Danny Rendleman wrote:
>
> Two questions: what could
> that stuff be (don't tell me asbestos)? And is it OK to leave the
> heater knob turned on or need it be turned off when the car is
> parked?
Danny,
Some answers, I hope:
1. The white dust might possibly be corrosion
from the battery terminals? They're just above and
behind the heater box, and the acid does spread? Get rid of it.
My '72 has no asbestos in the heating system that I can find.
I did have white powdery stuff -- till I rebuilt the battery
structure and got a better battery.
2. 'Turning On" the heater just positions the flap in the
air stream. 3 positions: a) flap blocking air stream
b) flap directing air to lower (heater) ducts and 3)
flap directing air to upper (defrost (Ha!)) ducts.
You can leave this in any position at any time doing no
harm. It just permits/denies air flow to various points.
3. The "real" heater control is the water valve on the back
end of the block. Turn it on, hot water flows from the #4
cylinder water jacket into the heater and back to the
front of the block. Turn it off, and that water no longer
flows. 2 schools of thought: a) turn it off and #4 cylinder
does not get cooled aswell, b) turn it off and nothing is
hurt. IMHO -- I dunno.
4. The "other" heater control is the fan switch. On and the
electric fan pulls air from the air intake thru the flap
(see #1 above) thru the heater box. Off means that air moves,
but only depending on the speed of the car.
I believe you can leave them (2,3, and 4) all on, leave them all off, or
intermix them. As long as you don't have an actual cooland leak,
I can't see the harm. Water and air either flows or it doesn't.
But once you stop the car and kill the engine, it all stops anyway.
FWIW (-- NOT Much),
chuck
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chuck ciaffone chuckc@ibm.net
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