My heater control knob does nothing; my arthritis in my hand may be inhibiting my ability to apply more pressure, but I can't budge that knurled ring under the knob. If I get it out, then what???
Meade
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I would check under the car first. When you turn the knob, it pulls on two cables that open the flaps on the heater boxes.
I would check to make sure that they're still attached on the heater box side first.
You can probably do this without jacking up the car.
Have someone turn the knob while you watch what happens.
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I would check to make sure that they're still attached on the heater box side first.
You can probably do this without jacking up the car.
Have someone turn the knob while you watch what happens.
>
Yup, did that. I think that there must be something missing from the mechanism.
Whoa.....Been a while since I messed with VW heater knobs, but if it is a star-wheel near the base of the shifter, then there is a threaded tube sticking up out of the central tunnel and the knurled ring screws onto that tube, fastening the heater knob assembly to the tunnel.
If you were to remove the knurled ring (you may need a pair of waterpump pliers to get it loosened and started - use some rubber (piece of an inner tube) between the plier jaws and the ring to prevent knackering it up - then, you can pull the heater control assembly out of that tube to inspect it.
There should be one or two cables attached to the assembly (depending on the year used for the heater control) and they attach to a piston-looking end of the control knob shaft. You may have to release the cables from the heater box control arms to pull it fully out, and don't pull it out more than 6" or so or you'll not be able to get the cables back to the heater boxes.
When the star knob is turned one way it pulls that piston up, pulling the cables with it. The other ends of the cables are attached to the heater box control arm (Heizung Armaturenbrett, in German) and THAT is where the throw of the control arm is adjusted.....Fully closed in Summer, so you don't die from the excess heat leaking past the flappers, and fully opened in the Winter, to get the flow of slightly-less-than-tepid air we ambitiously call, heat.
When turned the other way it allows the cables to return to neutral, pushing the heater control arms to the rear (see paragraph above) - the arms are spring-loaded to return to "off".
Remember the sentence about adjusting the heater box control arms (Heizung Armaturenbrett)?? There are three people left in the world who truly know how to adjust those arms properly......NONE of the three still work on Volkswagens. One of them got into playing Zydeco music on a hammered Dulcimer with Geno Delafoss and drifted into the swamps and bayous of Louisiana, never to be seen again. Another is living as a hermit up in Saskatchewan, somewhere, with his beloved flock of sheep. No telling where the third is - last seen jogging across America with Forest Gump and covered in mud.
Given all that, the best thing to do is turn the knob out till it stops, then adjust the cable on the Heizung Armaturenbretts such that the arm/flap is fully open. That will give you the max flow of tepid heat. In the late Spring, revisit the process, but this time turn the knob fully IN and re-adjust the Heizung Armaturenbretts for fully closed to fully turn off the tepidness (you may not be able to tell the difference on your feet).
That's about it. Hope this helps, and Happy Holiday Season!
This might help, too:
Does Beck use the early VW mechanism?
Good pictoria....thanksl
I'm going out and try to persuade the knob to come off. Thanks again.
Basically yes. It doesn't give you full extension, though. Generally I just crawl under the car at the beginning and end of the cold weather season, such as ours is, and wire the levers on the boxes in the correct position for the upcoming weather. I will probably skip it altogether this year as it really doesn't make a whole heck of a lot of difference anyway.
Good information; I'm still trying to digest it all. I'll go out now and play.
If you have the early knob setup and need a cable you will want a cable for a 63 or earlier bug. Since the pan half is shorten you not need to worry about which hole the longer cable portion goes in. The cable is bent in a "U" in order for the pin to slip in to.
Meade,
I worked on this when I first got my car as well. I would turn the knob and the flaps did not respond. I took the whole contraption apart, pulled out the cable so I could clean it and grease it, then tried to put it all back together with no success. There was a blockage in the tubes somewhere (likely rust) that kept the cable from going back inside.
I did something similar to Lane. I used springs to hold the flaps open. I just leave them open all year long. I never open the heater door on my side of the car so I'll probably close the one on my side. My wife on the other hand will want heat on demand so her side is wired open. If she needs heat she just slides open the chrome door at her feet.
It isn't exactly how I wanted it but the problem has been solved.
Thanks Rob, I think I didn't make myself clear on my question to everyone; Is it safe to turn that knurled ring? Mine must be rusted shot and I was wondering if there was some kind of allen head screw securing it. I'm going out to look at it again and put the vice grip;s on it.
if you turn the knurled knob you might also have to turn the star knob the other direction because they will bind up on each other. Ask me how I know!
WOLFGANG posted:Does Beck use the early VW mechanism?
Notice there is a pin holding the knob to the spindle. The knob should come off first then work on getting the threaded cap off.
The knurled cap should unscrew and you should be able to pull it straight up(as long as the cables are not connected in the rear). Pull it straight up. Have rag to put around the cables since they should be covered in grease. Pull it all the way out. Remove old cables. Hold the shaft and turn the white knob. Spray some lube on the screw shaft. Turn the knobto the left to screw it back together. Install cable. Tighten knurled cap. Connect cables in resrvand you should be good to go.
OK, "How do you know?"...(did you soak it with but muster first?😂
I noted that some souls don't have the smoothe barrel that attaches to that screw mechanism...
Meade wrote: "I noted that some souls don't have the smoothe barrel that attaches to that screw mechanism..."
That partial sentence makes no sense at all.
You know, it would be pretty helpful if you guys would sit back for a few seconds before you hit "submit" and DO A SPELL CHECK ON YOUR POSTS and fix both spelling and grammatical errors before you post! It's pretty hard, at times, to unnahstan what the hell you're saying (or trying to say). That especially goes for you guys using two thumbs on "Smaht Phones" as your input devices.
How do we know that the knurled cap will unscrew? Well, maybe because we've been messing with these cars since the early 1960's and actually know how they work!
You could also try buying a Bentley's VW service Manual for the years before 1967, as THAT is usually the manual that covers the pan style that most of you have and a Bentleys manual shows and tells you how to fix most anything mechanical on your car.
If you have a pan after 1968 (OK, late '67 for you purists) then the star wheel heater control goes away and is replaced by a pair of levers on either side of the e-brake handle, one for heat level and the other for foot heat or defrost heat. The Bentleys for pre-1967 shows you exactly how to service your star-wheel heater control AND how to adjust the arms at the heater boxes.
What's a pan?...and I stand fully humbled before thee and promise henceforth to read what I writ I mean wrote before I send it...and I think what I was attempting to say was, "I think some individuals don't have all the parts that are within their mechanism to make it function,"
meade
Meade posted:What's a pan?...and I stand fully humbled before thee and promise henceforth to read what I writ I mean wrote before I send it...and I think what I was attempting to say was, "I think some individuals don't have all the parts that are within their mechanism to make it function,"
meade
I git/got that Meade
Gordon, "Laissez les bons temps roules" and maybe Geno is playing with Terry Huval, but none the less, I just want to make sure that I have all the parts that should be with that 'star' knob. I'll have to wait until tomorrow because my wife wants to practice the 'Mamou" (?) now...
Even better than spellcheck is a free app called Grammarly. It checks spelling and grammar and works for your posts here.