** Reply to message from James Shinosky <JMSHINOSKY@AOL.COM> on Tue,
17 Nov 1998 16:09:12 EST

> I need a help on how to access to the night illuminating light
bulb(s) in the
> temperature/vent lever control panel (the one with four sliding
levers) in my
> 88 Weekender?? I'm afraid to break the panel assembly myself.
>

And rightly so... :)  The panel is held by two posts, at bottom left
and top right.  The posts go into spring-steel clips in the dashboard
and either one may be extremely tight (especially if someone has
spilled coke/whatever in that region.  It's entirely possible to pull
one right off the panel -- I have.  I extracted the post by inserting
a sheetmetal screw into the post (it's hollow) and then drilling the
panel and screwing the post back on from the front.  I believe that
the plastic is glueable, but I thought the screw gave me a better
chance.  To try gluing, check with model airplane cement on some
unseen place -- if it dissolves the plastic, then you can get a strong
bond for the post.

So anyway, to remove: First remove all the control lever handles.
Pull them straight out, but 1) Don't pull on the convenient handles,
they come off -- permanently.  Grasp the handle ahead of the knob,
with pliers if necessary, and pull it out.  If they're very tight you
might make future repairs easier by splitting the top from the end to
the round hole (obvious once you've got one off).  2) If the handle
lets go with a rush, the top or bottom edge of the end fitting may
very well catch on the edge of the slot, and will likely break it.
The handles are of two kinds, so that each pair will have a knob
sticking up and another sticking down, as there are only two slots for
the four handles.

Now pry as gently as possible around the two opposite corners of the
panel with a screwdriver or such, until the two posts ease out from
the dash.  At this point the panel will be hanging from the wire for
the light socket.  If the socket is one with a built-in nonremovable
bulb, you may have to get a replacement socket, then removable bulbs
will fit.  Show it to dealer -- I don't think the sockets are *too*
bad.  Sylvania makes bulbs which ought to do, I forget the number -- 2
for $1.50

Replace in reverse -- you'll likely have to gently pry the control
levers up or down to get them to line up exactly with the slot so as
to push the handles back on.  And if there's sticky stuff anywhere ---
most especially on the control cables and most most especially on the
heat control cable --- clean it off and out of the cable jacket just
as well as you can (I suggest many repetitions of water chased by
alcohol) because if you don't the cable will bend the next time it
gets cold and damp and you try to shut the heat off.  And you'll be
taking it all off again, because it only *looks* as though you can
straighten the cable through the ashtray hole :<

Regds,
david

David Beierl <dbeierl@ibm.net>
401 274-5827 voice, -6349 fax
OS/2 V4, FP7, JVM 1.1.6, JSM 98.6.3