole in it that attaches to the door was rounded out. He said the shaft on the door the lever attached to was rounded off as well which required replacement of both pieces. He said replacing the blend door was a major job but like I said I'd just assume epoxy the two together and call it a day. Problem is I have no idea where this door or lever actually are in the dash to glue them together. The tech simply put the lever back so it's not missing.

 

[GNRick]

I think you just have to remove the glove box to access the area you are looking for. I can't believe nobody has chimed in yet. Send an email to Eric and I'm sure he can help you. His address is: turbofish38@hotmail.com He works at a dealership in Fla. so he can tell you what is still available, too.

 

[Shack Bauer]

I will pull mine apart this weekend and see what I can find. The aftermarket valve I removed looked like it was fairly new, which leads me to beleive the previous owner recently changed it and obviously the valve was not the issue.

It will be a chance to use my new 1986 GM Boday manual.

If nothing else the new valve gives it a more "stock" appearance.

I'll let you know what I find. I hope its that easy.