I have 86merccp's wagon at my house fixing a few things. the heater core was replaced a year or so ago by a repair shop, ever since then the air coming out of the vents was weak and heat was hit or miss. last time I looked at the car I was operating the temp control lever, there was a loud pop noise air stopped blowing out the vents all together. fearing a broken re-circ door, I decided to pull the box out of the car and see what was going on.
the workmanship of this previous repair was piss-poor at best. most of the screws were missing or loose. the glove box had one screw holding it together and would no longer close. 2 of the 3 studs holding the heater box to the firewall were loose or broken.
I got the heater box out of the car and discovered the gasket was installed backwards and not sealing against the firewall.
in this picture, notice how the left edge of the gasket hangs over the side and doesn't seal, also notice how the other side of the gasket is wedged between the box and the heat door, this is how the gasket was installed when I removed the heater box. also notice the top right hole on the gasket, the mounting tab for the upper stud is broken off.
in this picture the gasket is installed correctly on the box and stapled in place. the good news was all the air control doors are working correctly and not broken.
going to use some epoxy and try to repair the broken stud on the top. the lower stud is there, but needs to fastened to the firewall.
the workmanship of this previous repair was piss-poor at best. most of the screws were missing or loose. the glove box had one screw holding it together and would no longer close. 2 of the 3 studs holding the heater box to the firewall were loose or broken.
I got the heater box out of the car and discovered the gasket was installed backwards and not sealing against the firewall.
in this picture, notice how the left edge of the gasket hangs over the side and doesn't seal, also notice how the other side of the gasket is wedged between the box and the heat door, this is how the gasket was installed when I removed the heater box. also notice the top right hole on the gasket, the mounting tab for the upper stud is broken off.
in this picture the gasket is installed correctly on the box and stapled in place. the good news was all the air control doors are working correctly and not broken.
going to use some epoxy and try to repair the broken stud on the top. the lower stud is there, but needs to fastened to the firewall.
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