In '87, center vent automatically closes if AC on. (archive)

Starting sometime in the '86 model year, the center vent was no longer controlled by a push/pull cable like the upper and lower vents, but by an expensive electric motor. When the A/C is on, the vent closes automatically.

I had a '73 Volvo that had a nice vacuum controlled vent system. Instead of sliders, it had push buttons. Nothing was electrical- it was all vacuum, like something out of an old player piano. It was light, cheap, reliable, unique, and classy. And it made a cool "whoosh" when you pushed the buttons.

Just something I miss from that car. That and the mechanical clock. And the shifter that was still tight after 250,000 miles...

... open in order for air to flow over the evaporator. The position of the lower lever is irrelevant because the heat & air conditioning circuits are completely separate.

In fact, the ONLY place the air conditioning takes in air is from the inside of the center console; if you have the middle lever open any, the fresh air simply "merges" with the air conditioned air just before it comes out the vents (pull off the top vent and look in -- you'll see why).

up coil? I thought I read this in the '87 owner's manual.

Rex

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