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Re-attaching Heater Selector Cable
Posted on Sun 09 Oct 2005 by smartroad (1830 reads)
As I have since found out, many Roadsters have a small problem with their heater selector cable falling off from the lever underneath the centre vent. This is actually a rather simple fix to do yourself rather then wait a week to go into a Smart dealership. This is the way that I fixed the problem when it happened to my Roadster. fig. 1 fig. 2 Using my nails I was able to pull the front of the switch segment up and off. It wasn't a very tight fit, but if you have some trouble then apply some masking tape to either side (to protect the plastic from marking) and carefully use a screw driver to prise it upwards. (See fig. 1 & 2). You can take the cable bundle out of the bottom of the switch panel, but it is a right pain to get back in again and there is enough cable to push it gently behind the speedometer and rev counter. fig. 3 fig. 4 Next locate the screws that hold the vent in position and remove both (as indicated by the arrows in fig. 3) using a T20 torx driver. Then pull the unit forward (fig. 4) being careful of the white light bar. fig. 5 On the right there is a blue block with a wire coming out of it, this is the cable and as in fig. 5 it is detached from the control arm. The cable can be reconnect to the post on the arm and push down (just in front of the cable in fig. 5). In most cases this will probably be enough, however with my one as soon as it was put into the "windscreen" mode it fell off again! fig. 6 To prevent this I put a cable tie onto the top of the post which is tightened to prevent the cable falling off again (fig. 6). Once this was done everything was put back together in reverse order. The whole job was done in about 5-10 minutes (not counting the time to take pictures!). --UPDATE-- After a couple of months of use, the fix I done didn't last. Eventually the cable tie fell off. To remedy this I have done the following fix: fig. 7 fig. 8 I have taken a cable tie (fig. 7) and cut it down to just the first part, before you get to the textured part (fig. 8). fig. 9 In fig. 9 you can see how that part has been pushed into the split of the retaining clip, forcing the two sides apart and gripping the cable. fig. 10 Fig. 10 shows the end result with the cable tie "insert" cut down to size to avoid fouling on the other cable. After some vigorous testing by moving the front selector back and forth, everything seemed to stay where it is meant to stay. Hopefully this will be the end of this problem.[extend]

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Poster	Thread
Captainkid	Posted: 2006/5/30 10:31 Updated: 2008/3/18 2:29
80bhp Roadster Joined: 2006/5/16 From: Slough Posts: 48	Re: Re-attaching Heater Selector Cable I also noticed that the heater selection cable didn't select. Having found the article by smartroad this morning I'm sure this'll be fixed by end of day - and now it is. Definately (with the aid of the pictures) a 10 minute job. One small observation. When I refitted the central air vent the darker grey surround (bottom of fig4) didn't look right at the bottom. On removal somehow I'd managed to get its retaining lugs inside the main moulding. I prized them out and re-inserted then into the fixings on the outside of the unit - perfect.

Poster	Thread
walt	Posted: 2008/3/13 22:29 Updated: 2008/3/13 22:29
Bluewave Roadster Joined: 2008/2/24 From: Denderleeuw, Belgium Posts: 71	Re: Re-attaching Heater Selector Cable my cable was loose too, but i bended the cable a bit downward so it has the tendency to stay down where it should stay, et voila , it seems to be staying there forever ... w.

Poster	Thread
Nelle	Posted: 2010/5/25 20:02 Updated: 2010/5/26 17:55
Concept Roadster Joined: 2008/5/29 From: East Riding of Yorshire Posts: 6	Re: Re-attaching Heater Selector Cable Thanks for this! Guess what I'll be doing this weekend...