No Heat At All!!

[dermotbell]

A new niggle has arisen to drag me away from working on the Excel.

In the past I suffered from weak heating in the winter and so got chilly, I eventually followed Geoff and fitted a replacement valve. At the time of removal the old valve didn't seem bad at all, especially when compared to Geoff's rusty one. When last winter came I thought the heater temp was a bit warmer (psychological?) but not much.

Now it's summer the temp as always seems ok on hot for those chillyish days with sunshine. However, today I now get no hot air at all.

At first I tried exercising the heater control in case the switch that operates the valve was stuck - no difference. So I checked the valve and it moves as it should. Hmmm. There is water in the system and temp reads normal.
Hmmm. Looked at manual and only conclusion I can come to is that the 2 air mixer flaps are not working. Now my understanding is that they are mechanical via a pinion and quadrant linkage to the flaps themselves.
If this is what has failed it may explain my weak heating as one or both may not have been operating correctly in the past.

Has anyone else been through this, and if so is there an easy way to check their operation without ripping out the whole dash etc.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Dermot

PS for once the motoring gods were not completing casting me into the pit as this could have happened in the middle of winter.

[M100 TWO]

the temperature gauge is reading 1/4 on the dial ?

[dermotbell]

It normally reads about 1/8 on the dial and is still reading this. I did sometimes wonder about changing the thermostat, but I think I remember reading 1/8 to 1/4 was normal. But as I now have no heat at all, that's why I am leaning towards the flaps.

Thanks

Dermot

[M100 TWO]

When mine was that low I had very little heat in the car, could be worth a look at the stat, run the car and see if the hose stays cold then gets hot when the stat opens up
john

[tomac1975]

Hi,

Mine was similar when i got the car, I changed the stat and the problem was solved so maybe worth a look???

[dermotbell]

I guess that could be a possibility but as the car will heat up in traffic and I still get no hot air, I think the stat must be opening otherwise the temp would not rise on the gauge.
The irony here is that I am in the process of stripping out the Excel interior to sort one of the heater fans that has packed up, and it's a git of a job. I really want to avoid stripping out dash here if I can.

I'll do the old pipe feel and see how I get on but I am feeling pessimistic.

Thanks

Dermot

[GeoffSmith]

Dig your ElanScan lead out - you'll soon see if the thermostat is sticking.

[dermotbell]

Geoff
I have thought of this but I'm ashamed to say my elanscan cable is hiding from me.

Dermot

[dermotbell]

Ah

Scratch that, I have been re-united with my cable. Unfortunately I now have a new laptop since the last use and it doesn't do that type of cable.

Bah humbug.

Geoff, do you have any USB cables left I could buy???

Dermot

[Candles]

From the dashboard temp knob, there is a push-pull rod that runs back (below the stereo) to the heater flaps. I had to repair mine once. You can access the rod by doing a headstand in the (UK) passenger footwell and looking into the centre pillar area of the dash. Mine had popped out of the plastic union at the heater flap end. It took minutes to fix and all was well.

On the coolant temp matter above, you could just leave it idling in the drive then come back when the engine and coolant are red hot. If there is still no hot air, then it is either Geoff's valve stuck (NB it is vacuum operated), a blocked matrix or an air-routing problem.

[dermotbell]

Got in the car today and touched nothing (the car temp was left selected on hot), 15 mins into the journey I noticed that the air was warm. So i put the heater fans on and yes I now get hot air again.
I have selected cold and back to hot and it seems to be working as before. So I am confused.

This appears to point away from the flaps. So either I had an air pocket in the rad (why now?) or the water was not passing thro' the valve??

Thanks

Dermot

[dermotbell]

Now that I have elan-scanned the car, it seems that it runs at an average of 83 - 84 deg C. Is this normal temp?

I know I could look in the book but I'm away from home at the moment.

Thanks
Dermot

[GeoffSmith]

Spot on.

[dermotbell]

Ok, if the temp is good.......................why oh why in winter do I freeze my nuts off because the air only feels lukewarm???

Dermot

[GeoffSmith]

why oh why in winter do I freeze my nuts off because the air only feels lukewarm???

Since moving down from Newcastle, I've found I need to wear more than a T shirt in Winter.

[Marcus_uk]

Sorry it took me so long to read this thread...

Have you doubled checked that your new plastic heater valve hasn't got stuck on cold? This has happen to me once or twice. Just free it up only requires your to touch it! I added a squirt of lube and all has been fine since.

[dermotbell]

Don't think so as I could see it move when I operated the temp control in the car.

Thanks anyway.

Dermot

[dans]

Dermot, What's the air flow like out of your heater? I had similarish sounding problems and found it was a collapsed foams section in the wheel arch preventing hot air getting through to he cabin properly.
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=6097&hilit=+heater

Dan

[dermotbell]

Dan

Airflow is fine, just a bit cool.

Dermot.

[Candles]

Did you check the flap control? Whereabouts in Lincs are you as I can show you in about 1 minute where the rod is, if you are having trouble finding it. I'm between Grantham and Sleaford.