69: feet heating stuck

[Rob M.]

Hi all,

Today during the roadtour I noticed (again) that only hot air was flowing into the driver feet well. The vent slide (non AC car) is not sliding very well and it feels like something is wrong. The passenger feet well does receive colder air. The drawings in the 69 AIM is not very clear regarding these vent slide cables (page M2, M2.5 and M3).

What could be wrong here (it seems to be a bit strange that one feet well gets hot air and the other colder air).

with kind regards,
Rob.

[Jack H.]

Re: 69: feet heating stuck

Vent control that's mounted on the center console should actuate a Bowden cable that connects to the vent door. Follow the cable and it should connect to the door (sometimes called a valve) that's located behind the side kick panel(s).

To work properly, the cable has to be anchored (usually a screw and clamp in the area of the door/valve) so the inner portion of the Bowden cable can move and open/close the door. When the door it open, outside air should flow through your exterior cowl vent (the wiper door grille) and down the plenums on either side of the car, through the vent door and into the car.

When the door is closed, its rubber seals (they often wear out and need to be replaced) should smoothly seal the cowl plenum to cockpit opening. You should only be getting exerior air through the vents. But, you CAN get hot, underhood, engine air into the cockpit by way of un-plugged holes like those used to mount the carpet push-in-fasteners (PIFs) if they've been left off by a prior owners attempt to install carpet.

Bottom line, you need to confirm the source of the hot air in order to really address the problem...

[Jim T.]

Re: 69: feet heating stuck

Rob the vent valves/doors for fresh air into your 69, part of the Astro Ventilation, are not hard to remove and replace the sealing material which surrounds the valve/door. Summertime no problem with the leakage, but winter time road trips, the cold air will enter. The valve is held in place with pins, at the top and bottom that the valve pivots on. The top pin is spring tensioned. Raise up on the valve to remove the bottom pin from the body of the car and then you can move the valve bottom towards you and slide the pin out of the retainer at the top. You can order new seal kits from Dr. Rebuild, rivets and seals. If you remove the valves inspect the now accessable cavity for debris and whatever. There are drain holes from this cavity, all kinds of stuff can be found, make sure the drain holes are clear. Another source of heat can be coming from the heater if the door shutting off any flow of hot air across the heater core is leaking. The right rotating wheel controls this door.