2003 W203 No heat on passenger side of the car - flap sticking - missing spring?

[jvoelcker]

We have an old C180 Kompressor Avantgarde and we aren't getting any heat in the passenger footwell amd have noticed that the lever for opening the flap to the footwell isn't following the cam on the motor, almost as if a spring has come off.

Does this sound familiar?

Is there a spring missing or it it a case of lack of lubricant?

Any pointers appreciated before I start riopping in to the dash to try to find the source of the problem.

Many thanks.

 

[AnthonyUK]

The vent flaps are well known to break the levers that move them. A bit of a nightmare to fix I believe.

 

[jvoelcker]

The vent flaps are well known to break the levers that move them. A bit of a nightmare to fix I believe.

OK, this looks to be intact, it just isn't following the countour of the cam on the motor as if it is missing the spring.

How's Alton, spent a summer there back in the late 80s, a pretty area.

 

[jvoelcker]

Solved the problem.

The lever for the flap should be following a slot in the cam plate on the motor, not resting on the outside edge - I moved the lever back where it belongs and all working fine now.

No idea when it would have been moved, but the motor and gear are a little bit noisier than before, but have sprayed with a dry lubricant to hopefully help.

 

[mattkh]

..... but have sprayed with a dry lubricant to hopefully help.

Well done, and thanks for the feedback.
Please educate me about the dry lubricant.

 

[jvoelcker]

Well done, and thanks for the feedback.
Please educate me about the dry lubricant.

We use a ptfe based 'dry' lubricants that are desgned to leave a dry slippery coating that won't attract dust and dirt. The linkages for the flaps aren't designed to be lubricated and will dry over time. Spraying with WD40, white grease, etc will attract dust and they will soon gum up.

The dry lubricant has stacks of uses like for spraying squeaky trim, on window rubbers, basically to help aything that isn't normaly lubricated but would benefit from some extra help.

Here's a link to a WD-40 version, but plenty of other makes out there - https://www.wd40.com/products/dry-lube/

 

[AnthonyUK]

How's Alton, spent a summer there back in the late 80s, a pretty area.

It is a pretty nice area tbh. Lots of new houses though like most places.