Access to cold air flap actuator

[Richard123]

So while rummaging under the dash to find vacuum leaks (electric vacuum pump cycles on/off every 3 or 4 seconds) I managed to pull one of the black vacuum tubes out.  It ISN'T the one that you can see run to the under dash actuator, meaning, I think, that its the one that opens the flap under the bonnet.  

So, my question is.....how does one access that cold air flap actuator?  From under the dash, or from under the bonnet.   If from under the bonnet, I assume the inner air box that is sealed to the fiberglass has to be removed?  How did you get the actuator rod off the flap.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.  (Should have let the darn thing cycle......lol.)

 

Richard 

[ramjet]

Hmm. Can't help on that. Is there nothing in the service manual or parts books that give a clue?

[Chillidoggy]

I had a look at my photos, nothing visible there except the vacuum switched.

Looked at the parts manual, and if I'm right, the actuator is only accessible from under the dash once you've removed mounting panel C082P4259K. Seems to me it's bolted/screwed from front to back, through the panel, then the actuator, and into a retaining ring at the aft end.

It look however to be a complete swine of a job.

[fflyingdog]

To get to the fresh air actuator ,you remove the fan motor cowl in the bonnet area it is a very easy job just be careful whilst peeling the cowl away as its sealed and can crack.I replaced mine a couple years ago i sourced the part from SJs.

[Richard123]

1 hour ago, fflyingdog said:

To get to the fresh air actuator ,you remove the fan motor cowl in the bonnet area it is a very easy job just be careful whilst peeling the cowl away as its sealed and can crack.I replaced mine a couple years ago i sourced the part from SJs.

There is an outer cowl that opens up to see the fan blower/motor, is that what you refer to?  Or do you mean to remove that, then the blower/motor and then the inner cowl that looks to lead directly under dash?  I have the outer cowl off, and can see the actuator rod (still attached to flapper) but can't get any closer to the actuator to fix up it's connections.  Thanks in advance!  

[fflyingdog]

Hi Richard

To be honest it was a while ago that i replaced mine ,but i do seem to remember removing the fan motor to gain access to actuator.I think that once you start removing bits and pieces it will be pretty self explanatory,i used the IPC breakdown in the Lotus manual for guidance but don't have access to one to refresh my memory .All i will say is that going through the front is most definitely best course of action.

 

   Regards

    Nick S4s

ETA. Ok just found a copy of the IPC and you do remove the fan motor ,three small nuts and bolts secure the actuator in place.IPC Ref sheet 261 item 55

[Richard123]

1 hour ago, fflyingdog said:

Hi Richard

To be honest it was a while ago that i replaced mine ,but i do seem to remember removing the fan motor to gain access to actuator.I think that once you start removing bits and pieces it will be pretty self explanatory,i used the IPC breakdown in the Lotus manual for guidance but don't have access to one to refresh my memory .All i will say is that going through the front is most definitely best course of action.

 

   Regards

    Nick S4s

ETA. Ok just found a copy of the IPC and you do remove the fan motor ,three small nuts and bolts secure the actuator in place.IPC Ref sheet 261 item 55

Thanks Nick, appreciate the help!

[Chillidoggy]

I'd be interested to see how you dare, Richard. Please keep us posted, as the dash area is a difficult one!

[ragingfool35]

if you are agile, you can also reconnect the vac line from the foot well

[Richard123]

3 hours ago, ragingfool35 said:

if you are agile, you can also reconnect the vac line from the foot well

Lol, I tried again today as I don't want to break open where the inner airbox is sealed into the fiberglass under the bonnet.  I can see the actuator from that side, and the 3 screws securing it, but not the vacuum connection.

 

I suppose it'd be from the passenger footwell (NA), but I can't even get close enough to the actuator to touch it.  Getting your arm up and over the heater box is quite a treat on it's own.  

 

For now I will block open the fresh air vent with a stick......what sad sad day for my beloved.  (I will buy a gibbon and begin it's training shortly.)  

 

[Qavion]

Quote

 It ISN'T the one that you can see run to the under dash actuator, meaning, I think, that its the one that opens the flap under the bonnet.  

Are you sure the hose has come off at the actuator end? Can you see the other end of the hose which goes to the fresh air control valve?

One actuator valve is visible from the driver's footwell (adjacent to the lower hot water pipe going into the heater box) and the other one, I recall, can be seen behind the radio/HVAC control panel. Have you checked the connections on both? I'm pretty sure the one visible from the driver's footwell is the mode flap. I had a problem with demisting and adjusted this valve (My fresh air valve was working normally).

[Richard123]

1 hour ago, Qavion said:

Are you sure the hose has come off at the actuator end? Can you see the other end of the hose which goes to the fresh air control valve?

One actuator valve is visible from the driver's footwell (adjacent to the lower hot water pipe going into the heater box) and the other one, I recall, can be seen behind the radio/HVAC control panel. Have you checked the connections on both? I'm pretty sure the one visible from the driver's footwell is the mode flap. I had a problem with demisting and adjusted this valve (My fresh air valve was working normally).

I'm in Canada so drivers side is on the left for us.  I can see the two white plastic valves (that the cam actuates) side by side in right hand footwell with each having a yellow vacuum line in, and a black line out.  One black line goes to an actuator under the right hand footwell (passenger for us).  The other is now open as I've dislodged it.  I removed the stereo, but all it exposed was the tee where a black vacuum line, presumably from the vacuum pump in the back, splits into the two yellow lines I mention above.  The actuator I am trying to get at would be much further forward near the base of the windshield, way, way behind the stereo.  Pretty sure my rummaging dislodged it as the flap doesn't operate any more.  The rubber elbows are dried out and fit sloppy.

Mine is 1994, if perhaps the location of the valves has changed?

    

[Qavion]

Quote Mine is 1994, if perhaps the location of the valves has changed? Ah... quite possibly.   Quote The rubber elbows are dried out and fit sloppy. Time for new elbows? I've wrapped silicone/self-sealing tape around my elbows to keep them secure and airtight.   Anyway, sorry for the goosechase   Cheers Ian.

[Chillidoggy]

Those elbows are definitely worth changing. Mine were as hard as Bakelite.

I've only got a couple of crappy photos from when I changed one of the vacuum valves (which didn't need changing, it was an elbow causing the problem).

[Richard123]

Interesting Ian.

 

That is my valve configuration exactly, except that incoming vacuum lines are yellow and don't need elbows.  Someone must have changed them out at some point, but left the black vacuum hose w/ elbows for the tougher to reach ones.  Your pictures make everything look so accessible!

 

 

 

[Chillidoggy]

31 minutes ago, Richard123 said:

Interesting Ian.

 

That is my valve configuration exactly, except that incoming vacuum lines are yellow and don't need elbows.  Someone must have changed them out at some point, but left the black vacuum hose w/ elbows for the tougher to reach ones.  Your pictures make everything look so accessible!

 

 

 

Unfortunately in this case, the camera does indeed tell a big, fat lie: As you found out they're damned awkward to get to, and I ended up buying a screwdriver about 2 feet long just to get to the screws. I've never understood why they used rubber elbows instead of straight connectors where required, but there you go, that's Lotus for you.

All of my vacuum lines are that black nylon stuff, and there's a snakes nest of pipe and elbows. It would have been easier to have some kind of manifold, with short lengths of vac pipe to each switch.

Are you any nearer to the actuator?

[Richard123]

46 minutes ago, ian29gte said:

Unfortunately in this case, the camera does indeed tell a big, fat lie: As you found out they're damned awkward to get to, and I ended up buying a screwdriver about 2 feet long just to get to the screws. I've never understood why they used rubber elbows instead of straight connectors where required, but there you go, that's Lotus for you.

All of my vacuum lines are that black nylon stuff, and there's a snakes nest of pipe and elbows. It would have been easier to have some kind of manifold, with short lengths of vac pipe to each switch.

Are you any nearer to the actuator?

No, I'm all strapped back together.   Plugged the line and blocked the flapper open.  Cleaned up the vac lines in engine compartment as I don't have the BPV or throttle jack anymore, so hopefully pump will stop cycling so often.  From what I've read, the cold air flapper is pretty much always open, so I am hoping heat/vent will still work fine.  AC has never worked and global warming has a bit of work to do before summers get hot enough to need it here. 

 

I'll try again from under dash when I've got more room....maybe remove the seat so I can get in there better....but for now I need to enjoy the car while the sun shines.

 

Thanks for all the assistance though, much appreciated. 

 

 

[ragingfool35]

i thought my flapper wasn't opening so i traced the vac hose from the plunger valve to the diaphragm actuator.  it was easy to see from the RH footwell, upside down on my SE. (yeah my AC is never used due to freon leaks).  The actuator looks like the throttle jack, if it helps to know what to look for.

cheers

[Qavion]

Quote

One actuator valve is visible from the footwell (adjacent to the lower hot water pipe going into the heater box) and the other one, I recall, can be seen behind the radio/HVAC control panel

 

Looking at my SE Lotus Service Notes, it seems my SE is the same as the S4 (and the photos above). On my car though, I can see the valve on the right easily from the footwell. I just didn't realise it was also visible from behind the radio/aircon panel.

http://www.iinet.net.au/~b744er@ozemail.com.au/Lotus/ModeFlapControl.jpg

Unfortunately, that doesn't help Richard. The fresh air valve is too far behind the other valve.

 

Edited May 17, 2016 by Qavion
Quotation marks misplaced

[Richard123]

I think we are mixing up valves (the two little white cylinders in Ian's photo above) with the actuators they operate (that indeed look like the throttle jack).  Both valves are visible in the RH footwell as is one actuator that changes cool air from dash vents to hot air from defrost/floor.  The other actuator operates a flap under the bonnet to admit fresh air and is proving tough to reach, lol.  

 

(No pictures of that one unless we can get a Lotus owning surgeon to borrow one of those arthroscopic cameras and fish it in there for us.)

 

Fortunately, heat/cool works fine with the flapper simply blocked open for now.  Didn't mist up on a rainy drive in this morning,   

[Chillidoggy]

The white nylon items are listed as vacuum switches by Lotus.

I do have a mini camera which I bought specifically for such Esprit-type adventures, and if I remember I'll see if I can poke it up the hole so to speak, as although the actuator on my car works ok, there could well be a time that it doesn't.

[Richard123]

1 hour ago, ian29gte said:

The white nylon items are listed as vacuum switches by Lotus.

I do have a mini camera which I bought specifically for such Esprit-type adventures, and if I remember I'll see if I can poke it up the hole so to speak, as although the actuator on my car works ok, there could well be a time that it doesn't.

Be very careful not to dislodge the vacuum connection whilst taking the picture..........:)

[fflyingdog]

I found with mine (for ease of troubleshooting) that if you select the fresh air on or off (forget which way exactly) BUT if in one of the positions mentioned the vac motor stops then its definitely your actuator diaphragm (or elbow/pipe) on actuator that is leaking and the only way of getting to it is to take the blower motor off from bonnet area it really inst that difficult to do (honest).

[Chillidoggy]

Any photos of you doing the job, Nick?

[fflyingdog]

Hi Ian

No unfortunately ,but as i've said once you get it all apart it really is a piece of doddle,the drawing is rubbish and doesn't really give you a sense of scale,believe me once its apart all will become clear plus you won't have that annoying buzzing noise from the vac pump or misted screen .