Posted by Cliff Robb on July 09, 1998 at 15:06:20:
In Reply to: A/C and heat controls posted by Chandler Ogden on July 08, 1998 at 22:24:30:
The controls on these cars are a little odd. The 2 horizontal sliding levers open & close the outdoor air vents. These need to be Closed when you have the A/C on, because the outside air controlled by these levers does not blow through the evaporator in the dash like most cars. If these levers are open when the A/C is on, you get hot outside air warming up the just cooled A/C air. The A/C on these cars was only designed to operate in what we all call recirculate, because the squirrel cage style A/C blower pulls it's intake air from the round openings by your knees. As far as the knobs go, as you know the left one controls temp, and switching on/off the A/C compressor. The middle runs the fan. When the A/C is on, it's fan runs, when the heater is selected, the same fan dial runs the separate heater fan. The right knob is just to direct where the air flows. Heat is the floor, Normal is the vents, Def. is the windshield. Have this knob in the Off position when the A/C is on, but make sure it is set to something other than off when the heater is blowing, otherwise the heater fan does not blow anywhere, and just works against itself. At least that seems to be the way mine works best. YMMV. Don't worry about being short the manual, it's not much help in this area. Climate control was certainly not a priority to the Germans back then(not too much better now).
: Nice to see the revival of the infoboard!! Thanks to those involved in reviving it! (Ya get kinda attached to it after a while...)
: I would appreciate it if someone could explain to me exactly what the vent/def levers do versus the def/vent/heat/off knob on the far right of the console. The temp control and fan control knobs are obvious, but not the others... I do not have the benefit of an owner's manual, and european cars have never been exactly "obvious" with how the heating and cooling work. I know I have lost a bit of the sealing foam inside the vent housing (it blows chunks at me on high A/C), and it is difficult to tell in what position the A/C works best (outdoor air versus recirc). A basic explaination of what the knobs and levers do would be greatly appreciated....
: Thanks!
: Chandler