Unable to adjust climate controls..?

[ArdiniA]

if this has been answered elsewhere, please direct me to the right place...

i am having a problem getting the controls to change from vent to any other setting (like defog of floor) it blow lots of heat, but the windshield wont defog, which makes it very hard to see in -40 degree weather that we frequently get here in Saskatchewan Canada.

I *think* it has something to do with these little hoses which i assume are vacuum hoses that change the damper to direct the air flow.

anyone point me in the right direction?

[caffeineaholic]

You may be right about the vacuum hoses, but it will help to know what year Caprice you have (also knowing the engine would be nice too).

I have an '85 Caprice V8 305ci (Federal, not Canada) and my climate controls work (I always hear a bit of a hissing sound when disengaging (OFF) the controls or sometimes when switching the controls to another settings).

Also it would help to know when this occurred or if something else happened and this happened at the same time? Were you working on something and the climate controls stopped working?

Details help us out!

[ArdiniA]

i cant believe i for got to put down that it was a 1991 Caprice., and has a 305 V8 (5.0L)

it just sorrta happened...but you really only notice when the weather is cold. moving the level all the way to the off position does not produce any "hiss" like i know it onces did. i check all the fuses, and they are all good. did, however, notice a brown hose under the dash that is hanging, attached to some kind of tank, other end is up in the dash somewhere. i tried unhooking this from the tank and adjusting to see if it would have any suction or produce and pressure. but i could not tell either way and repplaced the hose.

[caffeineaholic]

I do not know how that generation of Caprice is designed; maybe someone else can help out.

On my Caprice I have a similar hose that goes from the Heater Control Valve all the way under the dash. It looks similar to this one:


Perhaps this has gone bad on your caprice? They are fairly cheap -- this is an image from Autozone.com and it was at 18$ US Dollars.

If it is blowing heat though as you say (only venting and not switching to defog and etc) then I would think most likely it has to do with the vacuum control switch/mechanism or a broken hose (if your caprice is designed in that way like mine is).