No Heat

We took our car in for its regularly-scheduled service last week and it is in tip top condition. That is, except for two things. For some reason, our cruise control stopped working sometime while we were driving down to California at Christmas. Also, on Sunday the little thermostat knob that controls the a/c and heat got stuck (of course it did this AFTER we had it serviced).

It's the little knob on the bottom left with the blue and red half-circles. Our knob turns freely from very cold to the middle point where the red meets the blue. Then it stops and will not budge anymore to the right. Since it never fully engages the heat, it shoots out a temperature very similar to outside (around 50 degrees), which is neither hot, nor cold, but somehow uncomfortable. On my way to Salem yesterday I put on my scarf, which helped. What cannot be easily managed is when Jesse gets into the car and fogs up the windows on his side. It's times like that when I feel as though our car is giving us the middle finger.

I tried Googling our problem, but most diagnostics only deal with the dial still moving freely, but not adjusting the temperature. I even downloaded a workshop manual for the car, but again, doesn't mention "stuck temperature dial" in the troubleshooting diagnostics. I have a feeling this is not a good thing -- or a really simple fix. However, I am too busy this week to even think about it.

Today is my last day researching in Salem and then I'll probably be able to finish up my first consulting job in Portland! Maybe I'll try and pull off the knob when I get home tonight and see what's going on in there.