Plastic heater control lever.

[bx petrol auto saloon]

Dear All,
Today, whilst I still have the heater tap out of the car ( as I was attempting for the third time now to try and get this heatér tap back in ) one of the plastic, heater control lever has snapped, quite close to the centre shaft that it is supposed to be operating.
It has a part number on it, which is;- N 22 108562U, It also has a number 3 on it aswell. This plastic lever is the one that is fitted just over half way up on the right hand side of the heater unit. The broken part of the plastic lever, has a round dowel on the side with the part number on and a split dowel on the other side. This broken lever is the one that has a rod going to it from the heater tap linkage.
I was wondering if it is possible to take the broken part of the lever, that is still connected to the heater unit or is it a case of mend and make do
Many thanks, any help, advice would be really great indeed thank-you
Vince,

[Mothman]

Any piccies of the broken bit Vince?
I have lots of bits, just cant visualise it?

Andy

[bx petrol auto saloon]

Dear Andy,
Firstly, thank-you so very very much indeed Andy for your very kind help
Secondly, we have taken four photo,s of the sadly broken heater control lever, however Shari has only managed to upload one of the photo,s at the moment Andy So we will try again tomorrow and see how we get on Andy
The bit of the broken plastic lever arm I have is exactly 2" long by 3/4" wide, so I would imagine that the whole complete lever arm would only be about 3" Andy
I will try tomorrow and see if we can download the other photo,s
Thanks again Andy
Vince,

[bx petrol auto saloon]

Dear Andy,
Firstly, I am so sorry to have to trouble you Andy, and on such a warm day too
Secondly, thank-you so very very much for having a shuffty for one of these plastic control arms Andy
Thirdly, I have just been out to the car and had a shuffty at where this plastic control arm fits Andy If you are sitting in the drivers seat, looking forward out of the front windscreen, with the side of the heater matrix facing you. if you follow the heater matrix round to the right you will see the plastic header tank that is on the heater matrix The plastic header tank on the heater matrix ( the bit that slides in and out ) it measures 2 1/2" wide. The broken bracket on mine is the one that is directly in front of the front side of the heater matrix. It is situated about inch 2 1/2" out of 2 1/2" height wise with the heater matrix
Thank-you so very very much indeed Andy, for all your very very kind help
Shari has managed to post some much clearer photo,s today Andy
Thanks so very much Andy, you are a hero
Vince,

[Mothman]

Thanks for the piccies Vince, ile have a look shortly.

Andy

[Brian]

Hi Vince,

If Andy can't oblige, I have a spare heater, and may be able to help with the lever, pic below:



Cheers

[Mothman]

Hi Vince,

had a good look at my spare heater box and cant find the bit you are after so Brian may be able to help you. I removed its heater matrix for Sophie last year and must have put the bit somewhere but where?

Fingers crossed, Brian has the part. Sorry about that Vince.

Andy

[bx petrol auto saloon]

Dear Andy,
Firstly, thank-you so very much for having a look for me Andy,
Take care my friend
Vince,

[bx petrol auto saloon]

Dear Brian,
Firstly, Brian thanks ever so much for posting your pic of your heater box
Secondly, for your very very kind offer Brian and if I could very kindly take you up on your offer Brian That would be a real life saver.
Thank-you so very Brian
Vince,

[Brian]

Hi Vince,

Well, I have disconnected the boss that fits into the other lever, leaving the metal rod attached, but to disconnect the other end, which is just a pivot, it may require the heater box to be split, and tapped with a soft dowel from the inside.
(old plastic being brittle)

I can feel the pivot, a tube with 4 slots, that will allow it to spring and clip into I assume a recess.
Have you removed the pivot end of the lever from the heater box yet?




The label on the other end of the box.

[bx petrol auto saloon]

Dear Brian,
Firstly, thank-you so very indeed Brian for having a gander at getting the control lever arm out and your very kind reply too Brian
Secondly, as regard to your question Brian, I have only tried to pull the broken part off with my fingers, but to no avail I haven,t tried anything else as yet, I didn,t want to do anymore damage than I already have, if you know what I mean Brian
One thing I wanted to ask Brian, is can you see on your heater box, how long this plastic control lever arm ( the 3" long one that has snapped on mine ) is inside by any chance
Another thing Brian, whereabouts is your part no label situated please, as I can,t find one on mine Brian
Last one Brian, mine is fitted with non working, ( at the moment ) air-con with outlawed R 12 refrigerant do you think that your heater unit would fit into my BX Brian
Sorry to be a pain Brian and thank-you so very very much for all of your very kind help and advice aswell
Vince,

[Brian]

Hi Vince,

Not sure if the heater is similar to A/C fitted cars.

I have just confirmed that I am looking at the lever in question, small mirror and the part number was revealed.

The part number label is on the left hand side of the box when sitting in the car.

I think you will have trouble if you try and remove the broken part of the lever.

I would personally have a go at mending the existing one.

Hear we go, that's a task for you.....

Suggestion:
Say 3mm metal plate shaped to sit in the recess, bolted, self tapper if not enough room, with some strong epoxy between the interfaces.

Cheers

[Mickey taker]

I have found plumbers solvent use to join plastic pipes is a pretty amazing glue (have just used to mend a broken bracket on a headlight)
might be worth using that and a plate

[Mothman]

If you split the heater box, it will be possible to remove the bit you want. Now realised that i had to use the very same bit for Sophie and this is how we removed it.

Andy

[Vanny]

I have found plumbers solvent use to join plastic pipes

Its a very specific type of glue (for 'soft' plastics) that wont (i believe) work very well on the plastic used to make the arms.
From experience, i would strongly suggest glue won't work for long because of the forces involved.

Best bet is probably as Brian suggests but put 'wings' on a metal repair section, and use rivets for ease (rather than a nut and bolt).

I suggest that to make this repair will probably need the steering column out to get good access to the broken bits.


Going by the two units i have in the loft. The AC and Non AC heater boxes are made from the same tool, with a blank where the evaporator goes in. To convert a non AC box to an AC box would probably require some basic cutting, perhaps with a Dremel style tool.

If it can be helped, i would try to avoid taking the heater box out, which requires removal of the dash/IP. While relatively straight forward, of the 6 or so times i've swapped dashes, you always GAIN rattles!