Author Topic: Replacing heater levers - HELP!  (Read 14694 times)

blairwag

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Replacing heater levers - HELP!
« on: June 17, 2003, 23:19:17 »
Hi folks,
I'm a newbie to the site, group, and membership. I'm a newbie to SL 113 ownership, too, with my 1971 280 SL. First on the project list is to replace the 4 shattered heater levers.

I need 2 things:
1) recommendations on EXACTLY what heater levers to buy (colored acrylic, black acrylic, black soft-rubber) and where/who-from to by them from. I'm hoping "see you local MB dealer" willnot be near the top of the list.

2) procedure on how to do the job.

I'm looking for a document procedure, kind of a step by step! I'm not asking to be held by the hand, but I am looking for somethingto tell me, shoow me, and prevent me from hosing my first project. You know?

I've read 2 posts herein ("Heater Levers" by admin 01/05/2003 and "Dura-lever heater replacemnts??" by Wrongdog 03/04/2003). The post by admin is VERY informative. It's pretty much what I'm looking for, except it looks like it's for a 230 SL, which I understand has removable dash components that are not removable on my 280 SL.

I also have a copy of a Big Blue Book (Service Manual Passenger Cars Starting 1968 Series 108 - 109 - 111 - 113 Maintenance, Tuning, Unit Replacement; Printed August 1970). However, this book has no 83-2 section. Section 83 is called "Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning", but it begins with group-job 83-11 Operation of Air Conditioning System. All of group (or section) 83 is dedicated strictly to A/C!!!! It doesn't have an 83-2 section describing what I need: Removal and Installation of Operating Assembly for Fresh Air Flaps, Mixed Air Flaps, Heat Exchanger, and Distribution box. Did I buy a bum book??? Is there another Big Blue Book or a Workshop Manual for Passenger Car Models Starting 1968 that Ineed to locate / buy?

Does anyone out there have a manual or document describing this procedure for a 1971 280 SL that you can share with me?
TIA :-)


--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
William Blair Wagner: blairwag@earthlink.net
Education is not always knowing the answer,
...but rather knowing where to look for it!
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Richard Madison

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Re: Replacing heater levers - HELP!
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2003, 09:28:51 »
Bill:
I waited a day hoping someone with more knowledge would reply but they are too slow so here goes...this is from memory (not too reliable) and is by a real amateur (me) so forgive errors here...

This is about  replacing the heater levers on a 1971 280 SL with AC and Becker Europa radio…

The job is not technically difficult (even I was able to do it!) but the fear of the unknown can freeze your hands…since the parts are not super critical and are not moving at high speed, you can take your time and think things through while looking at the problem…

The Service Bulletin posted by Admin is very useful even for a 280 since the differences are minor. There is some difference in the dash opening but in a 280,  access is through the radio hole anyway…

As to a source for the levers, they are often on ebay as a set and are also available from parts dealers, need four at about $35 each. I bought mine from Tom Hanson of Caliber Motors, an MB dealer. Cost was about twice as much but I wanted to believe I had the best and since they will last many years (I hope), I spent the extra $. I believe mine are the later style, softer lever tab for safety. Original hard tabs are no longer available and are probably not “correct” for a late 280 SL.

Need two red, one blue, one smoke (gray). Can change the bulbs at the same time if you don’t want to go back in later. I didn’t change the bulbs (I may be sorry.)

With an AC, access from below is not possible, so I removed the radio and speaker to get access from the top and front, and the glove box for access from the side.

Remove one cable from the battery to prevent problems from a loose wire touching a ground etc.

Glove Box: open the box, remove the screws on top and bottom. Start to bring the box forward with the lid open. Watch the springs on the left side, they are a bear to work with. They do not have to be removed. The lid does not need to be removed. As the box comes out, unscrew the wires for the glovebox light on a terminal board behind the box. I put the two screws back into the board so as not to lose them.

Clock: now reach behind the clock and remove the single nut holding the bracket to the center post. Watch how the bracket goes on. Push the clock into the car, reach behind and remove the single connector. It can go on only one way. Repair the clock or send it away if it needs it.

Radio: Europa face chrome surround is held by friction fit. Just pull both sides of the chrome gently and it will come off. Then remove the knobs. Usually held by a tiny screw on the side, loosen the screw with a very small jeweler screwdriver. Then pry off the bass adjuster ring on the left knob shaft. The gray striped face plate should just come off. Two white metal upright “holders” fasten the radio to the dash. Remove these to allow the radio to be pulled out. Note how they are positioned.  (I made lots of drawings and still got confused). Bag and label all parts.

As the radio comes out, reach in and disconnect the antenna wire, the power wire, the speaker wire. Now remove the two screws holding the speaker wood grill. Remove any baffle material on top of the speaker. Take out the screws holding the speaker. Might need a stubby phillips here. Remove the speaker and wire.

Now you should have lever area access front, top, and side. If the levers are working at all, test the function of each cable. If they are stuck, you need to work on the cables and the heater valves else the levers will break again. I did not have to do this. The two reds are heater valve cables, the blue is for the outside fresh air in front of the windshield. There is a two inch round rubber cover top of the firewall,  drivers side,  for access to this cable. Suggest you open this cover, check the cable movement and put some lithium grease on the moving parts.  

Now to the levers (at last). Prepare to suffer cuts and scrapes on wrist and arm, keep calm and smile :o)

A couple of hidden nuts can be felt on the rear of the lever area face plate or can be seen through the windshield. The Service Bulletin shows a special tool used at an up angle. I assume you do not have this tool. I used a socket (maybe 8 or 10mm?) on a short shaft with a universal swivel attachment.

The small (1 inch) center piece with the diagram printed on it will come off allowing the two larger pieces to be removed sideways.

Each cable is held to the lever unit by a screw and a clip. I think that at least the top right cable must be detached before the entire until can be taken out for access to the other cables. This cable has no play so it has to come off. The top right cable can be removed while the unit is still in the dash. Not sure about this, so pull the unit a little as you look to see what’s holding things in then remove the obstacle. I believe that two of the levers have to be moved to the outside position for access. The Service Bulletin mentions this.

Eventually, the entire unit will come out through the dash opening. Now you have easy and painless access to work at a bench to remove the old levers (and bulbs?) and install new, match the correct lever colors. This is the easy part of the job. Suggest some lithium grease in the groove of each lever track.

And as they say, installation is reverse of removal.

Took about 6 hours with an assistant (but can be done by one patient person.)

Hope I haven’t left out important stuff and that others will chime in with corrections.

I then went on to repair the speedo, install new tach and speedo cables, remove and clean up the wood trim but you didn’t ask about that (thank goodness).

Richard M
1969 280 SL, Tunis Beige, Euro Model (Italy).

ja17

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Re: Replacing heater levers - HELP!
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2003, 21:38:14 »
Very good description Richard.

Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio
Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio
1969 Dark Olive 280SL
2002 ML55 AMG (tow vehicle)
2002 SLK32 AMG (350 hp)
1982 300TD Wagon turbo 4spd.
1963 404 Mercedes Unimog (Swedish Army)
1989 flu419 Mercedes Unimog (US Army)
1998 E430
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blairwag

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Re: Replacing heater levers - HELP!
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2003, 21:41:00 »
Excellent! I believe I'm close to being dangerous. All I need is parts. Should I expect to buy anything other than the 4 heater levers? Richard mentioned light bulbs. Are these standard bulbs I can get in any parts store, or must I go to the MB dealer for them too?

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William Blair Wagner: blairwag@earthlink.net
Education is not always knowing the answer,
...but rather knowing where to look for it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hands_aus

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Re: Replacing heater levers - HELP!
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2003, 03:23:48 »
Try your local garage or local parts store for the light bulbs. I have found a lot of the bulbs in the car are generic for other cars and are inexpensive.

Bob(Brisbane,Australia)
Bob Smith (Brisbane,Australia)
RHD,1967 early 250 SL #114, auto, ps , 717,717
best of the best

Naj ✝︎

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Re: Replacing heater levers - HELP!
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2003, 06:32:41 »
Bill,
Just to add a bit to Richards good guide:
When you get to removing the lever assembly, remove the center chrome piece first. For easy xs to the nut, move all levers to their outer extremes. I.e left levers to the left and right levers to the right.
Once off, move the levers inwards to create xs to the outer nuts. A 10mm socket (1/4 drive)will do nicely.
happy fixing ;)
naj

naj
'Kloines Scheisserle'
65 230SL
68 280SL
« Last Edit: June 20, 2003, 06:33:39 by naj »
68 280SL

rwaw

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Re: Replacing heater levers - HELP!
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2003, 13:48:29 »
Bill,
Let me reassure you, you didn't buy a bum book; I bought the same tome a few months ago only to find that (to me) the most interesting bits like interior/bodywork etc were missing.
So I phoned the Classic Center in Stuttgart where a most efficient lady explained in a roundabout way that the "list of contents" on page 1 was actually just a list of Groups (!); she implied that no written info re bodywork etc had been kept on record at the factory.
Felt somewhat miffed though, having forked out £ 70 (100 Euro).
Good luck with the heating levers ;)

Naj ✝︎

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Re: Replacing heater levers - HELP!
« Reply #7 on: June 21, 2003, 01:49:58 »
rwaw,
I think these manuals were written for dealers and once a topic was covered in a manual it was not repeated in a future manual.
Now if you could find a BBB for the 230sl....


naj
'Kloines Scheisserle'
65 230SL
68 280SL
« Last Edit: June 21, 2003, 01:50:39 by naj »
68 280SL

rwmastel

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Re: Replacing heater levers - HELP!
« Reply #8 on: June 21, 2003, 21:20:22 »
I have a BBB for my 230SL.  Group 83 is Heating and Ventilation.  Job 83-2 pertains to the 230SL (83-1 and 83-3 to other models).  It shows:

A. Removal/Installation of Operating Assembly for Fresh Air Flaps, Mixed Air Flaps, Heat Exchanger, and Distribution Box.
B. Removal/Installation of the Distribution Box
C. Removal/Installation of the Radiator Blower
D. Removal/Installation of the Heat Exchanger
E. Removal/Installation of the Right Defrost Nozzle
F. Removal/Installation of the Left Defrost Nozzle


Rodd
1966 230SL Euro
1994 E420
Rodd

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blairwag

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Re: Replacing heater levers - HELP!
« Reply #9 on: September 19, 2003, 07:08:27 »
Well, Job complete!
It wasn't so bad. I guess you guys all psyched me up for this one.
I never could have done it without all your help, especially Richard Madison's description.

The only items I could add are: Remove the cigarette lighter - a very trivial task (remove: wire, wire connector, retaining nut), and the clock had 2 retaining nuts, not one. I had plenty of room for my big hands.

Another item of great use is a bifold mirror. I used my wife's compact mirror. It helps you see those "hidden" nuts.

I pushed graphite down all the cables, and ensured the heater valve and the flaps all moved freely. I lithium greased the outside air damper (under the hood scoop). The only lever/cable that's a problem is the one that controls air to the feet-or-defrost. It slides fine to the left (direct air to defrost). But sliding to the right (direct air to feet) is hard. It sticks about 1/4 the way in - just as the damper is beginning to move up - by the feet. I use a finger to push the flap underneath - th give it a boost - then the lever move the rest of the way to the right unabated. Note sure where the hold up is. I can't get near anything unless I remove the whole A/C... something I wasn't prepared to do at this time.

The job took me a solid 8 hours. I spent additional time, prior to reinstalling everything, cleaning and waxing the dash board since it was all exposed.

Now, the dash looks "sweet" and I can control the airflow! What a wonderful thing.

Thanx again for all the help!

--
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William Blair Wagner: blairwag@earthlink.net
Education is not always knowing the answer,
...but rather knowing where to look for it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

George Davis

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Re: Replacing heater levers - HELP!
« Reply #10 on: September 19, 2003, 08:41:47 »
Bill, nice work, and nice description by Richard.

The sticking air to defrost/feet damper may be caused by frayed felt seals on the damper.  The felt rubs against the housing, and if it is frayed, it can bunch up and cause the damper to bind.  It can be fixed when the damper housing is out.  The fun part is getting the housing out, it involves much of what you just did plus more along with some interesting contortions.  Best to save it for when you decide to completely redo everything under/on the dash (heater core, dash wood, flaps and seals, etc.).

George Davis
'69 280 SL Euro manual

n/a

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Re: Replacing heater levers - HELP!
« Reply #11 on: September 19, 2003, 10:14:49 »
I also have the whole dash taken apart, and have replaced the heater levers and bulbs (but have not installed it yet) I also have the a/c lowered. What maintanance items should I take care of before I put everything back together? I have heard some people put motorcycle cable oil down the heater cables, others use "graphite" (powdered??) Is replacing the speedo and tach cables easy and recommended? Any help appreciated.