loose climate control plate and bad knob

[Soma576@xxxx]

Hello all,

as my D sits in storage, i have been visiting it every so often ( a couple 
times a week) to check it out, and in the process, making mental notes of 
everything i will need to order this spring to finish up the car (the more 
immediate things anyway... i'm sure it will never be PERFECT!). anyway, 
here is an annoying problem i have had since day one (veterans day 2000), 
which i had forgotten about until today.

my problem is that the climate control knobs keep popping off. the one that 
comes off on its own is the center selector. the other two are just loose, 
and easily come off when you pull them. when you try to put the center one 
back on, it feels like there isn't enough 'knob' to push the piece back on. 
now this may be true, but i think the real problem is that the actual plate 
itself (with the big sticker on it) is too loose, and it keeps working its 
way forward, eventually forcing the knob off. today i took all three knobs 
off, and the center plate is easily removed. should it be like this? i do 
not see any kind of fastening piece to hold it in there, except for the three 
knobs. 

on a related note, i remember when i was driving the car around this fall, 
that the third position on the fan speed didn't seem to work. speed 1 was 
barely blowing (i mean, i'm not even sure if the fan was turning more than 5 
times per second), speed two was a little better, 3 didn't do anything, and 4 
was pretty good. maybe the switch needs cleaning? any other ideas? it has 
been too cold for me to open all that stuff up (but it is starting to get 
nicer, as in, not below zero).

i would especially appreciate any good ideas on what to do about the climate 
control plate.

thanks in advance,
Andy

Soma576@xxxx
1982 DeLorean DMC-12 VIN#11596
Fargo, ND 58102


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