Heater / Ac Behind Dash Panel Levers parts

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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Buzzard67
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Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 10:00 am
My tercel:: 1984 Toyota Tercel Delux
Location: Minnesota

Heater / Ac Behind Dash Panel Levers parts

Post by Buzzard67 »

Well here is my latest dilemma. My wife's 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee lost her brakes and with X-Mas coming money's short so I took my Tercel out of storage to drive until I can fix her brakes. I went to move the Cold to Heat lever and it broke. I took apart the dash and to my surprise the lever bar ( Aluminum ) snapped. Probably from stress . Now by looking online I am able to move all the cables by the fire wall Heater core hose lever and under the glove box to keep it on the max Heat setting. Well it must just be stress or its age but the Lever that moves the direction of the heat ( air ) floor , bi level , vent and Defrost also Broke. I was able to just move the cables by hand to leave it on the Heat setting ( floor / defrost ). Well that's fine for now a good temporary fix but I would like this to work the way it's designed and it just plane bugs the shit out of me to see it broke.
If any member has a parts car or just knows where I could get the inner working of the heat / cold and air direction that fit behind the dash ( dont know official name of part ) Description : it has cables that fit in a aluminum and plastic holder and the levers ( 2 ) slide left to right ( outside the dash ) Cold / Heat Bottom lever and top lever works the direction of airflow vent , bilevel , heat and defrost. Looking for just the inside working part that the cables connect to.
If anyone has any good ideals I willing to listen or If there are other make of cars that use the same design that I could Frankenstein to fit my car let me know.
Car make and model: 1984 Toyota Tercel DXL 4WD with AC.
Please contact me I would be willing to discuss price and shipping.
Thanks Happy Holidays
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Mark
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My tercel:: 1984 Automatic, 1981 sedan
Location: Victoria, B.C.

Re: Heater / Ac Behind Dash Panel Levers parts

Post by Mark »

When my heat lever broke I had a guy carefully weld it back together. Mine was steel though, not aluminum.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
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Re: Heater / Ac Behind Dash Panel Levers parts

Post by Petros »

yours should be steel and plastic too. that is the reason you need to spray lube all of the heater control levers, the cables and the flaps and levers at the other ends with silicon spray lube. All of those parts can be replaced, heater controls come by taking the center console apart, not too bad a job. but the levers under the dash within the ducts, that control big flaps, are more difficult, if you have to take it all apart you should also clean out the ducts, could have been sticks, leaves and mouse nests in there blocking them, causing the levers to break.

There are some forum members with whole parts cars that likely have what you need. Your temporary set it likely the best way to go for now, would be a pain to pull the whole dash apart in the winter. Not too hard a job, but there are a lot of parts to remove, unscrew, pop out, etc (do it carefully, old plastic parts are very brittle).

good luck.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
xirdneh
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My tercel:: 87 tercel 4x4 wagon w/reringed engine, 83 tercel 4x4 wagon w/salvaged engine and 4.1 Diff's
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Re: Heater / Ac Behind Dash Panel Levers parts

Post by xirdneh »

Pretty common for the heat/cold (bottom) lever to break
check the control valve in engine compartment on passenger side firewall. disconnect the cable and move valve lever back and forth. if tight squirt some lube on it till it loosens up.
try working cable to see if it is tight. if so drip silicone or light oil in end and keep end up high so it will work its way down. i shove it in the holes under hood. continue adding lube now and then untill it loosens up.

lever can be repaired by a good welder
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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helipilot77
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My tercel:: 1984 SR5 wagon
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: Heater / Ac Behind Dash Panel Levers parts

Post by helipilot77 »

When I recently had my dash apart to replace the heater core I lubed the cables but noticed that the temperature (lower) cable was interfering and colliding with the path of the vent select (upper) cable. A little adjustment with a pair of pliers to the end of the cable where it connects to the lever allowed it slide freely. If you find a replacement be sure to make sure they aren’t contacting each other or to much pressure will break the new ones.
. / TOYOTA
./_| |/|/ |]
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Buzzard67
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My tercel:: 1984 Toyota Tercel Delux
Location: Minnesota

Re: Heater / Ac Behind Dash Panel Levers parts

Post by Buzzard67 »

Thanks everyone for all the great information. I will lube all the cables when I take apart the dash this spring. I think the other half of the lever is still attached to the plastic housing. I put the car back in storage for the winter.
I think I would like to replace that housing piece with both of the levers still intact and just switch it out. From what I read on this forum with my limited mechanical skills I should be able to tackle this project in the summer.
Now does anyone out there have a used part or know the name of this part ? I call it the heat / cold lever housing .
I would be interested for a reasonable price.
Thanks again , Toyota owners are the best !
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