No hot air!

[dtulip8]

Just in time for winter, the heater has stopped blowing hot air! What do I need to be checking to eliminate all potential issues? I'm wondering if it could be an airlock as I did top coolant up a few weeks ago, but the engine runs at normal temperature.Thanks in advance guys!

[TomsFocus]

How much coolant did you have to add?  Unless it was very low, literally the bottom of the bottle, it shouldn't have sucked any air in.

If you touch the metal pipes to the left of the clutch pedal once the engines up to temperature, do they feel hot?  

[dtulip8]

Yeah, just ran the engine up to temp with coolant cap off, all pipes feel hot both the ones by the clutch pedal (May have got a bit burnt there 😂) and in the engine bay. Assuming it’s probably the switch that’s busted?

[TomsFocus]

Lol, you were only meant to touch them, not hold them.  

I assume it's just manual temp control on yours, not electronic climate?  If so, the diverter flaps are cable operated - ie, twist the dial, dial pulls cable, cable pulls flap open to let hot air through.  Most likely to be a damaged cable but you'll have to remove the dash panel to have a look either way.

[dtulip8]

31 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Lol, you were only meant to touch them, not hold them.  

I assume it's just manual temp control on yours, not electronic climate?  If so, the diverter flaps are cable operated - ie, twist the dial, dial pulls cable, cable pulls flap open to let hot air through.  Most likely to be a damaged cable but you'll have to remove the dash panel to have a look either way.

Literally tapped it with the back of my hand lol! Yeah just twiddly dials for me, will pop off the dash at some point and have a gander.

[JONATHAN_11_80]

I had this on my focus its the heater cable.  When you turn the heater knob it pulls a cable which it turn opens the heater flap to let air through the heater matrix.  I would pull the radio out and watch the cable as you turn the knob.  I bodged mine with a cable tie.  Worst case is a new cable which is £30 from Ford.

[dtulip8]

Yeah that’s what I’ll do, only problem is getting the radio out as it’s aftermarket.

[Incontro]

1 hour ago, dtulip8 said:

Yeah that’s what I’ll do, only problem is getting the radio out as it’s aftermarket.

getting it out should be easy peasy... 

getting it back in is harder lol, it's pretty tight in there (that's what she said) with the wiring looms and all. but if you patiently fiddle with it, it'll go back in.

[dtulip8]

Dash disassembled, cable appears to be working fine but disappears down somewhere. I have attached a video:

 

[TomsFocus]

Hmm, the flap may be broken inside the box then, not sure if you can access that without removing the dash!  

[dtulip8]

Oh dear, probably won’t bother getting it fixed then as I’ll probably be getting a new car in May. Out of curiosity, what causes it to break?

[TomsFocus]

Heat cycles make the plastic brittle until eventually something snaps.  If you can get access to it, you might be able to manually turn it to hot only instead which might be more useful for winter.

[dtulip8]

I’ll take it to the garage to see what they think, I do t have the tools to be able to remove the dash. Another crap piece of design from Ford!

[TomsFocus]

15 minutes ago, dtulip8 said:

I’ll take it to the garage to see what they think, I do t have the tools to be able to remove the dash. Another crap piece of design from Ford!

Even at a garage you're looking at 6 hours to remove the dash so not worth doing.  If you can feel your way to the other end of the cable that might help, I haven't done it on a Focus so not sure exactly where the flap is.  

This isn't a Ford design flaw though, manual heater boxes are pretty much the same in every car.  I lost one of the flaps in the A3 last year and have seen plenty fail on other cars too.

[dtulip8]

Fair enough then, I shan’t slate Ford for this one then. I’ll try and see if I can reach in there but my hands are massive so might be difficult!

[dtulip8]

I’ve even pulled the panels in the footwell out and cannot see where on Earth the cable goes. Think I’ll just have to wear a coat this winter!

[FatHead1979]

On 11/5/2019 at 5:07 PM, dtulip8 said:

I’ve even pulled the panels in the footwell out and cannot see where on Earth the cable goes. Think I’ll just have to wear a coat this winter!

The part of the box which houses the diverter flap is right at the bottom/rear, up against the bulkhead.  There's no possible way to get to it without taking the ENTIRE dashboard out (I know because it did it a year or 2 ago.  It only needs basic tools but there is LOTS of fiddly stuff, screws, bolts, looms and if you don't get the various looms routed correctly when you put it back together you might find a connector won't reach where it needs to, then it's back to pulling the dashboard out again.  You'd even need to remove the steering wheel and the top part of the steering column.

 

As I said, doable with basic tools but set aside 2/2.5 days to do it yourself.  As you'd expect you'll be a bit quicker putting stuff back together.

[TomsFocus]

On 11/5/2019 at 5:07 PM, dtulip8 said:

I’ve even pulled the panels in the footwell out and cannot see where on Earth the cable goes. Think I’ll just have to wear a coat this winter!

Tbh you could probably buy another Mk2 cheap enough, they're not exactly rare or expensive now.  Sell or PX yours as 'no heating' for a few hundred too.  Depends how much you use the car really.  I find it really difficult to drive with cold hands myself, might just be me though lol.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

On 11/5/2019 at 5:07 PM, dtulip8 said:

I’ve even pulled the panels in the footwell out and cannot see where on Earth the cable goes. Think I’ll just have to wear a coat this winter!

 

46 minutes ago, 1979Damian said:

 

As I said, doable with basic tools but set aside 2/2.5 days to do it yourself.  As you'd expect you'll be a bit quicker putting stuff back together.

What a nightmare! Years since I last had an entire dashboard out, when a heater matrix blew, soaking my feet in scalding water. Can't remember what car it was now, but they were simpler then and still a pig of a job. When the same thing happened on another car I just altered the hoses to bypass the matrix and wore an extra jumper until I got rid of the car!😀

[dtulip8]

2 hours ago, 1979Damian said:

The part of the box which houses the diverter flap is right at the bottom/rear, up against the bulkhead.  There's no possible way to get to it without taking the ENTIRE dashboard out (I know because it did it a year or 2 ago.  It only needs basic tools but there is LOTS of fiddly stuff, screws, bolts, looms and if you don't get the various looms routed correctly when you put it back together you might find a connector won't reach where it needs to, then it's back to pulling the dashboard out again.  You'd even need to remove the steering wheel and the top part of the steering column.

 

As I said, doable with basic tools but set aside 2/2.5 days to do it yourself.  As you'd expect you'll be a bit quicker putting stuff back together.

Thought this would be the case, I don’t have the patience tbh plus I know I’d get something wrong and have to do it again!

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

Tbh you could probably buy another Mk2 cheap enough, they're not exactly rare or expensive now.  Sell or PX yours as 'no heating' for a few hundred too.  Depends how much you use the car really.  I find it really difficult to drive with cold hands myself, might just be me though lol.

That might be a tempting proposition tbh! I dunno how much I’d get for it with no heating though. I don’t use it a massive amount at uni, but it is useful for the odd trip out and when I go home.

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

 

What a nightmare! Years since I last had an entire dashboard out, when a heater matrix blew, soaking my feet in scalding water. Can't remember what car it was now, but they were simpler then and still a pig of a job. When the same thing happened on another car I just altered the hoses to bypass the matrix and wore an extra jumper until I got rid of the car!😀

I think thick jumpers and gloves could be the order of the day!

[Eric Bloodaxe]

18 minutes ago, dtulip8 said:

I dunno how much I’d get for it with no heating though. 

Pity the summer's gone, on a warm day no-one would notice!😀 Though come to think of it, whenever I've sold a car privately or as a trade-in, I can't remember anyone ever trying the heater or even  asking if it worked.

[dtulip8]

1 minute ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Pity the summer's gone, on a warm day no-one would notice!😀 Though come to think of it, whenever I've sold a car privately or as a trade-in, I can't remember anyone ever trying the heater or even  asking if it worked.

Literally came at exactly the wrong time!

[dtulip8]

Have contacted a few of these companies that part cars out to see what they’ll offer. Might look around copart or somewhere and try and pick up a 1.8 or 2.0 either in a higher spec or slightly newer. Some of these Cat N cars have very minor damage I could probably fix myself, so we’ll see. Gutted as I have a bit of an attachment to the car, as it was my first 😢

[TomsFocus]

11 hours ago, dtulip8 said:

Have contacted a few of these companies that part cars out to see what they’ll offer. Might look around copart or somewhere and try and pick up a 1.8 or 2.0 either in a higher spec or slightly newer. Some of these Cat N cars have very minor damage I could probably fix myself, so we’ll see. Gutted as I have a bit of an attachment to the car, as it was my first 😢

Honestly, stick it on FB Marketplace or Gumtree at a reasonable price and you'll be surprised how quickly it'll sell even without heating, I doubt breakers will offer more than scrap (around £200).  Cheap cars with MOT are easy to sell regardless of condition!  

I would warn against buying cat N cars though (as I own one! ) they're virtually worthless and impossible to sell as people believe they're dangerous.  They're also never perfect again which is annoying if you're a perfectionist!  If you're just looking for a super cheap A-B car for 6 months, some Cat N cars don't even need fixing, a dent in the rear quarter can easily write off a car as it takes time & skill to repair, but isn't an MOT failure so you can just stick it through MOT and be back on the road!  Also bear in mind some insurers charge more for cat N cars. 

[dtulip8]

54 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Honestly, stick it on FB Marketplace or Gumtree at a reasonable price and you'll be surprised how quickly it'll sell even without heating, I doubt breakers will offer more than scrap (around £200).  Cheap cars with MOT are easy to sell regardless of condition!  

I would warn against buying cat N cars though (as I own one! ) they're virtually worthless and impossible to sell as people believe they're dangerous.  They're also never perfect again which is annoying if you're a perfectionist!  If you're just looking for a super cheap A-B car for 6 months, some Cat N cars don't even need fixing, a dent in the rear quarter can easily write off a car as it takes time & skill to repair, but isn't an MOT failure so you can just stick it through MOT and be back on the road!  Also bear in mind some insurers charge more for cat N cars. 

I might just whack it on for around £500ish if I do decide to get rid, honestly not fussed on resale of the Cat N as like you say I just need an ultra cheap car for 6 months.