Can't leave well enough alone...

[Nunyas]

When I bought my car the heater fan didn't work. So, over the past 22 months or so I'd flick the heater fan switch in self amusement whenever I needed heat or to defrost the windows. A bout a month or 2 ago on an uncharacteristic (for So-Cal) pre-fall rainy night I did one of these self amusement flips and the fan came on /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif i was ecstatic with glee as I suddenly had warm air flowing into the passenger compartment and my windows were being defogged. Only problem then was the 3 position switch only functioned like it had 2.

Fast foward to this weekend. I thought I was going to be slick and pull the switch out and try to repair it... *BZZZZZT* /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonod.gif Wrong answer. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonod.gif As soon as I touched the sucker behind the dash the backside of the switch fell apart in my hand. So, now I have a rocker switch laying in my center console and about 4 wires hanging out of a gaping hole in the dash (2 for the switch light and 2 for the fan motor). Having grown accustom to this wonderous warming device in my B I decided I couldn't live without it. So, for now, I have a small piece of the switch plugged into one of the fan leads, and I connect the other to it whenever I need warmth... That is until I get a new switch to replace the disintegrated one... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazyeyes.gif

All of this could have been avoided if I just left it alone and ordered a new switch like I had planned... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cryin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

 

[tony barnhill]

A new one or a good used one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif I'm sorry, it just made me laugh.....been there, done that sorta thing!

 

[DrEntropy]

With those rocker switches, I don't trust any of 'em to be "good" used... they weren't much "good" when new.

Just my opinion.

 

[RTR52nd]

New where would the fun be if we just ordered new parts for our LBCs when somwthing went wrong. I'm afraid it's in our blood to tinker with it first, try to fix it ourselves, and THEN order the new part. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif
I'm pretty sure we've all encountered the amazing disintegrating B part at one point or another. But it still hurts. Sorry to hear it.

 

[tony barnhill]

Best one I've ever seen was the metal house box with a light switch that was wired into the dash of a Midget...flip the switch & the heater came on, flip it & it went off....big metal box screwed right to the dash

...we shot that little car to put it out of its misery before we crushed it!

 

[Stewart]

Sounds just like my headlight switch. You never knew if it was going to work and if it did what combinations of lights you were going to get and how long they would last when you used it. It finally fell apart when I tried to clean it back up after getting the car back from paint.

 

[John Loftus]

[ QUOTE ]
and the fan came on /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif i was ecstatic with glee

[/ QUOTE ]

I love it when cars heal on their own. Makes you think there is a car 'god' that looks after our 4 wheeled friends. I've had this kind of stuff happen so many times ... but it never fails to move me deeply and then I tap on vinyl for good luck.

Cheers,
John

 

[Banjo]

Lucas gremlins at work! They go in there at night and during the winter months and take out all the microscopic screws that hold all the electric parts togeather. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif

 

[mgbmedic]

three position switch? mine only has two...on and off...am i missing something?

 

[Banjo]

[ QUOTE ]
three position switch? mine only has two...on and off...am i missing something?

[/ QUOTE ]
There should be two more settings.... "dim" and "flicker"
Oops, I was thinking of the headlight switch. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Seriously, I only remember a two position switch for the heater also.. Maybe a different year.

 

[Jay_Nickell]

Same thing with my Hazard Switch. Kinda fell apart when I took it out to fix the turn signal problem. I cleaned it up, super glued that plastic sucker back together and re-installed it. Oh, and I ordered a new one from Moss. I'm holding it in reserve.

 

[Nunyas]

my B is a '76... the switch that was in the dash when I got it was a 3 posistion switch. It's identical to the headlight switch, only it says "FAN" on it. *shrug* not sure if that's the right switch for the car, but that's what I got it with. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Bruce74B]

I had a similar performace with my fan...I thouht it was the switch too...until one morning when I turned it on on the way to work and forgot to shut it off. I left work early for a change and was caught in rush hour traffic when I noticed smoke coming out of the cowl air intake. I debated finding an extinguisher from someone in traffic (truckers usually have them) but instead made a mad dash for home through a couple of side streets, tore into the driveway, popped the hood and grabbed the garden hose...just in time to see the wires to the fan motor melt away. I had to replace the bad motor and wires ($5 on ebay) and it has worked fine since.

BTW, it is a three position swith, but only on-off wiring.

Oh, the joys of LBC's /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazyeyes.gif

Bruce /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

 

[Nunyas]

oooh that just sound so typical of what I've found so far... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[tony barnhill]

Well, today I got up under the dash of my Vermillion Red '79 to replace a blown bulb...to get my hand up in there, I needed to remove the heater switch - it fell apart in my hands! Okay, I'm thinking, I'll just go pull one off my '80 LE temporarily as I don't drive it but do drive the '79...it also fell apart in my hands

...I'm blaming the cold weather! Got 3 new ones on order from Moss right now - 1's a spare!

 

[DrEntropy]

"Expect the best but plan for the worst." Good thinkin', Tony.

 

[Nunyas]

heheheh...

 

[Dave Russell]

[ QUOTE ]
I love it when cars heal on their own. Cheers, John

[/ QUOTE ]
What it "really means" is that the original problem is still waiting to get you again when you least expect it.
D

 

[Nunyas]

so true ... so true ... or in the case of this thread ... hit you back even harder when you think you're going to fix it once and for all... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif