Heater control

[Jonny B]

Need a bit of advice on the heater control. The ball and knuckle that controls the valve for the heater flow. This is the connection under the firewall plug inside the hood. The socket popped off the ball joint, and I am scratching my head on how to get it fully engaged again. I can put the joint together, but am not able to get it completely connected. I tried using a screwdriver and hammer from the top to try to push it together, but had no luck. Any ideas?

[Clayton]

Hey Jonny,
I just went through this a couple months back. I don't recall any difficulty snapping them back together. I think there is an expanding clip inside. That must be jammed up. Maybe a pair of channel locks with some cloth to prevent scoring?

[Jonny B]

Will take a closer look when I am back at the homestead. I did not turn the socket part over to see what was inside. Not too worried about "scoring" as this is hidden away.

[ja17]

Jon,

Easy fix. Sometimes the snap ring just gets off center. Put a little grease in the socket, twirl a screwdriver or such around in the socket to center up the snap-ring and it should just pop back on. Same thing happens often on engine linkages.

[Jonny B]

Joe,
thanks, will try that tomorrow night. Now that you have stirred my poor old grey cells, I do recall having an issue or two with the engine linkages and eventually getting the socket set up correctly.