Not late at all. It'* going to be about a week until I can get a garage to fix it. I miss living in a house. I'd do it right now if the landlord allowed us to work on cars in the parking lot. At some point I should just go get a manual. Thanks for the PDF file.

Being that you'll be under the dash and have to pull that heater box cover...99% of that is relative.

BTW.. heater cover out the bottom is a pain.. pull back the carpet and insulation for the most room.

Manuals are very handy and getting one would certainly be beneficial. I find the resources within the Bonneville Club to be much more valuable, however. In particular the members with "resident gearhead" under their moniker! These hosers have been into places on Bonnevilles that the engineers never intended them to go - and lived to tell about it.

I just got to the heater core and it'* leaking like a baby and I noticed I haven't been the only one in there. The case to the heater core has been cracked and the actuator control arm was not attached. Not sure how to re-attatch it since I didn't take it apart.

So, the actutor control rod on top of the heater box was not attached to the airmix door?

correct, the rod was hanging loose. I looked at the heater core and one of the stems was cracked at the base.I have the core installed and the case back in place. I am going to try and reattach the arm.


and freaking God almighty you guys were not kidding about those hoses.

Hopefully, the arm was "NOT" attached for some reason other than a broken gear in the airmix actuator. If the actuator is broken, then you may have some goofy things occuring when trying to select a temperature. Default with the rod unattached is full heat.

Recalibration procedure is as follows:

1. With actuator rod NOT engaged on the white airmix door connector, start car.
2. Set ECC to full HEAT (90*) I use the "AUTO" setting.
3. Let car run for at least 45 seconds. (You will see the actuator rod move all the way over to the right. The airmix door will move to its furthest postion by defalt)
4. While the car is still running and on full heat, snap the actuator rod into the white connector on the airmix door without changing the postion of the airmix door or the arm that attaches the rod to the actuator. This can be done using a long bladed screwdriver through the hole in the support brace behind the glovebox. (See explanation below for more detailed instructions on lining up the rod and the white connector)

The small plastic box is the airmix actuator, and the rod that comes off the box snaps into a small, white, round connector on the airmix door.

This pic is looking through a hole, behind the glovebox that shows the rod in place in the white connector. The trick is to line up the rod with the connector and, using a long flat-bladded screwdriver to "pop" the rod back into the connector. The white connector has a v-shaped groove on the top to help guide/line-up the rod. The rod has threads on the end that goes into the white connector and the threads need to be in line with the connector.

So, start your car and set your temperature **** to "Full Hot". Let it run for at least 45 -60 seconds. This moves the "rod" all the way to the passenger side to calibrate the system and moves the rod to line up best with the connector. The airmix door and it'* white connecter should already be over as far as it can go to the passenger side.

Use the screw driver to line up the rod on top of the connector and to "spin/rotate" the white connector until you think/feel/see the rod drop into the v-groove on top. Then carefully use the screwdriver to "pop" the rod into place. If all works well and your actuator (the small black box that the other end of the rod is connected to already) is not broken, you will have heat and cold again under your control.

This process sounds worse than it is and once you look through the hole and see the connector and rod, it starts to make sense. Don't get too frustrated if it takes a few tries to pop the rod onto the connector as lining it up takes some patience and a couple of tries.

I hope that rod wasn't disconnected because your air mix actuator is hosed! That would truly suck because you all but had the wretched thing in your hand. After you calibrate and get the rod in place, run your temp from max to min (hot to cold) and back a few times. Look through the peep hole and watch the arm move from one extreme to the other. If it doesn't move smoothly (jerks or stops) or doesn't move to the same extreme positions each time, your air mix actuator is on its way out and you might as well replace it while the process is still etched in your mind. Once they go bad, they don't get better.

I have been trying to post here, the wireless at work sucks.

Anyway I lucked out, controls/heat and everything are working great. Actually better than ever. I had friend that works at Ford help me correctly fill the coolant. I've been doing it wrong all these years. Live and learn I suppose.

I am running into other issues about the car idling and starting when it'* wet outside. I figure instead of getting everything tested. I am just going to start replacing parts starting with the battery and work my way to the spark plug wires. So instead of starting a new thread I will just keep updating this one. I think I'll start seeing who on this site has parts for sale (body panels and what not)

Long story short. I have taken care of my Bonneville since I took her over, but My Mom and sister did not when they were driving it. The body panel holding the fog lights has a major crack in it. The pin strip down the side was removed with paint thinner (Grrr!!!) The windshield is cracked and the interior is coming apart. I do not know how much I will be able to fix on my limited budget, but I am going to do as much as I can. Aside from the body and such, the engine works great. You guys will be seeing a lot more of me.

All: When I changed my heater core, I figured since the old one was bad there was no reason to root around down at the firewall with a Mayhew clamp tool. So, I just took a long chisel and a rubber hammer and knocked off the outlets at the firewall. One minute tops, you're done.

When reinstalling the hoses (buy new ones, it'* worth it) coat both the nipples on the heater core and the inside of the hoses with wheel bearing grease or other lubricant and they'll slide right on. I didn't use the mayhew clamps on the firewall side, I just used ordinary hose clamps and a long 1/4" socket wrench and extension to tighten them down.

As to the actuator rod, it just snaps into the control arm from the top. No clamps or anything.

My car doesn't have climate control. I took out the passenger seat and removed the screws on the heater core cover, and with a little patience and tugging, was able to get the cover (with actuator) out through the bottom without moving any part of the dash. Same with re-installation.

This job took me about 2 hours. Bet I could do it in one now.

Disconnect the battery, you're working near the passenger side airbag.