Hey yall, just want to relate what I did tonight. My Hawk's heater valve was stuck a little open, so I was slowly getting broiled as I drove. That got old..might be a Texan, don't like the heat
Anyway, I pulled the offending valve off, and realised right there that it was REALLY stuck. First thing I noticed was some crud buildup inside, plus the previous owner, or the one before, had painted over the valve!! Nice. I put it in a container and liberally sprayed it inside and out with Dawn Power Dissolver. Let me tell ya'll about this degreaser. It is the ONLY thing I have found that will take off years of baked on castor oil residue off a model airplane engine. Baked on castor is almost impossible to clean without a very caustic cleaning solution. The DPD attacks baked on grease like there's no tomorrow, and it doesn't kill brain cells in the process. You spray it on, wait 15 minutes or so, and wash it off under warm water. I figured that it might work on the valve. Now, DPD WILL attack some paints, but in this case it was a blessing. I was able to strip off all the old paint, plus a good layer of varnish/crud, in 2 applications. I then soaked the valve with a little WD40, cleaned it off, and heated it with a heat gun. I let i cool, tried to move the plunger, it was still stuck, then I repeated the process, and VOILA!!..she moved a bit. Once I got a little movement from the plunger I had it licked, a little more work and it moved freely. I reinstalled the valve, and it seems to be working properly, might need to adjust the OFF side as I think it's still slightly cracked open, but it's close. I can slide the control to heat, and using the demister for a heat check (blower motor on the main heater is inop) I can get almost no heat at cool and pretty warm at full heat. I'm happy!!
Cash
Anyway, I pulled the offending valve off, and realised right there that it was REALLY stuck. First thing I noticed was some crud buildup inside, plus the previous owner, or the one before, had painted over the valve!! Nice. I put it in a container and liberally sprayed it inside and out with Dawn Power Dissolver. Let me tell ya'll about this degreaser. It is the ONLY thing I have found that will take off years of baked on castor oil residue off a model airplane engine. Baked on castor is almost impossible to clean without a very caustic cleaning solution. The DPD attacks baked on grease like there's no tomorrow, and it doesn't kill brain cells in the process. You spray it on, wait 15 minutes or so, and wash it off under warm water. I figured that it might work on the valve. Now, DPD WILL attack some paints, but in this case it was a blessing. I was able to strip off all the old paint, plus a good layer of varnish/crud, in 2 applications. I then soaked the valve with a little WD40, cleaned it off, and heated it with a heat gun. I let i cool, tried to move the plunger, it was still stuck, then I repeated the process, and VOILA!!..she moved a bit. Once I got a little movement from the plunger I had it licked, a little more work and it moved freely. I reinstalled the valve, and it seems to be working properly, might need to adjust the OFF side as I think it's still slightly cracked open, but it's close. I can slide the control to heat, and using the demister for a heat check (blower motor on the main heater is inop) I can get almost no heat at cool and pretty warm at full heat. I'm happy!!Cash
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