Fuego heater/ventilation control panel removal

Alby

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The lever on my control panel that’s meant to open & close the hot water valve doesn’t seem to be connected to anything. So I thought I’d remove the control unit & fix the problem - hahahaha!

Console side panels, screws each side that hold the control unit, ashtray console part, facia surround all removed. But how does the control unit actually come out? It’s too big to come forwards through the console gap, can’t go down because of air-con fan, nor up because there’s a metal plate there for some reason & won’t go back far enough to move out either. I’m clearly missing something obvious but reading two workshop manuals hasn’t thrown any light in my direction.

Hopefully one of the Fuego experts will be able to tell me what I’m missing or have simply done wrong!

Cheers, Alby

C
IMG_3344.jpeg
 
Yep if I remember correctly early cars it slides out but not later ones. You have to remove the whole dash. There are two bolts one each side on brackets low down. Remove the glove box. Couple of screws from memory. Some cars have two small brass screws above the steering column that are hard to get at. There are two small screws at the bottom of the console. The whole dash then lifts up ward as it has only got clips at the back. All the switches need to be unplugged. Some cars the switches have coloured dots to match those on the plugs and some don't. The speedo cable unplugs with some difficulty. I have used a screw driver to lever it off. The reason the lever is not controlling the tap is because the plastic attachment is broken. It is possible to make a repair. I have used a small screw for one type of break but there are others that need a small metal plate made out of thin tin and screwed in place. I know this sounds like a lot of work but can be done easily in less than an hour. My 14 year old grandsons car is in this state at the moment waiting for him to visit in the next week and do the repairs. If you need photos of one that is stripped I can take them. Of course it takes more than an hour to put it all back. :)
 
also a good time to have a poke about and look for any melted wire insulation & clean up the plugs/sockets... :)

and.... see if that non-pneumatic controller will fit... :headbanger"

Bob
 
Wow Sunroof, thanks for that very detailed response. I feel a bit better knowing that I wasn’t missing something small & obvious. Will tackle it in next few days & let you know then if I need any photos or that it’s all gone smoothly.
 
Hey Bob, thanks mate, will remember your suggestions, good ones as usual!
 
Hey Sunroof,

Spent a "pleasant" hour or so following your instructions & it all worked well. Got the heater/ventilation unit out & found the problem. Turned out I can't see anything broken but the lever that controls the hot water valve was out of position, just laying loose on top of the unit. It had simply popped out of the hole at its pivot point & when I popped it back in everything worked!

Now I'm wondering why it popped out and if the same thing might happen 10 minutes after I put it all back together. I can't see any obvious way of reinforcing it although I'll try tying it down if I can. Any further advice or suggestions would be great.

Cheers, Alby
 
I'll have a look at grandsons tomorrow I notice his lever is also just floating around must be a reason. I think mine was as well. It was some time ago not sure what I did to it now I know it involved a small screw bolt and some filing.
 
Hey Sunroof,

Spent a "pleasant" hour or so following your instructions & it all worked well. Got the heater/ventilation unit out & found the problem. Turned out I can't see anything broken but the lever that controls the hot water valve was out of position, just laying loose on top of the unit. It had simply popped out of the hole at its pivot point & when I popped it back in everything worked!

Now I'm wondering why it popped out and if the same thing might happen 10 minutes after I put it all back together. I can't see any obvious way of reinforcing it although I'll try tying it down if I can. Any further advice or suggestions would be great.

Cheers, Alby
Could the heater valve/tap be tight/seazed causing inner cable to bendupwards and "ping"out of hole in pivot lever? just a thought...jim
 
Could the heater valve/tap be tight/seazed causing inner cable to bendupwards and "ping"out of hole in pivot lever? just a thought...jim
Fuego's are not just prone to this, other Renault models like the latter R12's (Virage) did this as well. Like Jim said I would be checking the operation of the heater tap, especially in the direction when the cable is pushing.
 
So do R17. I replaced the tap with a universal. Still a shit to operate
 
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Thanks Jim, Col,

That’s actually great news that a tight heater valve could have caused the problem. Why, because the valve was certainly very very tight, not quite seized, & could certainly be the culprit.

I’ve been slowly loosening the valve over the last week & it’s now quite free (& still doesn’t leak).

With the control unit back roughly in its correct spot so that the cable angles are representative, the sliding control now works very smoothly & the heater valve is opening & shutting exactly as it should.

I think you guys have given me the confidence to put it all back together tomorrow!

Cheers & thanks again,
Alby
PS, I love aussiefrogs 👍
 
It’s been a while since I messed with this stuff. Here is what I remember.
Friction is your enemy, the control slider, the heater tap, the cable..they should all operate with little effort. If there is effort required, it will fail. The heater slider is a compound lever, changing between ac and heat. Friction will cause one of the lugs to break and you can then throw the whole unit away.
The heater cable path is of great importance. Wrong path….fail. The clips that hold the cable on are well designed and not able to be substituted. Don’t lose them.
 
Thanks Jo. Having now had the unit out & understanding how it all works, your comments are spot on.

I probably didn't get the importance of cable path & smooth, easy movement before seeing it in detail. Your comments should be first thoughts for anyone having any difficulty with one of these units.
 
Sorry Jo don't agree about throwing them away. I have repaired them. Keeping the clips and freeing everything up is the key though.
 
Well, after all the good info I thought putting it all back together would be easy. But I hadn't counted on Fuego wiring.

For some reason there is no power getting to the plug for the fan motors speed adjustment. It worked fine before I pulled everything apart but now there's no power, either direct or via the ignition switch on the wires leading to this plug. For clarity, its not the plug or the switch as there's no power as far back as I've been able to trace the wires. Have double checked all fuses and everything else in that area like the radio, the cigarette lighter & the clock are all getting power, but not the particular wires going to the black junction plug or from there to the back of the fan switch.

So now checking the brain's trust in case there's some secret junction or switch that only works on sunny days & with fingers crossed that might be causing this.

Cheers
Alby
 
First question is when was the car made? The wiring for mid 1985 cars on wards are not the same as the manuals. even the fuses and the relay printed circuit boards are different and not shown. These cars started with body numbers starting at 0 again. If it is an 85 model I can list the numbers completely. I found that the R20 late model supplements have the correct PCB and also the fuses and wiring for these late cars are almost the same. This applies to the back of the instrument panel as well. If it is an early car with no power steering or fog lights There is good info on line that does take a bit of following at the start. So let me know whether early or late and I'll point you in the right direction.
 
Hey Sunroof, it’s a late car with power steering & fog lights. Plate is stamped with ‘Built April 85’ although another plate says November 85.
 
So now checking the brain's trust in case there's some secret junction or switch that only works on sunny days & with fingers crossed that might be causing this.

Cheers
Alby
Actually there is such a thing...Its called a fuse box.
Never underestimate the fuse box's ability to promote rapid onset tourettes syndrome!!
One thing I always did to a Fuego to promote good connection health was to get to the connecters and pretty much anything electrical, and with a picster dental brush and a small paint brush and copious amounts of vasoene, clean up all the oxide off the wires and connections .
Even get it wicking into the crimps with a heat gun. There are more expensive products, but it the old vase works a treat and ensures a good waterproofing.
 
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So many dry solder joints on a fuse circuit board, that I used to run over all with a fine soldering iron to eliminate electrickery gremlins and of course check for burnt out circuits and of course clean up the sliding connections to the circuit boards and put a drop of contact enhancer (Stabilant 22 I used) was expensive to buy, but only takes a small amount to sort out most circuit board sliding connectors on the Fuego and I found the same treatment helpful in maintaining good contact wherever Renault still used those connectors on tail lights etc on the Laguna and Megane. The small bottle I bought 20 or more years ago is still in use, but I guess others may have other favourite electrical contact enhancers, a little goes a long way and it sure works! and prevents heat buildup in those sliding contact areas.
Ken
 
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Apr would be French date Nov Australian. I'll have look today at the fan motor heat adjustment knobs. Might have even drawn out its circuitry in my note book. As both Jo and Ken have said the fuse connections are always problematic. I'll also look up the new numbering scheme date and how it differs. Interested to know what your number is.
 
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