VS fan directiona issues

[Hackerkrim]

Hi
So i recently bought a 1996 VS Commodore Holden Acclaimed, found a few issues with it, that with the help of my father have managed to become fixed. Recently put in a thermostat because it had none in it and i had not heater in this cold weather that we are now getting.
Now one of the biggest problems i'm having, now that I have heating and cooling, is that the directional fan (not sure if this is what it is called), just about the fan pressure doesn't work properly. It can be on the face setting and a minute or two later it will change to feet without me changing anything. The demister setting never works, but when on the feet setting it will rotate between demister, face and feet.
Dad has no idea whats wrong and nor do I, just wondering if you guys could help. Thanks

[woteva]

Vacuum leak ?? Check pipes on rear of switch.

[BlackVXGTS]

Do you have climate control or just the standard heater/air conditioning? The vents are controlled by a vacuum fed distribution unit located in a panel behind the radio. Don't think I have heard of a problem with the unit cycling as you described.

[Hackerkrim]

just a standard heating/conditioning in my car. I will check the vaccum and hopefully its something in there. It is a rather odd and painful problem.

[hako]

What may be happening is that someone has removed/disconnected the vacuum reservoir from your car - this is a black plastic ball that sits under the passenger side headlight - it is connected to the inlet manifold and stores vacuum...also connected to the aircon/heater unit which will default to floor if no vacuum present. When driving normally there will be a high vacuum and the vents will work OK....put the foot down and vacuum drops and vents lose their vacuum control and drop to floor (default)....release accelerator and vacuum increases and vents act like they should.
This is how you can tell easily: turn engine off and immediately turn vent control to another setting...you should hear a hiss or a soft clunk as the stored vacuum (in the black ball) will still move the vent flaps until all the stored vacuum is exhausted.
Now, if there is NO action when you do this procedure, it could mean what I outline in my first paragraph.
Anyways, do this check and report back.

[Hackerkrim]

Sorry guys, been busy these last few months but with this long weekend 4 days! I thought i might get back to these little hiccups in my car especially before summer hits.

What may be happening is that someone has removed/disconnected the vacuum reservoir from your car - this is a black plastic ball that sits under the passenger side headlight - it is connected to the inlet manifold and stores vacuum...also connected to the aircon/heater unit which will default to floor if no vacuum present. When driving normally there will be a high vacuum and the vents will work OK....put the foot down and vacuum drops and vents lose their vacuum control and drop to floor (default)....release accelerator and vacuum increases and vents act like they should.
This is how you can tell easily: turn engine off and immediately turn vent control to another setting...you should hear a hiss or a soft clunk as the stored vacuum (in the black ball) will still move the vent flaps until all the stored vacuum is exhausted.
Now, if there is NO action when you do this procedure, it could mean what I outline in my first paragraph.
Anyways, do this check and report back.

Thanks for your ides, i've done what you suggested and changed direction after turning off straight away and there is a little hissing sound.......this leads to??
Now recently I've taken my car to the mechanic and while there i asked him to check out the A/C problem and give me an estimate. He checked and personally believes there is a leak in one of the hoses, but the estimate was pricey because he wasn't sure where the leak was. So I'll try my luck first, now I have no problem pulling the dash apart and checking the hoses but before I go doing this I just wanna make sure we think this is the problem before i take my sweet time pulling it apart.

Thanks guys