Air temperature Control

[Observer]

1981 Fiat Spider

Is does not matter what I do (settings), the air temperature is always hot in the car.
Pulled it down, all the levers are operational. Fan is off, just cannot figure it out.

Help!

[vandor]

The left lever controls airflow into the car. If it is forward, the flap under the cowl is closed, and no air should enter.

The middle lever is for the heater valve. Originally forward was on, back was off, but some aftermarket heater valves work the other way around. It is common for the outer housing the slip off the holder at the heater valve, so the cable will not actually move the valve's arm, so check that.

The right lever directs airflow - back, the airflow comes out of the defroster vents, forward and the air also comes out by your feet.

[rlux4]

Watch the heater valve while the middle lever is pulled backwards to see if it's closing all the way. It may not be and you'll get hot coolant through the heater core when it shouldn't. You could even disconnect the cable when the valve is positioned by the cable to be closed and then see if you can move the lever any more towards "closed". If you can then it's just a matter of cable adjustment.
Ron

[Observer]

Okay every things seems to check out. Middle cable is moving the valve arm.
What I have noticed is there seems to be heat coming out from the hand brake area and on the
passenger side feet.

[azruss]

check the inner boot to the gear shift. this seals the gear shift to the body. If that is bad, it will allow engine and tranny heat into the interior.

[fiat218]

1981 Fiat Spider

Is does not matter what I do (settings), the air temperature is always hot in the car.
Pulled it down, all the levers are operational. Fan is off, just cannot figure it out.

Help!

My 72 is tha same, hot as hell, just reading this and I will check mine to see if it is working proper

[RRoller123]

Can you install a new internal shift boot by just pulling up the wood or do you have to take the floor console out?

[azruss]

had to go back and look at some pix. the inner boot seals the top of the tranny to the shifter. it does have a big rubber flange on it. As I recall, the flange acts as a seal to the wood/metal insert that holds the outer boot. go ahead and pull that plate. you will be able to see the condition of the boot and whether it has pulled from the tranny. If the inner boot is bad, the hot air should smell of gear oil.
Also the seal on your vent flap may be bad. many times that hinge is corroded and the vent door doesnt close all the way. this is controlled by the right hand lever. see if this slows down the flow of heat when opened and closed. this vent flap is located under the windshield cowling directly under the vent grill. there is a rain deflector plate that keeps you from seeing the vent open and close. would need to remove the cowling to service it.
What it sounds like to me is your heater valve is bad. even if the valve arm moves, it may not be stopping flow to the heater core. you can test this by closing the valve and then feel how hot the hoses are going in and out of the heater.
With the valve off, there should be no hot water flow in either hose.

[baltobernie]

In terms of creature comforts, Spiders are pretty crude by modern standards. Then there's the effect of thirty years on the floor insulation. Your passenger-side issue is due to the exhaust system, including the catalyst, if you have one. Even with a new transmission, synthetic lube, new center bearing, etc. there's still a lot of heat around my parking brake handle.

The footwell vents on the early Spiders make a big difference here. (As long as you're moving )

[Observer]

Azruss was correct, heater valve seems to be not functioning, when shut off one of the hoses remains hot.

[azruss]

If the valve fully closes then both hoses should eventually cool. If one hose remains hot and you continue to get heat out of the heater, then the valve is letting enough coolant by to continually feed the heater with hot coolant.

[simoboni]

Can you install a new internal shift boot by just pulling up the wood or do you have to take the floor console out?

were you able to install a new inner shift boot? I'm struggling a bit w/ it, since I can't figure our how to remove the chrome shift lever extension...

thanks

Simone

[4uall]

I was able to simply remove the panel then remove all the old crap and install new boot. Made all the difference in the world regarding fumes and heat.


Shifter Panel removed by itzebtze, on Flickr


Shifter Panel removed by itzebtze, on Flickr


Shifter Panel removed by itzebtze, on Flickr

[RRoller123]

So it looks like you can tuck the fibrous insulation portion of the new boot down around the transmission housing after you pull up the plate. And the rubber boot will slip down over the gear shift shaft after removing the knob? That seems easy, I need to do this too.

[simoboni]

So it looks like you can tuck the fibrous insulation portion of the new boot down around the transmission housing after you pull up the plate. And the rubber boot will slip down over the gear shift shaft after removing the knob? That seems easy, I need to do this too.

Installed following the pictures, just needed to lube the rubber a bit...works great!

Thanks

Simone