Vent selector cable adjustment

smetzger

03 P5 (x2), 09 Miata, 07 Mazda3, 13 Fit, 09 Ody
I took apart my dash and had the vent selector cable unhooked. Put everything back together now the two extreme selections on my vent selection knob have the same selection as the previous one on the knob...So, Defrost Only setting is the same as defrost and foot vents. Upper Vents only setting is the same as both upper vents and lower vents.

I fiddled with it a bit but couldn't figure out how to get cable clipped in to have all the different vent selections work.

Is there a procedure for re-attaching the vent cable?
 
It sounds to me like the clip isn't fully clipped and the the cable is moving.

Make sure that your cable is routed through the dash properly.
 
Clip is secure.
Routing may be incorrect as I had it pulled all the way out.

How is it supposed to be routed?
 
Clip is secure.
Routing may be incorrect as I had it pulled all the way out.

How is it supposed to be routed?

The only thing that I remember is that one or both of the cables run through the metal dash on the left hand side, not through the middle.

Check to see if your cable has a smooth swoop through to the dial.
Any tight corners or binding can restrict the movement of the wire inside the cable.

ZapWizard wrote an awesome writeup about removing the control unit but the pictures don't show anymore..

This might be helpful?...



Thread 'How-To: Disabling Automatic A/C - Defrost modes' https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/ind...-disabling-automatic-a-c-defrost-modes.55382/
 
Lol..

20210602_201814.jpg


I had a bunch of pictures posted, but Photobucket kidnapped and murdered them all. I didn't want to pay the ransom. Lol
 
Look for this under near the gas pedal. Turn all the knobs to left and play around with this part. It loosens and tightens the cable. Try turning to knobs all the way to the right if turning the knobs to the left doesn't work.
 

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Look for this under near the gas pedal. Turn all the knobs to left and play around with this part. It loosens and tightens the cable. Try turning to knobs all the way to the right if turning the knobs to the left doesn't work.

That elbow pivot point was the issue. When defrost only is selected, the 'elbow' should point up. It was pointed down, had to force it up.

So, here is the procedure to re-attache the cable...
1) attach cable (but leave clip unattached)
2) Select defrost only
3) Turn car on and fan to 3 or 4 so you can easily feel air out of the vents
4) manually move the selector wheel under the dash, making sure the elbow points up, until you get no air coming out of the lower vents.
5) Clip the plastic part of the cable in.
6) move through your different vent settings to make sure each setting works. Make minor clip adjustments as necessary.

If you taking things apart it is a good idea to get a silver permanent marker and make a mark on the plastic cable where the clip attaches.
 
So did that work for you ?
Is everything working properly now ?
Were your cables routed properly or was is just cable clip adjustment ?

PS...
If you didn't mark the clip position beforehand, you may be able to see the marks on the cable from where it was attached.
 
So, here is the procedure to re-attache the cable...
1) attach cable (but leave clip unattached)
2) Select defrost only
3) Turn car on and fan to 3 or 4 so you can easily feel air out of the vents
4) manually move the selector wheel under the dash, making sure the elbow points up, until you get no air coming out of the lower vents.
5) Clip the plastic part of the cable in.
6) move through your different vent settings to make sure each setting works. Make minor clip adjustments as necessary.

That's what I ended up doing, but I don't remember if I set it to full defrost or full upper vents ?
I still don't know if my hot/cold selector is set exactly.
I can't decide if it's more important to have full heat in the winter or full cold in the summer?
(It's pretty close though.)

I noticed too that all the plastic pivots and sliders and the cable itself were getting a bit worn which reduces the full movement of the whole venting mechanism.

I set my cable clip to get full defrost in the winter because it's more important to have a frost free windshield.
I may have some leakage with the upper vent, but that's OK.
 
Yes, it worked for me. Helps to have multiple Proteges for reference.

I made up the procedure...
 
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