How do you reconnect the heater AC control cable to the control arm on a 1999 Ford Escort?

Answer 1

I have a 97 that should be similar. I'm confused by your term heater / AC control "cable". Mine has a vacuum hose cluster to control the dampers for AC/ defrost etc. The temperature control though is a cable which is accessible behind the cover pannels next to the gas pedal. Remove them by taking out the push pins (center head is like a nail head that has to be pulled out a little then the whole push pin will come out.) I am here looking for an answer to how you remove that cable from the operator arm. The details are avoided in the Haynes book other than to "remove" it. Lotsahelp! It is ont obvious to me what to undo, or how. The whole mechanism is covered by a plastic cover that the opoerationg cable fits up into. If you figure it out let me know. I just figured out the damper control cable while working on my radio. The cable runes from the control knob below the radio to the damper which is next to the gas peddle I took out my radio an when doing so pulled the cable off the back of the control knob. When putting the radio back I found that the cable was to short to allow you to get your finger in to reconnect it before reinstalling the radio. I tried going through the access panel as indicated above but that just gave me a visual with no way to reach up there. I then realized I must disconnect the cable from the damper end such that I can reconnect it to the radio/control knob end while the radio is out. The end at the damper actually just slid off the stem when I pried it with a screw driver. Then reconnected by simply pushing it back on. As for the control knob end it clips into place with 2 tabs and the spindle for the gear pokes through a hole. After making this connection but prior to replacing the radio check the operation of the knob. The cable limits the rotation of the knob so make sure that the knob is giving you the proper range of motion. I think there were about 7 clicks in either direction. When I first hooked the cable to the knob, the knob only rotated 3 clicks to the cool side so I counted the total clicks in the range of motion then clicked it to the middle of the total clicks , disconnected the cable, turned the knob to pointing straight up and reattached the cable. Next I reinserted the radio, then connected the cable to the damper.