The heat control in my 90 DX is stuck on high. The thing has a tiny crack in it but all of a sudden the *&$%# **** won't turn. If anyone has ever taken this stupid thing apart, please tell me how. It's too damn hot to be driving a greenhouse on wheels with extra heat.

 

Maybe someone can explain this better.. The heat **** draws a wire that leads under the dash, in the middle, where you can adjust the heat there. It will feel like a switch on a dial.. When you find it you can adjust the dial away from you to make it cold and towards you to make it hot. Either way when the heater **** breaks, as it always does, its a nussiance but an effective backup good luck

 

This is a common problem as our rexes age...a true design flaw on Honda's part. But given the rest of the car, I'm not going to complain too loud.

The quick solution is what oh_crx said. You can get under the passenger side dash and find the two cables that are actuated by the temp control ****. They're pretty easy to find but if you can't removing glove box is easy and might help. Shift the cables(its a push/pull style mechanism) so its blowing relatively cooler air.
This will provide immediate relief but having to reach under your dash every time you need to change temperature will get annoying...ask me how I know.

The long term solution is even less attractive. You'll have to remove the AC panel, which is a pain. A new AC panel costs like $300. You can find used ones but they're typically $100 or more and they're just as old and either cracking or ready to crack. People have had limited success repairing used ones.

Once you have a unit in your hands, you'll see the design flaw I'm talking about. The **** is mounted to the back of the panel. The two aforementioned wires that adjust heat/cold are on the rear of the **** assembly, creating a stress point on the face plate.
The face plate should have been thicker or the **** should have been braced from the rear.

 

Thanks guys... I've got it out of "hot" for now. Anybody got a source for replacement units? I haven't seen a working control unit in a junkyard in the last 3 years, and my local dealership just told me to take a hike or "upgrade" to a S2000. (they hate me there) Only about 2 months until New England cold snaps...

 

I believe the p/n you are looking for is:
79620-SH2-A01 SWITCH/MODE CONTROL $267.38
79620-SH2-A52 SWITCH ASSY/MODE CONTROL (A/C) $280.23

Once you have yours out. you may be able to salvage repair it by ordering just parts from here: Click LINK

I don't have any specific information but I've seen pictures of a conversion to a 90-93 Accord unit. And it fit/looked good.
Don't be tempted to buy the auto temp adjusting JDM control panel...they are more trouble then they are worth.

 

There's also a guy on this site who sells covers for the face plate; you glue it to the front of your cracked plate, and it'll both cover up the crack and strengthen the unit so hopefully the crack doesn't get worse.

Do a search, and you'll find the thread. To be honest, I haven't seen the work, but it seems that people are happy with it. Most importantly, it'll save you about 250 clams.


I'm on my second faceplate, and have my fingers crossed that it'll last.

 

As I read it...the intention was not to provide structural stability(unless your faceplate is in two separate pieces) but to provide cosmetic cover up for the problem.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tommycrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There's also a guy on this site who sells covers for the face plate; you glue it to the front of your cracked plate, and it'll both cover up the crack and strengthen the unit so hopefully the crack doesn't get worse.

Do a search, and you'll find the thread. To be honest, I haven't seen the work, but it seems that people are happy with it. Most importantly, it'll save you about 250 clams.


I'm on my second faceplate, and have my fingers crossed that it'll last.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That "guy" would be me and here is the thread https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1094041 also check my sig