406 Heater

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sfreeman66
1.6 8v
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed Jun 09, 2010 5:15 pm

406 Heater

Post by sfreeman66 »

Hi I find that the heater in my W reg 406 although nice and hot doesn't seem to circulate the heat round the car when you have it on your feet and the screen and it tends to steam up a bit sometimes, expecially the rear and side windows. The blowers on the dash seem to get heat through them all the time even when the heat should be going down and as they get so hot they distort the Sat Nav display screen, so it is unreadable.
Has anyone else had this problem and if so have you been able to cure it?
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Welly
The moderator formally known as Welton
Posts: 15033
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:52 pm
Location: East Midlandfordshire

Re: 406 Heater

Post by Welly »

There are some motorised flaps in the heater/fan box up behind the dash but it aint going to be easy to get to (first area to look is around the fan box in the passenger footwell.

There's perhaps a stuck motor or stripped plastic gears working one of the flaps. It's not a common problem really and I'd probably be tempted to purchase another fan 'box' with all the flaps and motors and even another climate control panel for the dash (all from a breakers or ebay etc) and try swapping them about.

It won't be a nice job but then again I can't see you being able to fix the existing equipment successfully either :|

You can also gain access to the top part of the fan from the pollen filter end at the bulkhead in the engine bay (in case there's any fixings there).

Edit;
Thinking about it, I'm pretty sure you always get some air out of the face vents even if you don't 'ask' for it? maybe the pollen filter is blocked and you're simply not getting enough airflow generally.

I think I used to turn down the central face vents in winter (with the thumb-wheel damper) to encourage more air to the footwell and screen. You ought to have a play by setting the fan speed to max and the adjusting through the various directional positions whilst listening and feeling for changes in air flow and direction - as I said before the unit is quite reliable. In 'auto' mode the fan speed is not intrusive but quite effective usually.

Steamy windows can also be a sign that water's getting in or the air con itself is doing it (especially this time of year).
Cars in my care:
2021 Kia Spottage 1.6 Pez Turbo Dual Clutch Gearbox Trickery
2013 Renner Twingo - donkey work
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