Heater Problems!! Broken Heater Post

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bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic #7


bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic # 7

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic # 8

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic #9

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic # 9

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic #10

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic # 11

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic # 12

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic #12

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic #13

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic #14

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic # 15

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic #16

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic #17

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic #18

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic #19

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic #20

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Pic #21

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Well First i would like to say sorry about the pic and the format i posted them on here im not to familiar with this site on how to post the how toos.

I will forward it over to the administors and see if they can formate it and post it on the opening fix it yourself screen.

Ok ....

1. Fixing the Heater Post was not all to fun I admit.

2. However it is possable and its not to hard to do. It took me much longer than i wanted but it was not posted on here from anyone else so i guess I was a first. It can be done in 2-4 hours. for under $ 10 bucks if you have the tools to do it.

3. First start by removing the radio/Acc Controls. And later the glove box area. You will have to unplug all of the plugs.

4. Once you get back there leave the ACC control plugged in so you can see how things operate.

5. You will see the Air Mix door post broken. What you will see is the Air Mix door linkage hanging from a spring you will need to remove that linkage and take off the spring with pliers. Take it out for now. ACC will still work fine at this point.

6. In the Pics you will notice I also removing the control unit that operates the linkages you will need to remove that to have room to work on the broken post. There is 3 screws one on top and bottom and side.

7. Once things are clear you will need a DREMEL tool with a grinding wheel to clean the broken plastic that came off the Air Mix door post . The post is now metal under the plastic that broke.

8. Once that is all cleaned up nice. you can begin to fabricate the part that will link to it and get it operatable.

9.I used a Aluminum Dool 3/8" in diameter. I do not recomend the Alumnium it is to hard of a matieral to work with. But its up to you . Plastic/Nylon rod is all you really need and some epoxy later on.. Use a Plastic dowel 3/8" in diameter. You can buy it from a hobbie shop or go to this link copy and paste it.http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/catego ... =75&Page=1 . Otherwise go to http://www.usplastic.com

10. I used a bench grinder to shape the dowel into the half circle to fit into the linkage piece that was remove you can see what i mean in the pictures and when you get back in there in the job. But you can use the dremel if you are using plastic.

11. Make sure it is a good fit. Also make sure that it fits flush with the outside of the linkage piece. I screwed in a small screw and grinded down washer on mine. you can do the same or just epoxy it well when installing back in.

12. Once you have fabricated that side you will need to cut it down to about 3/4" or small give or take. Any longer that that it will not work it will bind and be to long and tight once it is in place.

13. Once you cut it down. you will need to cut a half shaped circle shape just like the heater door rod. This will be internal and small this will take the most time. I put it in a vice and used a drill to shape it the best i could. you can do the same or use a small file and a drill. Start out small so you can test the size as you go to the air mix post metal rod.

14. Dont cut it to big you want to cut and shape it the best you can to match up to the air mix door rod as best you can so it fits like a glove.The epoxy will make up the difference and hold it into place.

15. Make sure that both of the flat side of the half shaped circle that you fabricated out are on the same side mirroring each other. Very Important.

16. Once that is all done re install the control unit and make sure the A/C is on the coldest side 65 degrees that is where you want it to be when you reinstall everything.

17. I used 90 Sec epoxy which dries very fast you might choose to pic a slower acting epoxy but that is up to you . Read the directions of the epoxy and put some on the end on the metal air mix door post and on the inside on the fabricated piece and quicky install linkage into place. It will hold it into place pretty good so no worries.

18. If you choose to just epoxy in the fabricated piece first that is find or you can epoxy the linkage to the fabricated piece first and then epoxy the air mix door rod to the whole piece and set it in place.

19. Next once everything was in place i let it dry about 2-3 hours.then i removed the glove box to get to the spring area to reinstall the spring back in place. you can see in the pics.

20. After that it is trial and error. If i had all this information first i can do this job in 2-3 hours tops but i took me a while I not going to lie. This I hope helps everyone. Make sure it is working . After that leave it alone for 24 hours so the epoxy can cure. and be at its strongest.

21. If you have any questions fill free to post or email directly at [email protected] .

I wish i could have done a better job posting the information/pictures and being more discriptive but i would be here all day typing .But send emails and i will be happy to respond to any questions.

Brian

maxnix
Posts: 22628
Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2002 8:11 pm
Car: 1995 Infiniti Q45
1995 Infiniti Q45t
2000 Infiniti Q45

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Nice job and documentation. I bet it was difficult even taking the pictures.

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Ya it was pretty tough since I didnt have much to go by. My hands got cut up a bit things are sharp back in there.

One thing I forgot to list.

1. When you pull out the air mix door linkage piece, add some more grease to it before you re install. After years of wear the grease wears off.

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elwesso
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Car: 94 Infiniti Q45t 5 spd
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Thanks for the writeup...

Jman
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jan 15, 2003 10:27 am

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Way to go Brian! I'm glad to see you got it fixed. I got your message, but have been very busy. I'll call you Monfay or Tuesday.

Steven

bigdog76
Posts: 257
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:46 am
Car: 1996 Infinity Q45

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Steve can you say " Got Heat" I can . It is quite toasty to say the least. It took alittle tweaking but all is good so far. I hope both our jobs last the life we decide to keep the cars.

But for all the future Broken Heater Post guys take notes because this will save you lots of time. I had a little trial and error and with the help of JMAN i got it all done.

Was alot of work but still beats the $1,000 the dealer wants for the repair.Even on the West Coast (Cali I need my heat now and then)

No offense East Coast but i know none of you can live without that heat coming from the snow areas. So get errr done.

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Mr_Q45t
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:23 pm
Car: 1995 Ivory Pearl Q45t

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Q45tech wrote:IT EVENTUALLY cost almost as much as buying a new lesser car [new $28k average car] to own and properly maintain a 10 year old lux car.

THe factory doesn't make much from selling a $30 replacement part.

They all last thru the 6 year warranty what more should one expect........10 years is great.
Are you serious? For a $28k car the monthy payments would be at least $500 a month for a 60 month loan. Are you forgetting that you must purchase full-coverage insurance for your vehicle if you are financing?

maxnix
Posts: 22628
Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2002 8:11 pm
Car: 1995 Infiniti Q45
1995 Infiniti Q45t
2000 Infiniti Q45

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Mr_Q45t wrote:Are you serious? For a $28k car the monthy payments would be at least $500 a month for a 60 month loan. Are you forgetting that you must purchase full-coverage insurance for your vehicle if you are financing?
Yes he is. Most people don't finance their maintenance and repairs.

sarilion
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2007 7:46 am
Car: 94 Q45t

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Hey,

I fixed my q45 heat problem, same as you, but using the cruder hole and wire method. no one's documented the hole, so I had to guess for myself. I modified one of your pix to show where the hole should go, approximately. There's prolly a better place to post this.



note this requires removing the motor and linkage first, drilling into the heater housing. I don't have a digital camera, and I couldn't find a clear pic of just the housing where the door is.

sarilion

96Qowner
Posts: 2720
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2004 12:11 pm
Car: 1996 Q45

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Nice first post! Thank you very much for the pic - I see a white circle surrounding the place where the hole should be.

Glad you found the original thread and were able to fix your problem cheaply.

Welcome to NICO!

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Denver90Q
Posts: 168
Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2007 4:10 am
Car: 1990 Q45 145K miles beige, 1995 Q45t green 80K miles , 1998 Frontier 140K miles black

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My 1995 just keeps cycling between hot and cold, does that mean I have a broken mix door?

96Qowner
Posts: 2720
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2004 12:11 pm
Car: 1996 Q45

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No. If the mix door was broken, it wouldn't cycle at all.


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