Heater Control Cables

[Flipseat]

Heater knob diagram

Moderator note/summary/tips from other members:
* Walk through and bench cables are different so get the same one you had and make sure it is the right one for your year Bus. Trucks use the bench seat cable.

* If you have nice front seats, remove them from the Bus so you don't get grease on them. The cables always seem to spring around everywhere.

* On removal, I cut off the thicker ends by the engine before pulling it out up front, if one or both ends are even still there.

* On replacement, the longer cable goes to the passenger side.

* If you have trouble getting the new cables installed or if you just want to clean out the tubes before installing your new cable, a cut off clutch cable mounted in your drill works great to clean any junk out of the tubes. You need a full length clutch cable, approx. 10 feet, to go all the way from front to back. Make sure you run the drill backwards so you don't unwind the cable, otherwise it may break.

* Per the Bentley you are supposed to screw the knob all the way out (anti-clockwise) then tighten it 3 turns before you reinsert it.

* Remember the the slide (#6 in the diagram above) has a groove in it that has to line up with the small tab inside the hole. See photo below.

* Operate the arms on your heater boxes by hand and make sure they move freely before turning the knob up front, sometimes they get bent and will bind on the heater box body. This can break your cable or just pull it out of the mounting nuts out back.

* Don't forget there are cable seals on the ends of the tubes by the engine.
Wolfsburg West and other vendors sells them. Link:
http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=111711691

Photo of cable insertion area up front:

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Original post is below

The ends on my heater cables have broken, broken again, and yet again. So, it is time to replace them. There is an option for walkthrough cables or non walkthrough cables. My bus is a 61 flipseat, so I'm assuming I would need the walkthrough cables because the bus was built on a swivel seat bus platform, correct? The difference between them is where the heater control knob is mounted... Walkthrough would be right under the driver, and non walkthrough would be in the center of the seat, correct?

[hazetguy]

gotta use a walk-thru cable, which is different than a non-walk-thru cable, it's longer.
good luck finding a real one, seems like all the aftermarket ones are too short or are improperly marked as a "C" part number.
non-walk-thru cable (post-barndoor): 211 711 629 B (length 5715mm)
walk-thru cable: 211 711 629 C (length 5750mm)
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[Rain's Westy]

if I remember correctly Wolfsburg West is now carying the correct walk through cables

[EverettB]

If they are not available, I have some NOS ones that I remember figuring out they were walkthrough years ago. I will unravel one and doublecheck it if you get desperate.
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[Flipseat]

Thanks for the input guys I'm going to make up a little list tomorrow of things and do some calling. Spring is here and I'm starting to drive the bus, so time for some more spring maintenance. I'm also going to see if I can find a fuel tap and free the cable up to get that working.
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[biggestdaddyo]

Ok so I'm replacing the heater cables on a '66 walk-thru. I got the part from WW and start to take the rig apart. Knob comes off easily with a push-thru pin. Collar unscrews with a little persuasion...then I'm lost. The square drive thing has threads, so I unscrew that and where I expected to see a hook on the bottom there's nothing... No cables pull out or anything. So I'm wondering how exactly do the heater cables attach? Or how do I get to them? I can't seem to find a diagram of this assembly anywhere. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance for any advice!!!!
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[j.pickens]

You don't need to remove the knob from the base assembly.
The largest knurled ring below the knob holds the whole assembly in place.
You loosten the rear heater cables to free them up, unscrew the retaining ring at the base of the heater knob, and the whole assembly slides out.
The cable is looped through the assembly.
Held in place by the pin.
If the cable isn't there, check for the guide tubes under the seat.
You may have to clean out the tubes of any partial old cables and grease up and install a new cable. You guide both ends into the tubes from the front, and put the middle through the knob assembly and return the pin.
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[arthurnugen]

Isn't one side slightly longer than the other, or does that depend on the year? The right side on my '65 is longer.
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[campingbox]

[arthurnugen]

That figures. You can probably guess what I did.
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[biggestdaddyo]

[LittleThunder]

[cha53r]

Make sure the knob is screwed all the way in and not out, which would make the cables that much short. Sorry if you already figured that out but guess how I know that.

[SCZ9-1-1]

I found a good solution for heater cables is to use braided nylon coated stainless steel fishing leader material (easy to come by here in Santa Cruz). When I first got my bus the heater cables were cut/broken off right at the end of the tubes. The tubes were pretty clear and I used some liquid wrench to blow the out the tubes after removing the heater knob. I cut a length of fishing leader material that would work and threaded each end down the 2 tubes and bent it to fit in the control knob. It has been working great ever since.

[LittleThunder]

Figured it out. I had the cable pinned in 180 deg. off so when I put the whole assembly in the tube and got the index slot lined up, the cables were crossed keeping them from extending all the way. I should have thought of the fishing leader idea. I work at West Marine and sell the stuff all the time.

[ajbsd]

This is a good thread! My heater cables have not functioned as long as I have owned my bus. I have a 67 bench seat model and the ends of the cables at the motor have been sticking out far enough to attach to the heater boxes but that was it, no movement just constant heat which didn't bother me to much in the winter and in the summer I just disconnect them. Well now I would like a working heater system so I investegated the stuck cables and found that after removing the knob the cables were twisted up and broken off down inside the tube in the cab where the heater knob attaches! So, can anyone answer me this question - Does the heater knob spin some sort of threaded dealy inside the little barrel thingy to move the cables in and out or does the entire mechanism spin? Cause it looks like the whole thing has been turning inside there and twisting up the cables! Any help would be great. Thanks.

[arthurnugen]

Yes, the contol knob is threaded which causes the cables to move in or out. If the cable is twisted, it is probably stuck in the tubes. Get the old ones out, clean out the tubes and put a new cable in.

Arthur
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[ajbsd]

Thanks for your reply. In the process of removing the old cables as we speak!

[EverettB]

Yes, the knob turns the threaded piece that pulls the cables up to open the heater boxes. The cables are pulled straight up by the knob.

If they broke, I agree - they were either stuck or someone took it apart at some point and got them twisted when putting back together. I've replaced a few cables and sometimes I have trouble keeping the front straight upon reassembly.

Cut off the ends by the engine before you pull the old ones out.

When you slide them back in sometimes you have trouble because the tubes underneath may have gotten bent from rocks or whatever and you have to figure out or measure where to find the spot in the tubes that needs a little fix. And you may have to take a braided cable like a cut off clutch cable and roto-rooter out the tubes so the new cables slide through easily.
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[ajbsd]

Thanks Everett,
I spent some time this weekend with my heater cables! I was able to un-wind the twisted ends and pull the cables out from the engine end. I tried to pull them from the cab end but they would not budge. I was thinking of soaking the tubes with PB Blaster or equiv. and do some roto rooting before installing the new cables. The knob is not functioning and it must have been twisting the cables with every turn! So, I am hoping to buy one from a samba member this week and get this finished. Thanks again for the tips.