S3 heater controls very stiff...

[fozzy280472]

Hi chaps , can any one help ,the heater controls are exceptionally stiff on my s3 can anyone tell me from which car the control unit is sourced from , my dashboard has the two slots cut into the dash just like the picture of the v8 dash in Steve Heaths book.
I will be eventually looking to remove the dash for refurb and would like to know where i can aquire the control unit and possibly the bowden cables if they too are stiff.
I had a search but although there is plenty of valuable dash removal info , there was no info i could find on which controller it is ,
hope someone can help ,
regards
Paul.

[phillpot]

Sounds a bit drastic, wouldn't a drop of oil be enough?

[fozzy280472]

Hi Phil , i dont think oil will help here as when viewing the slider knobs they actually look twisted on the arms , and they dont seem to be uniformly tight but bind up extremely tight near the end of their travel .
The dash removal will be for a reveneer and not specifically for the heater controls , but whilst its out i might as well try and sort out as much as possible !
Cheers for the reply ,
regards
Paul.

[Barkychoc]

My V8S controls never went fully end to end and while they did move were not that smooth. If you remove the dash its quite hard not to bend the cables quite a bit just to get enough clearance to unbolt them from the dash panel.

I am guessing the dash assembly was built in the factory first then fitted to the car.

You have to remember it was a low cost performance car - some compromises had to be made.

[Rower]

Why not have a look under the bonnet , the cables are very visable where they operate the water valve from the cooling system into the heater matrix. Oil those up and you should get all the movement you need , as Barcychoc says these cars were built for performance and not for the quality of the ancillaries !!

[v8s4me]

Mine were very stiff and no amount of oil helped. It's down to the routing of the cables and the tight bends restricting the free movement of the inner cables. When you do eventually remove the dash you'll see what the problem is. I re-routed my cables when I had the dash off last winter and it has made a slight improvemet but they are still stiff. Just a TVR "featutre".

[fozzy280472]

Thanks for the replies ,i will be having a look at the heater end of the cables at the weekend and see if a lube helps , i would still like to find out the source of the heater controls though , even just to have a spare prior to dash removal.
Cheers for the replies so far once again.
regards
Paul.