Hello all,

I have a 2013 focus zetec. The dial which controls the direction of the air flow is no longer working. It is stuck on feet. So I can't use it to demist my windscreen. Anybody know what might be the cause, and is it easy to fix?

Thank you

I recently booked in with a ford dealer to have a look at this exact issue hoping to have it fixed under a used car warranty. The good news is that they identified the problem as being with one of the wires that go from the heater controls on the dash to the heater door switch, i was told one of those wires were bent/ snapped. The bad news is that they quoted me £1500 for the fix and my warranty only covers claims upto £1000. Im currently researching this to hope to find how its fixed and i will report back if and when i find out more. 

Recently a friend had this problem with mk1 Ford ka.  The cable that went from knob to heater box had come out of place . Two minute job putting it back in place with fingers behind glove box.   It’s not exactly behind glovebox, it was more central but that’s how I gained access. Don’t know what the set up is like on your car.   It might be harder to fix so the knob works again but if you can get to it, you might be able to alter it to windscreen vent permanently which is better than it is now

Actually I had same problem on a vw lupo, turning the knob just made a load of clicking from a plastic cog as the flap in the heater box had got stiff.  So I got under the dash and moved the flap control on the heater box to windscreen vent and left it like that.  

4 hours ago, isetta said:

Recently a friend had this problem with mk1 Ford ka.  The cable that went from knob to heater box had come out of place . Two minute job putting it back in place with fingers behind glove box.   It’s not exactly behind glovebox, it was more central but that’s how I gained access. Don’t know what the set up is like on your car.   It might be harder to fix so the knob works again but if you can get to it, you might be able to alter it to windscreen vent permanently which is better than it is now

After having a look today ive managed to manually alter the airflow and i am pretty sure that the wire has gone bad at the heater control end. Im looking at removal of that part to see what can be done. Just grateful to be able to demist my windshield again