Hi. I recently purchased a 90 Custom Cruiser. The heat would not turn off despite moving the lever to cool (manual temp adjustment). I thought it was the temperature door actuator that went bad, but when removed the glove box, I was horrified to see that it was missing (see attached pictures). The temperature cable is just loose back there. Does anyone know if I am only missing the door actuator, or are there other parts missing? Does anyone know where I can find the missing parts? Can anyone send a picture of what it should look like behind the glove box, I can't seem to find a diagram. Any help would be appreciated
Welcome aboard Brian, sounds like you have an interesting conundrum on your hands. I'd be willing to bet that someone here will have the information you need to get this issue sorted out.
Looks like you are missing what the factory calls a "bellcrank" assembly that mounts to the box. It looks like a boomerang on a pivot that attaches on one end to the temperature cable and on the other to that black rod hanging out from the firewall (diverter door is engine-side on these cars). It's obviously not there, but whether or not it's a matter of just finding it and screwing it to the mounting points is uncertain to me. This area of a car rarely ever has anyone monkey with it as the assembly is quite robust, so something is definitely strange to cause someone to pull it out or for it to have broken. I would think that this assembly would not be 100% unique to 1990, so earlier years might very well be interchangeable, but the drawings indicate Chevrolet has it in a different location so it might be solely limited to Olds full size cars, maybe going back as far as 1977. Someone who has one or three of these cars could say for certain. I've attached the relevant files from the service manual so you can get a better idea of what it should be. The one labeled "HeaterCable" is closest in relevance. Unfortunately by 1990 the drawings in the service manuals for what ended up being the last year of a long run are less than stellar compared to the 1970s era of drawings.
Thank you so much! This is very helpful. Now at least I know what's missing. The hard part is now finding the parts
Yup. That's the way it goes when working on a classic. But I'm sure you'll be able to locate what you are looking for.
I've found quite the opposite. This era seems to have a lot of plastics that don't age well and get very brittle. My HVAC system had a bunch of parts that got brittle and snapped from normal use, which could be what the OP is seeing. Fortunately, I don't care about originality, so I'm tearing out the whole darn thing... Good luck finding the part you need!
If it's just a simple bellcrank why not just fab yourself up one? Or look at something like the bellcrank assembly for an Offenhauser throttle bellcrank? When the factory parts are gone, you may just have to macgyver up something, like it was mentioned they don't get seen often so it doesn't have to look pretty. Looks like someone already had something rigged up before?
I guess I will have to make something once the weather gets a little warmer here in the NE. But I will keep looking anyway, maybe I will get lucky.
Hey I have something you might be able to use. I converted my 87 Custom Cruiser Tempermatic system to manual this weekend have have one pic and one video of the part you are missing. I found my parts from a local junkyard, cost me $24 for the entire control system and the part you are missing. You can get this off a wide range of cars, I got lucky with the 2nd car I looked at. https://photos.app.goo.gl/BaGZDLaAM8vemitM8 Post if you have any questions.
Here is what you need, I ran across one one on ebay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/114721228386?fits=Make:Oldsmobile&hash=item1ab5eb0662:g:NeYAAOSw7fJgSM6k You may still need a cable from a manual heat system. Yours looks like it was a Tempermatic and the programmer, etc have been removed. I had to use a manual cable as it is attached to the heater box in a different way. It will have to be attached in order to move the door. You may be able to figure out a way though. Either way you need that part on ebay. EDIT: I think the above link is for the rod retainer only, you will need it too, but you also need the black plastic part here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/112433825054?hash=item1a2d94051e:g:9MsAAOSw5J5gSMdf
