[fezcabdriver]

I'm trying to chase down my the problems with my pods while I have my switches and cc out. Questions for the forum...

1. What is the default(when no vacuum is present) of each of the flaps?

2. Does the fresh air pod require A LOT of vacuum? With my Mityvac, i'm at 26 and that thing won't budge. I've managed to reach in there and that flap is difficult to pull open.

2a. Does the above flap closed mean it is recirculating or is it getting fresh air? I guess I don't really know where outside air enters the system??

 

[cooljjay]

You may want to describe the problems you are having. Removing the CC and switches is only if that needs replacing. All the pods can be tested with that in place, the issues with CC is very seldom the flaps. There are a bunch of a electrical doo dads for the CC's that have/will fail and need replacing. Even dirty grounds and/or fuses can cause a lot of issues. There are also foam sensor tubes that have turned to dust now that will cause issues.

 

[fezcabdriver]

Thanks cooljay. Initially the problem i was having was engine shut off and hard shifting. Once I removed the vacuum to the CC it started to shift smooth as butter. I'm only now getting around to testing the leaks. I've never really understood the CC since I've had the car and the ac has never worked...so I don't really know what the expected results are.

Since posting the OP yesterday, I've determined that my center vent pod is leaking. I've pulled the lines off of it and married them together. Effectively it looks like pushing the defrost and center vents button will now do the same thing... that is..turn on the defrost.

I was testing the recirc flap and it was not holding vacuum either. I then attempted to manually open the flap and it is super difficult. I'm wondering if something caused it do stick shut and ultimately make me "blow out" the pod???

 

[cooljjay]

I cannot help to much in the gen II CC.

But somethings that I do know, you can destroy a diaphragm by applying to much vacuum.

An 85 has all sorts of vacuum crap on it, there's even a flying sauce that was installed to ease shifting. That is ontop of the vacuum controlled transmission.

If you have to many leaks everything controlled by vacuum can be effected. A leak in the door at a door pod can and will effect shifting/CC.

Before you even dare remove stuff from the dash you must start at the pump and work up the tree. There are many MANY articles explaining how.

Very few of us actually have working AC and the other half knows the ac on these cars aren't the best so most chose not to spend up into the four figures and beyond to have it fixed. Many of us are just glad to get heat from one vent.

I would suggest highly to stop playing with the CC and start testing under the hood for vacuum and then move onto each accessory that uses vacuum.

Your model even has vacuum smog crap that needs removing. I would disconnect everything and just connect the shut off and controls for the transmission. I've owned my euro for probably 8 years and just a year ago I got the vacuum locks operational. I drove with just the shut off and booster connected.

 

[fezcabdriver]

Yeah.. with the CC plugged in, I start having problems. I know for a fact that is the problem. After all of my investigating/mityvac-ing I think I have a better idea how it works and which one is the culprit. It turns out the leak that caused all of the problems is the connector in front of the switches going to the leaky center pod vent. That is why when I drove, the shifting/clunking was only happening when it was either in the defrost or center vent mode. Anyway thanks for your help.
I hope someone else might be able to chime in on if the recirc flap should be easy/smooth??

Also, I have a federal 85... i don't think that I have that smog device. What does it look like?

 

[Pete '06 E320 CDI]

It can be quite maddening to figure out. My first stab at this was a huge vacuum leak which was in fact the igintion switch which was connected backwards. Once that was fixed, I found 3 of the 5 pods leaking. (recirculating, footwell and center vent). I unplugged all 3 and capped the lines and the CC still leaked. I pulled the vacuum line upstream of the electric switches and the CC still leaked. I know the 2 remaining pods are ok, so the only thing that can leak is the 2 remaining electric switches. The leak is pretty small, so I can live with it but it prevents the car from stopping if there is not enough vacuum in the system.

Now I have to fix 2 of the 3 damaged pods. I'm not trying to fix the one in the back, so I jammed a piece of hose in the flap through the center vent. Works like a charm!

Keeping the old girl alive is a labor of love...

 

[DeliveryValve]

I'm trying to chase down my the problems with my pods while I have my switches and cc out. Questions for the forum...

1. What is the default(when no vacuum is present) of each of the flaps?

2. Does the fresh air pod require A LOT of vacuum? With my Mityvac, i'm at 26 and that thing won't budge. I've managed to reach in there and that flap is difficult to pull open.

2a. Does the above flap closed mean it is recirculating or is it getting fresh air? I guess I don't really know where outside air enters the system??

1) For default, the center, foot well and main outside air flaps are closed. Defrost is open and recirculation flap is open onto the cabin.
2) the recirculation/fresh air flap should be fairly easy to move with the vacuum pod hooked up. If you unclip the pod arm, the flap would be very easy to swing back and forth.
2a) the flap closed means it is getting outside air.

 

[fezcabdriver]

Thanks Pete!. I wrapped a long zip tie around a piece of plastic cork and set it in place to hold the center vent open. The zip tie is long enough so that I can fish it out if/when I decide to properly fix this thing.

Thanks DeliveryValve for the breakdown...that is what I was looking for. Looks like my recirc flap is stuck. Just to clarify, are you saying that default recirculation position is shut hence fresh air will come in?

how many miles do you have on your greasecar system?

 

[DeliveryValve]

....

Thanks DeliveryValve for the breakdown...that is what I was looking for. Looks like my recirc flap is stuck. Just to clarify, are you saying that default recirculation position is shut hence fresh air will come in?

how many miles do you have on your greasecar system?

When there is no vacuum, the default is cabin air. When there is vacuum, then there is fresh air.

I put about 60k miles in 8 years, could be more, but have been driving other non-veggie vehicles.