The HVAC control on my '94 Breakaway appears to be Chrysler; I may have a bad vacuum actuator - is the rest of the heating system Chrysler also (the actuator sure doesn't look like Ford or GM...)? If so, from the large New Yorker?

Master Tech
28717 Holiday Place
Elkhart, IN, 46517
(574) 522-6224

Some reading

It looks like pretty much any chrysler van or pickup from the mid 80's to 90's. I'm sure that NAPA or one of the other Auto Box stores would have it. Take the old one with you and see if it matches up.

Bill N.Y.

So it sounds like the whole HVAC box is also Chrysler....

BTW, I have a silver Sharpie (not Shar Pei) that I ran over the raised lettering and the ridges where the "chrome" had worn off...looks much better now.

It turns out the actuator isn't bad - the whole plastic vacuum line from the firewall to the actuator was deteriorated (as in crumbling). I had plenty of slack in the old vacuum line, so pulled it out until I got to the section that had been inside, then cut it off and installed about 6' of 1/8" vacuum/washer hose, then pulled all the plastic hose inside so all that'sexposed is the rubber hose.

Apparently, being outside, even though protected, is more than the plastic can endure.

My father in law has a 1984 Dodge Ram pickup with the same controls. I found one in a junk yard that worked fine. I also discovered a mid-line junction block for the vacumn lines that also needed replacing. It was falling apart and it wasn't even exposed to the sun --- was under the dash.

I suspect that any 1980's Dodge P/U will work for parts. Give it a try. They are still plentiful in the junk yards.

I just wanted to mention that my heater control assembly has a small "Chrysler" logo moulded into the plastic. However after visiting two different Jeep/Chrysler dealers that couldn't identify the part number, a third dealer told me it was actually a "GM" part. I went to my local GMC dealer and sure enough they were able to look up the part. They wanted something like $220 for the assembly. My assembly was okay but had a broken mounting ear so instead I redrilled a new hole and remounted the unit with the help of a washer and some JB weld.

Mine also had a broken mounting ear, so I added another tab to the back of the unit using plastic solvent cement (my "custom blend" of MEK and acetone), redrilled it, and back in business.

BTW, a lot of the dash pieces are styrene or polystyrene, and can be fixed with a solvent cement. Mine had cracks around the screw holes in the panel that has the radio and heater controls as well as the deflectors for the windshield defrost. A dab of the solvent cured that.

I mix acetone and MEK because the acetone is very fast acting; the MEK takes a bit longer to cure. Hold the pieces to be joined together. Using a small and cheap artist's brush, brush on the solvent at the joint. Capilliary action will draw it into the joint and weld it. For larger joints, wet both pieces (MEK works better) and join, then brush more on the joint.

Solvent cement also works very well as a stress-reliever.