No heating now

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 05 Jul 2007, 20:34

I'm getting the impression this car just doesn't want me to maintain it.

A few days back, after a blower-related failure, I disabled it by disconnecting one red wire from the blower and the vents still gave demisting heat when on the move.

Yesterday I removed all the wires and the blower itself.

Today I can only get cool air no matter what position the temp slider is at. The temperature gauge was reading marginally higher than usual but well within it's range and the coolant level was ok.

Is it related to the blower wiring being removed? I have A/C & climate control and no idea how it's supposed to work. If I move the temperature slider from hot to cold or vice-versa I can faintly hear something (adjusting?) for a few seconds but the air remains cold.

I'll refit the blower tomorrow and hope all will be well again but if it isn't and I can no longer get heat, what should I check?

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 05 Jul 2007, 20:54

Sure you aint got lots af hot air 8)

it just wont move out your face with no blower fitted - sounds logic to me at least

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 05 Jul 2007, 21:14

AndersDK wrote:Sure you aint got lots af hot air 8) :

AndersDK wrote:it just wont move out your face with no blower fitted - sounds logic to me at least

I was expecting to feel a little warmth trickling from the vents when set to hot. Thinking more about it, I'm guessing that with the blower removed the cool outside air now bypasses the heater matrix? I hope that's the case!

Post by **CitroJim** » 06 Jul 2007, 07:35

Yep,

I can vouch, with the fan out of play, you'll get nothing whatsoever. I made a very quick job of fixing my fan because without it, there is no air in the car whatsoever and it quickly gets intolerable.

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 06 Jul 2007, 16:34

It seems with the blower removed and the car moving forward, there was a direct draught of ambient air entering the passenger footwell. Even with the heater control set HOT, there was no air passing over the matrix and I stupidly assumed the worst had happened. (AndersDK was right, I'm an air head

)

weety · Post by **weety** » 06 Jul 2007, 18:10

MikeT wrote:It seems with the blower removed and the car moving forward, there was a direct draught of ambient air entering the passenger footwell. Even with the heater control set HOT, there was no air passing over the matrix and I stupidly assumed the worst had happened. (AndersDK was right, I'm an air head )

after tearing half the front of my car apart trying to get the air con to work i can confidantly explain how a lot of the system works

air from outside is intaken (if desired) through a large flap at the nearside front bulkhead....if the air is set to recirculate within the car the outer flap can be closed and an inner flap (halfway between the outer flap and the fan can be opened)

so the fan is at the bottom of a long tube that draws air either from inside or outside the car.

the fan propels this air through the pollen filter (good reason to keep your pollen filter clean) and here is where it gets a bit hazy for me

i presume the air flow is split in half (either before or after the air con unit....my money is on after) with one half flowing over the heater matrix

temperature of air into the car is controlled by a flap at the base of the unit (behind the middle bit of the dashboard)....the flap is controlled by a small motor which can be easily removed if you want to manually check the flap operation

so simple to explain but so difficult to fix when it all goes wrong

MikeT · Post by **MikeT** » 06 Jul 2007, 18:26

weety wrote: after tearing half the front of my car apart trying to get the air con to work i can confidantly explain how a lot of the system works...

so simple to explain but so difficult to fix when it all goes wrong

Excellent, I did, stupidly, presume the air would pass over the matrix before it came to the vents - I overlooked the fact there was a gaping big hole in the ducting where the blower had been removed and it was directly below the bulkhead inlet and therefore no significant air current would get anywhere near the heater matrix!

So the quiet buzzing I hear when changing temperature setting or after starting the car is started, is the control motor working? It's worryingly similar to the sound of electricity arcing and when I saw the DIY wiring at the blower I've been concerend about fire.

Thanks for sharing that info - most helpful.

weety · Post by **weety** » 07 Jul 2007, 19:55

MikeT wrote:
weety wrote: after tearing half the front of my car apart trying to get the air con to work i can confidantly explain how a lot of the system works...

so simple to explain but so difficult to fix when it all goes wrong
Excellent, I did, stupidly, presume the air would pass over the matrix before it came to the vents - I overlooked the fact there was a gaping big hole in the ducting where the blower had been removed and it was directly below the bulkhead inlet and therefore no significant air current would get anywhere near the heater matrix!

So the quiet buzzing I hear when changing temperature setting or after starting the car is started, is the control motor working? It's worryingly similar to the sound of electricity arcing and when I saw the DIY wiring at the blower I've been concerend about fire.

Thanks for sharing that info - most helpful.

yeah when you first start the car (on mine anyway) the unit immediately closes the flap