Suddenly no air out of center console vents?

[Patrick C]

Hi gang. It seems that this week my center console vents no longer put out any air. Yes, I have made sure the vent adjustment knobs are open and I can see inside the vents. I get great airflow out of the vents on the passenger and driver side kneepads, but no air from the center console anymore. What do you suggest I check first? I am frustrated that the vents stopped working now that it is finally getting warm out! Thanks in advance.

[DMCMW Dave]

Probably broke the plastic arm that opens the vent . You get to it by removing the glovebox insert. Check the vacuum hose too.

[Patrick C]

Probably broke the plastic arm that opens the vent . You get to it by removing the glovebox insert. Check the vacuum hose too.

Will check right now. Vacuum hose is good. If that arm broke, what part(s) do I need? Is it a whole unit?

EDIT. See attached picture...is this the broken arm?

[DMC5180]

The arm on mine broke a few years ago while I doing reassembly for a Evap replacement. I just SUPERGLUED it back together and it's fine ever since. I always keep in the back of mind I should replace it one of these years before it goes EXTINCT. Interestingly enough, This is one of those parts that could easily be replicated (3D printed) from a more durable material. NO tooling setup. HINT, HINT.(JAMES)

For know it's only available as part of the larger AIR BOX DOOR ASSEMBLY.

[Patrick C]

For know it's only available as part of the larger AIR BOX DOOR ASSEMBLY.

I don't see that on the DMCH website. Link?

[DMC5180]

Will check right now. Vacuum hose is good. If that arm broke, what part(s) do I need? Is it a whole unit?

EDIT. See attached picture...is this the broken arm?


NO that's plastic rod that comes out of the Vacuum servo. Now that I see that, I think that was the piece that broke on mine too. But in the end I just Glued things back together So Far So Good.

I can't get the DMCH SITE to Load at the moment. Oh the humanity of, I just had to use My Old paper parts manual, LOL. Item 21 101367 A/C Adapter Assembly

[Patrick C]

I can't get the DMCH SITE to Load at the moment. Oh the humanity of, I just had to use My Old paper parts manual, LOL. Item 21 101367 A/C Adapter Assembly

Found it!
http://store.delorean.com/p-7624-housing-air-dist.aspx

But I am going to try the superglue route for now instead of ordering that monstrous part, most of which I don't need.

[Nicholas R]

A couple years ago mine broke too but it was the little white lever that actually broke. I made a new one out of sheet aluminum. Not to difficult; only tedious part was filing the square hole.

On a side note, does anyone else loose their center vents momentarily under full throttle? I know it's because at wide open throttle you loose a lot of vacuum but I wasn't sure if wide open on a PRV lowered the vacuum that much. I know my situation is different and it really does only happen when pushing full throttle, but I'm just curious.

[DMCMW Dave]

On a side note, does anyone else loose their center vents momentarily under full throttle? I know it's because at wide open throttle you loose a lot of vacuum but I wasn't sure if wide open on a PRV lowered the vacuum that much. I know my situation is different and it really does only happen when pushing full throttle, but I'm just curious.

That means the check valve in line with the vacuum reservoir is bad. Or missing, in your case. Did you leave that out of your re-plumbing efforts?

[DMCMW Dave]

Found it!
http://store.delorean.com/p-7624-housing-air-dist.aspx

But I am going to try the superglue route for now instead of ordering that monstrous part, most of which I don't need.

Unfortunately that is the only way they sell the part (that's how it was stocked by DMC). We generally try to fix the vacuum part, re-make the little arm, etc. but if not the only thing you can do is buy the whole assembly and then move the vacuum cylinder over (you don't want to even think about replacing the whole thing - unless you have the dash completely apart anyway or just like doing things the hard way).

A cheesy alternative is to hard-wire the vent open all the time, but I believe this will make your defroster never work as that vent, when open, blocks the feed to the defroster outlets.

[Ryan S.]

I fixed mine last week. Center vent flapper kept closing and wouldn't stay open. Because the black arm of the actuator was broken off. I didn't think crazy glue would work so decided to replace the plastic arm with something more sturdy. I used a metal quick nut, small washer, and a thick coat hanger for the job.

First I had to remove clamp style nuts which were holding the unit. I also had to remove glove compartment box to actually remove the unit. That was PITA. Disassembled the unit and removed broken black plastic part that was attached to the the unit and replaced it with flattened quick nut. Added a small washer to hold the quick nut in place. Bend a piece of coat hanger and used it as an arm extension. Now it works great.


1976019761

[Mark D]

I fixed mine last week. Center vent flapper kept closing and wouldn't stay open. Because the black arm of the actuator was broken off. I didn't think crazy glue would work so decided to replace the plastic arm with something more sturdy. I used a metal quick nut, small washer, and a thick coat hanger for the job.

First I had to remove clamp style nuts which were holding the unit. I also had to remove glove compartment box to actually remove the unit. That was PITA. Disassembled the unit and removed broken black plastic part that was attached to the the unit and replaced it with flattened quick nut. Added a small washer to hold the quick nut in place. Bend a piece of coat hanger and used it as an arm extension. Now it works great.


Nice fix!

Macgyver would be proud 8)

[wrkey]

Mine was broken as well. I went with the 'cheesy' approach and used two zip-ties to strap it open. Since I'm in Houston, Texas the vent is open 99% of the time anyway I think I'm good.

However, my glove box insert needs to be replaced so once DMCH gets that in stock again, I will most likely fix it when I replace the glove box insert.

Great ideas on this thread and I'm sure I will reference it when I do get around to this job.

Thanks to all for posting!!!

[Dangermouse]

Is this the rod you are talking about?

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=19768&d=1370883557

When I took my center console off, it just seems to be hanging there, on the passenger side. Lifting/pushing it up definitely opens the center vents, but I don't see anywhere where it might go.

The actuator picture above, looks like it is on the LHS of the center vents. Is that right? If so, then there is no way this rod would get over there.

[DMC5180]

Nice fix!

Macgyver would be proud 8)

+1. Now that I see how the Plastic Rod is attached to the diaphragm, I was thinking of doing that very same thing If my super glue job fails. When Mine broke the first time I recall thinking you could not separate the rod from the diaphragm. Was it difficult removing and installing the pieces on the White snap-in fastener? Is there a spring on the opposite side of the diaphragm to provide push back resistance when installing the new piece?

[Nicholas R]

That means the check valve in line with the vacuum reservoir is bad. Or missing, in your case. Did you leave that out of your re-plumbing efforts?

Dave is this the check valve you're talking about: http://store.delorean.com/p-7780-check-valve.aspx

Where is that located? Is it back by the engine or up front?

I didn't touch the vacuum tank inside the driver side pontoon forward of the carbon canister. The hose coming out of the fiberglass is piped into the rest of the vacuum system.

EDIT: it looks like since its on the opposite side of the gromet in the diagram that the check valve is supposed to be in the engine bay on the hose coming through the fiberglass. Is this correct? If so then I'm missing it.

[DMCMW Dave]

Dave is this the check valve you're talking about: http://store.delorean.com/p-7780-check-valve.aspx

Where is that located? Is it back by the engine or up front?

I didn't touch the vacuum tank inside the driver side pontoon forward of the carbon canister. The hose coming out of the fiberglass is piped into the rest of the vacuum system.

EDIT: it looks like since its on the opposite side of the gromet in the diagram that the check valve is supposed to be in the engine bay on the hose coming through the fiberglass. Is this correct? If so then I'm missing it.

Yes that is the part. It is typically about a foot into the engine compartment, almost directly beneath the ballast resistors. If you cut that hose off at the pontoon and hooked it to your new engine it's missing. You probably thought it was a plastic hose splice. It isn't.

[Ryan S.]

+1. Now that I see how the Plastic Rod is attached to the diaphragm, I was thinking of doing that very same thing If my super glue job fails. When Mine broke the first time I recall thinking you could not separate the rod from the diaphragm. Was it difficult removing and installing the pieces on the White snap-in fastener? Is there a spring on the opposite side of the diaphragm to provide push back resistance when installing the new piece?

It is easy. You just have to disassemble the unit first. I think it had three tabs that you have to push away to separate the unit. Yes, it has a big spring inside. Round base of the broken black plastic part was snapped on to the white snap fastener so I just used my diagonal cutter and pliers to cut it away. Or you can try to pull it out carefully. Just make sure that you don't damage the white snap in fastener. Once I removed the broken part, I placed a small but thick washer and a flattened quick nut on to the white snap in fastener. Washer keeps the quick nut from moving around.

[Nicholas R]

Yes that is the part. It is typically about a foot into the engine compartment, almost directly beneath the ballast resistors. If you cut that hose off at the pontoon and hooked it to your new engine it's missing. You probably thought it was a plastic hose splice. It isn't.

Haha! In that case it probably went to you when I sent you my engine! Glad to know its an easy fix. I'll probably be ordering one from you soon then. It's not a huge deal but it's annoying enough that I do want to fix it. :thumbup: