Heater Fascia Removal / Stuck position Selector.

[chief]

Hi,
Something odd has happened to our recently purchased Bongos' heater controls. It's a '96 model with manual slider control fascia with a rectangular A/C button.

The selector for feet, face, windscreen etc. will only move between Windscreen/Face and Windscreen on the right hand side, it sticks fast if you try and move it further left than windscreen/face.

If you attempt to force it across to the left then the lower rod (in the drivers' footwell) pops off, but the slider still remains stuck (and then the knob falls off in your hand).

I figured something must be getting caught at the control end itself to prevent the slider moving, so I've been trying to get the fascia out. I found a guide on the forum which says to:

Unhook and un-clip the rod under the bonnet.
Unhook and un-clip the rod in the drivers' footwell.
Finally use radio extractor tools (can't believe I actually had these) to pull the fascia out.

I've done this and it slides out maybe 2-3cm, however something is still pulling it back when you let go so it doesn't come out enough to try and figure out what's wrong or begin working on it.

As far as I can see the A/C buttons' electric cables aren't taut so they don't appear to be what's pulling it back in so I wondered if anyone had any advice on how to fix this problem, or if there was an additional step I'd missed for removing the fascia.

Thanks.

[g8dhe]

This is from the mechanical diagrams http://lushprojects.com/bongopartsmk2/c ... 1of02.html

[chief]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply however that picture looks completely different to our models' heater control, ours is laid out as:

Cold/Hot Horizontal Slider
-----
External/Internal Air Horiz. Slider - A/C button
-----
Vent selection Horiz. Slider.

Then on the right of all that is the 4-Speed dial.

I would have attached a photo but the sites saying my image (even cropped) is too large.

[Markas]

I'm guessing yours is laid out like this one:

[g8dhe]

Ah yes wrong year yours will be this style as the above picture, the one below is the upper diagram (the lower one is the electronic style);

[Tony x]

Hi
When I removed ours, which was the electric sort, I found the same - it would only come out a little and then appear to be stuck.
I got it out eventually by going in behind it - I removed the radio and cubby hole, put my hand through and then wiggled it.
I also, if I remember correctly, squeezed something on the side to release it.
It may well be the clips on the side that don't seem to work like normal radio clips.
However, like I say, ours was (well, still is) electric so yours may have a different issue.

[Alkers]

I have an almost identical problem, all the controls work except to change the heating from feet to windscreen etc. They were working perfectly and suddenly seemed to seize.

I can move them eventually by getting someone to move the control while I force the cable form the driver footwell, with much resistance.

I couldn't get the controls out to investigate properly either!

[chief]

Hi,
Thanks for the replies, and sorry to hear Alkers has the exact same issue.

I haven't been able to get a time to work on it again, and since we'll be using the Bongo soon I think for the moment I'd better put it back together again so at least we have some heat, that and the non-standard radio requires the other type of radio removal tools (which of course I've managed to temporarily mislay) should I need to remove it to gain access to behind the heater controls).

Chief

[ibrazier]

Similar question.

Any idea if the bulbs for the LHS slider sections of the manual unit can be changed as min are out?

[Alkers]

They can definitely be changed but I don't know what to repalce them with, I haven't seen them anywhere else. They are different to those in the dash etc

[g8dhe]

As shown in the pictures above the lamps are reached from the rear of the unit 61-C95 is the lamp, I suspect you need to remove the unit entirely and then you will see the how the lamps can be accessed from the rear.

[JulesMartin]

Hi All, just change my bulbs in the heater control this afternoon. in the manual version with a rectangular A/C button there are three bulbs which can be removed in the usual way by turning the casing 90 degrees clockwise looking from the back and pulling out. space there is very tight and the cables are also clipped in place to keep clear of the sliders. The bulbs are very small and just pull out from their black plastic holders. Bulbs are easily sourced at Halfords £1.50 each. I found the control unit really hard to get back by pushing it. I found the best way to solve this was to check all the control cables which are really stiff are not jammed up or bent in anyway. I found that the air direction slider was the culprit and when I reached up from the pedal area and pulled the outer sleeve of the cable straight the heater control unit got pulled into place without me having to push it from the front. The other thing I found was the grommet round the outer sleeve for the cable controlling the recycle slider had seized on the outer sleeve and is actually attached with a small cable tie. I removed the cable tie and sprayed some lubricant onto the outer sleeve allowing it to slide easily through the grommet and this again allowed the control unit much more movement.

[Alkers]

Did you happen to note the bulb designation or number or anything? Do they matter which way around you fit them?

[JulesMartin]

No designation or need for order, all the bulbs are the same. If you use Halfords they are in an orange pack No.286. one illuminates the fan speed. pull off the fan speed knob and beneath you'll see the control is held in place with a plastic nut. use long nose pliers to undo the nut and remove the fan speed switch. you can now fairly easily turn the black bulb holder through 90 degrees and pull out. pull out the glass bulb and replace. On mine all the wiring for the bulbs were one black and one pink. oddly the black wire is the live! the other two bulbs light up the temperature range and the distribution of the air. these are tricky to get to and you do need to have the control unit as far out as you can. looking from underneath the control unit you will see that the wiring for the bulbs is clipped into a tight route to prevent it from getting snagged on the controls as they are moved. All three holders and bulbs are removed in the same way.

[Alkers]

No problem getting at them, have had the blooming thing out more times than I care to remember.
https://www.halfords.ie/motoring/bulbs- ... ingle-pack
https://www.halfords.ie/motoring/bulbs- ... ingle-pack

I wonder can you tell the difference between either of these two?

I'm going to pickup a full set anyway, mine have been very temperamental.