Heater

[Logan]

The heater in my '53K seems to always be heating, and it's getting my right foot pretty hot.  The knob on the dash pulls in and out fine and I looked underneath and it is moving the lever on the heater box up and down.  I'm not sure exactly how the innards of the heater box work but I assume the lever must open or close a valve that directs coolant into the box, but with my car it seems that coolant must always be flowing in because as soon as the engine warms up so does the temperature.  Does anyone know of common problems related to the heater box--did they commonly have valves go out or anything?  Thanks.

[dpledger]

Well, there would appear to be two possible causes to your problem. The most desirable would be that the cable has deformed so that when the knob is pushed all the way in  the valve is not totally closed. This could be checked by disconnecting the cable from the lever and seeing if the lever can be moved over farther. The more likely cause is that the water temperature control valve is not closing completely regardless of where the lever is placed. This would require replacement or repair of the valve-replacements are not easily found and $$. Seems someone had an article in the quarterly once about how they could be repaired, but no idea when. In the couple of 100 thousand I've put on Kaisers, I've never had a valve fail, but it seems that once the cable wasn't closing it all the way, so that would be the first thing to check. Bon chance.

[jmxkf1]

I'm feelin' the heat as well in my '53 with the temp control in and the right vent control out.   You should be able to get fresh air without roasting your feet.  I rebuilt the heater control already.   I've verified that the temp cable is moving the valve lever fully closed.   During the rebuild the tabs gave out and I had to solder the unit together.  I don't think I'll be attempting to rebuild my existing valve again.  If you find someone with replacements for the King Seely valve  please let me know.   
 Jim

[jmxkf1]

In the club parts interchange list there's a heater valve.   It's unoriginal but several in the club have installed them with slight modification.  The valve mounts on the engine side of the firewall.  It's for late '60's Rambler Americans.  I've been unable to get ahold of the guy until today and just ordered one.  Galvin's AMC Rambler Parts 634 East Lockford St, Lodi, Ca 209/3656315.  ask for Doug.    Open til 5pm PST.   their part number is 13-0162 and it runs $45.  Just thought I'd pass on the information.   Jim

[Logan]

Thanks, that's helpful, I'll have to give it a try.  One thing though, I don't know how to install these valves, and I can't seem to find instructions for it in the shop manual.  So if I get one, I might need to solicite help from some of you who have done this before.