the valve is in the heater hose between the engine and the firewall. If you find that it won't open, you can eliminate it with a double barb fitting that you can get at an auto parts or hardware store.
well, a sticky valve could potentially plug the hoses right? coolant level is good, i can see it in the radiator.
which hose is it in? there is a long hose that goes from the front of the black to the firewall and another smaller hose from the back of the block to the fire wall. it should be readily accessible if i pull the hose? if i eliminate the valve and replace it with the double barb fitting, i'll get heat all the time wont i?
I've tried hard to find an engine pic from a 67 LeSabre with no luck. The arrow shows the same valve on my car. I don't know what yours, if you have one, looks like. If the blend door works you will NOT get heat all the time. The A/C wouldn't work as well but you're not using it anyway as you said, I hope this helps.
thanks for the visual. My hose actually runs into something similar. it looks like this so my question is now...can i remove this and fix it, or do i have to get a new one, which may be difficult to find...it is vacuum operated and runs into the firewall. This piece is actually attatched to the rear of the manifold (i think could be wrong).
if the diaphram holds a vacuum and you can get the valve to loosen up and actuate with vacuum that would be great. Most people just replace them. You might want to make sure you are getting vacuum to it first.
To test it, first pull the vacuum hose off with the heater turned on and feel - make sure the vacuum hose is sucking air. If it is, turn off the car and remove the valve unit. Hook the vacuum nozzle of the valve to a hand vacuum pump, or to a vacuum hose from another car (don't run the car with this pulled out of the heater hose - you'll loose your coolant). You can blow in it or push something through it to see if it's opening.
it doesnt seem like the hose is sucking in air to actuate the diapharam. is there any way to fix the vacuum problem? also can i take the diaphram apart and remove the valve to i have constnat hot water all the time?
As one of the previous posts ststed , you can take the valve out of the system. Won't hurt anything for cold weather driving. Local parts supplier will be anle to get one for you to replace it. Loren
Take a look at the post"A/C cars heater control". Some good info allready there . No need to reiderate. Should help you with vacuum issues if they exist. Loren
thanks. looks like i will be removing the diaphram...i have one question left, when i do remove the control unit, do i have to drain the radiator, or can i just put a rag and catch whatever comes out???? also, it is ok to put a manual flow valve, this wont back anything up fluid wise? finally does anyone know the size of the diaphram as it goes into the block? thanks all.
I don't understand "looks like i will be removing the diaphram." IF you mean the heater valve, great. As for the coolant, you can either let it spill out while you remove the valve or you can drain the radiator to a level below the heater hoses and you won't lose any. If the petcock is frozen or not there you can siphon the coolant directly from the radiator by removing the cap and inserting a hose into the tank. A manual heater valve will work just fine. I don't know the size of the hoses on your car.
normally I would just use a needle nose vise grip on the hoses each side of the valve then do a quick change . have a piece of heater hose cut to length with clamps allready. If I remember correctly, the hose is 5/8" I.D. Good luck Loren
Just keep the fluid from spilling, you don't have to drain anything. A manual valve wouldn't hurt anything, but you might as well just put a splice in the hose and let it go for the winter - you can worry about putting a valve in when the weather gets better.
well hopefully this will solve the problem. i removed the hose today just to peek at the work ahead (doesnt look hard) i noticed that the hose leading from the valve to the firewall had fluid in it? is this correct if the valve isnt really working? i also noticed that the hoses are not nearly as hot as the radiator hose when at Normal operating temperature? is this a correct scenario? what is the fluid flow? radiator to manifold to water pump to heater inlet to heater outlet to HCV to manifold back to waterpump? any one know? thanks, few questions here.
