Heater problem

[moonunit100]

Hi all,

great site, useful forum! I hope someone can help me out with my heater problem.

I have a 2.0 1999 Ghia X Mondeo with a heater problem, it has the digital SATA climate control.

2 days ago I noticed my heater would only blow out freezing cold air. I have tried selecting each temperature setting, even 'Hi', and the air temperature is the same. Air flow seems OK but not great.

The temperature gauge seems to rise pretty quickly to about the half way position and sometimes drops when I turn the heater on.

I'm guessing the thermostat may be to blame as the gauge reads higher now than it used to (halfway as opposed to about a third of the way) but would that have an effect on the heater? Does the thermostat prevent the engine coolant going through the heater matrix as well as the radiator? Can I test the operation of the thermostat by feeling the temperature of the radiator? Lots of questions, any answers?

Just a bit more information.......

This morning, after having the engine running for about 3-4 minutes, the temp. gauge hadn't really moved yet, I turned the heater fan on. The temp. gauge immediately started to rise quickly to about halfway but as usual the heater was blowing out icy cold. The temp gauge gradually went down to about a third of the way (about normal for my car) and then stayed there. Heater still blowing out cold air.

After driving for about 30 minutes, the heater was blowing out luke warm air with a definate difference in temperature when I selected colder or warmer air.

I let the car idle for a while and carried out the built in test on the SATA panel, the result was a pass. By now the radiator fan had kicked in and the temp. gauge remained static.

As I didn't want to get too dirty this morning I didn't investigate much under the bonnet but I felt the top radiator hose and it felt quite warm - not so hot I couldn't hold my hand on it. I have also checked the coolant level and it is fine.

I know that is all quite long winded but I'm hoping that might help someone out there help me!

Thanks,

Moon

[mintalkin]

i would say this is a thermostst problem restricting the flow around the engine and heater matrix.