"Gray" Air Flap

[113gray]

Hi Group- This seems to be vent & heating week! I read the earlier posts hoping to find some info on the flap actuated by the top right or gray lever. No luck. I'm reasonably sure mine is frozen since the cable moves partially. But I can't move the gray one more than 1/2 way from right to left. How does one get to the flap which I think is located in the duct by the driver's right foot? TIA.   -JP-

[rwmastel]

Top right control should be for the air direction, either to the windshield or the floor.  I'm not sure where in the dash this is controlled.

Rodd
1966 230SL Euro
1994 E420

[Naj ✝︎]

James,
And now the bad news:
The direction flap is in the housing above the fan motor. So the bottom part of the air distribution system would have to come out...
But first, try sticking your hand thru the footwell ducts on either side of the transmission tunnel. You may be able to free the flap if there is an obstruction like a bit of sealing material that has become unattached.The duct ends are held on by 3 screws - these can be removed for better xs.
Also a damaged cable can be a problem. This cable attaches to the lever system at a 90 degree angle and is difficult to operate even before it is connected to the flap. If its bent etc. the problem may lie there.


naj
'Kloines Scheisserle'
65 230SL
68 280SL

[n/a]

James
This weekend I pulled the top air scoop and cold air flap off my 230 to work out why the heater was on all of the time. I don't know if I've fixed the problem but I did discover that the plastic lever where the cable connects to on the direction flap had broken off. I was able to glue it back into place from above. There was also quite a bit of perished foam insulation floating around that I cleaned out as well. Here's hoping.
Mark

1965 230 SL

[113gray]

Thanks to those who responded. Meanwhile, with the help of the BBB, I have about got this job whipped. I removes all the stuff on the dash to the right of the steering wheel & then removed the distribution box from below containing the frozen flap, cleaned everything up, lubed some of the housing & flap surfaces that are in contact. It works fine now. The primary problem was that some sorry excuse of a mechanic had simply left out the bolts that mount the flap mechanism to it's housing. During the process I am repairing heater levers which were literally patched with duct tape long enough ago for the adhesive to have disappeared! I found numerous other appalling examples of work in there where the poor PO couldn't see what he was paying for. For those of you who have a Joe Alexander type, thank your lucky stars! The heater lever task is similar to that I did in my 4.5 last year, but I found the 113 levers easier to access & simpler. The job has turned out to be quite an education. Regards   -JP-