DeTomaso Mailing List: September 97, Message #27
     



From: MikeLDrew@aol.com

Subject: Re:  Re: Hot Water

Date: Mon, 1 Sep 1997 15:45:53 -0400 (EDT)



Capt Mike Drew

150 Westgate Dr.

San Francisco, CA  94127



Home:   (415) 334-7860



E-mail:  MikeLDrew@aol.com



All,



Sjmzss@aol.com wrote:



>Can anyone tell me how to shut off the "hot water" in my 74L.  I prefer the

"windows down" type of driving and with temperatures at 90+ the heat that

comes out of the cabin is unbearable.  I noticed that hot air is exiting from

the heater vents - even though the levers are in the cold position and

working properly. 



Then back-in-the-fold Dave Doddek wrote:



>You most probably just need to adjust the cable going to the shut off valve

under the driver side of the dash.  When mine is set to cold, no warm air

comes out at all.  If it will not adjust any more, then you need a new valve

to make the water shut off all the way. 



>>>A few additional points:



1)  Dave's right, sometimes the valve can get sticky, and when you move the

lever, the cable just bends without the valve moving much.  Get under there

and seriously spritz things with WD-40 and see if that makes any difference.

 If not, drain the coolant, then remove the valve and seriously try to

de-gunk it.  I had one that was frozen completely solid; I poured boiling

water, freezing water, and various types of solvents in and eventually got it

working fairly well again.



2)  If you replace the valve, realize that the $90 or so valve sold by the

factory these days is NOT a direct replacement.  Pantera heater valve

supplies dried up years ago, so the factory is instead selling Longchamp

valves that use a completely different design.  I purchased one at the

factory last year, and they went to great lengths (in the universal language

of pointy-talky, since they spoke no English and I speak no Italian) to tell

me that it would NOT work the same, but it would function.  I believe it

works backwards; that is; when you install it, you move the lever to 'hot'

for cold and vice-versa.  If you purchase this valve from a vendor, hopefully

they'll be scrupulous enough to mention this fact.



3)  I managed to stumble across an aftermarket valve (on the heater box

Charlie Puckett gave me) that works fairly well, and works correctly.

 However, it's still a little stiff, and while the cable will open it all the

way, sometimes it binds and the cable won't close it all the way.  Something

I've yet to figure out how to fix.



4)  Heater shut-off valves are a terrific idea; in fact, I even use them in

my GT-350.  Place them under the car where you can get to them from the

passenger side, then just shut them off and be done with it.  If you ever

happen to need the heater, just reach underneath and open them up.  You might

want to open them and run the heater every few months, just to keep things

from getting corroded or gunked up or whatever...



5)  Finally, realize that at high speeds, with the windows down theres a

terrific vacuum formed in the driver's compartment.  It's VERY common to see

Panteras with their headliners sucked off the roof by this force!

 Disconcerting at speed, plus it fills the interior with tiny bits of black

foam that you'll be pulling out of the A/C vents for years to come.  If

you're going to drive over 100 mph or so, I'd roll the windows all (or at

least most) of the way up.



6)  Finally, for you folks in other countries, if you're wondering why The

List suddenly exploded in activity this weekend, realize it's a holiday

weekend and everybody has Monday off from work.  It's hot in most parts of

the country, so us gearheads are sitting indoors, enjoying our air

conditioned computer rooms and spouting forth all sorts of Pantera-related

stuff!  Should quiet down tomorrow when we all go back to work (even me!)



Mike





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