Stepper motor thoughts

["Lawrence A. Hegarty" <lah@domain.elided>]

I just finished the stepper motor job in my 91 164S and I thought I'd
share my thoughts on the job.

First of all, I would suggest not trying to rig anything to move the
heater control flap as a way of buying time before doing the job.  I
removed the cable from the flap door via the engine compartment so as
to have a little heat in the winter.  I accidently bent the cable and
removed the quick-nut that secures it on.  These are VERY difficult to
get access to and it's not worth messing with them IMHO.

I found the video to be invaluable.  I took a real shortcut on the
special tools.  I only made one.  I took a grounded down #2 philips
bit and wedged it into a small 1/4 open ended wrench and got by with
that.  The 6mm closed version would have been better I'm sure, but I
managed with my half-assed version.  I didn't need the "wired bit"
tool or the "shaved ratchet" tool at all.

One very upsetting part of doing the job was the fact that I wasn't
able to get the new Alfa quick-nut or the 3rd part (not even sure what
it was) required for the job.  AlfaBill says they are no longer
available from Alfa.  What makes this so worrisome is that the video
very explicitly says to use the Alfa quick-nut, not a substitute, to
avoid screwing up the job.  I didn't have any quick-nuts so I invented
another half-assed solution.  I used a small wirewrap with some epoxy
on it to make sure the cable stays on the peg.  It seems to be working
fine right now, but I'm scared it will fail some day.

The hardest part of the job was getting the vent tubing and foam
blocks back in place on the right side air and defrost vents.  Still
haven't got it right.  I can live with that though.

While I had things apart a tended to the faulty hibeam relay and some
burned bulbs in the HVAC computer.  I also removed the HVAC vent
filter.  It was REALLY dirty.  I've left it out for now.  How bad an
idea is it to leave it out?

It's great to have heat back.

Lawrence Hegarty, Hillsborough, NJ
91 164S, 86 Spider, 82 GTV6

--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided