Shoptalkforums.com

you said,,ha,,ha,,

I am personally well set at this point with several brand new thermostats available, but before I acquired them I had thought of trying to rig up a vacuum control system for the flappers. It would be easy to do and could be made fairly fail safe. There are many vacuum dashpots that have been used over the years on various automotive engines and the vacuum could be moderated through any number of valves like the ones used for the air preheats on carbed engines for years..

Yep...vacuum dashpots come in many size and can definatelt generate the necessary leverage. I am also well set up on thermostats....but I know how quickly that can change. Ray

yes RAY,, i have look for this solution too and if you look for the audi 100-200 vaccum cruse controle ,, the dashpots is long and he can moove the flap arm on the 412 , witch no problem,, we can mix that witch the audi ( small 12 volts vaccum valve 1/4 hose dimention ) for heathing systhem on the audi ,,we can plug this vaccum valve witch a small by-métal thermostat on the head ,,like 180 dg,fr, ( we have the choise ) and the dashpots ,, wend the thermostat geeve the conctact,, on the vaccum valve ,, the dashpots pull ( or push on ,) the flap door arm,,albert

oh,, i can show you the pict,, and pn, for the audi dashpot and the small vaccum selenoid valve,, if you have need,, my audi is in my back ground,,albert

Yeah, I've got a two-port A/C flap door damper off a parted-out '94 Voyager, it's got tons of pull...another good idea. I've been struggling with mounting in the Variant engine bay, as with the motorized damper idea, and the cruise-control idea...doggone tight engine bay.

MG,, the cruse controle vaccum pot,,is easy to fix on the fire wall witch a long steel wire,,or we can use the same steel wire on the 412,, i put the pict,,albert

i have here 3 pn,, one is 034-906-283 e ,, it is ,,egr,, selenoid valve 1/8 for hose diameter,,,and the pn,,034-133-459,,vaccum selenoid vale ,,1/4 hose diameter,,this 2 selenoid valve are normal close,, and the cruse controle actuator,,w0133-1660336,, audi actuator,,,we can use the same model from ,,volvo,,vw,,or jag.,, pn différent,,and if we use a thermostat for the head ,at 175-180 dg,fr, many thermostat can do the job,,albert

albert wrote:MG,, the cruse controle vaccum pot,,is easy to fix on the fire wall witch a long steel wire,,or we can use the same steel wire on the 412,, i put the pict,,albert

Cables work...

PILE,,we can use the same wire,, or a new wire ,,all depend were we fix the dashpot( actuator ) you can fix the cable on the actuator arm witch a screw,, or a bolt,,albert

At the risk of looking very stupid here, are the cooling flaps open and cooling the engine when the cable pulls down on the connecting rod on top of the engine or are they open and cooling when the cable is loosened by the thermostate expanding.

I think mine isn't working as I don't ever recall seeing the rod in any other position other than pulled back towards the rear of the car? Therefore I need to understand the relationship on which way is what before I try and establish if mine is duff or not.

Feel a bit thick asking but better to be sure than sorry

When the cable is tight pulling the lever down...the flaps are closed and cooling air is blocked from all but the oil cooler for a faster warm-up. When the thermostat heats up and teh cable slackens, the lever rises upward and the flaps open. If the cable should break....the lever snaps up and the flaps open....which is the failsafe. Ray

In that case then it sounds like I might have some investigating to do do as mine sounds like it is in the failsafe mode.

I assume that the most likely culprit is the thermostat bellows has split but I will need to confirm this as soon as the snow has cleared enough to get under it to check that the cable is still attached at both ends and that the cable isn't broken in the middle somewhere.

Make sure that you can move the flaps by moving the lever. A lot of times mechanics rig the flaps so that they can not move, and then toss the thermostat, bracket, and wire.

The operating lever, where the cable attaches, moves freely and you can hear the flaps when they reach the limit of travel. Still too cold, wet and slushy to have a good look under it at the moment.