v reg ford ka, heater not working.

[tj2002]

I've just bought the missus a 2000 ford ka to replace the Bravo and she's loving the car so far. Only slight niggle is the heater doesn't seem to be working, it'll blow air out but it's cold? Any ideas?

Oh, and if it helps it seems to have had a front end prang recently as it has a new rad, new bumper and new headlight, I should really have picked up on this when I inspected it, doh!

[ChristianZS]

When they constantly blow hot it tends to be a sign of the Heater Control Valve being iffy.

Not too sure on the cold front though :|

[DJ_AS]

I doubt the prang has anything to do with it. My first thought was the heater valve (it went on my Ka too). They eventually die and get stuck on full hot or full cold.

They cost about £35-40 and can be done yourself if you're handy with a spanner.

[Mardybum]

Does the car seem to be running hot? Could still be airlocked from fitting the new rad.

[tigger1]

DJ_AS said:

I doubt the prang has anything to do with it. My first thought was the heater valve (it went on my Ka too). They eventually die and get stuck on full hot or full cold.

They cost about £35-40 and can be done yourself if you're handy with a spanner.

Mine did the full hot - not good. Cheap to fix though.

[JamesZS]

DJ_AS said:

I doubt the prang has anything to do with it. My first thought was the heater valve (it went on my Ka too). They eventually die and get stuck on full hot or full cold.

They cost about £35-40 and can be done yourself if you're handy with a spanner.

I paid £3 from a scrappy and it just took a pair of pliers - not a problem since. I went through 3 previous HCV's with varying problems, they can cause:

• The car to overheat
• Only hot air
• Only cold air

The easist way to solve this is an older model HCV, IIRC - it's the part number beginning with 96 you want, avoid the one beginning 98.

I'd have thought the car would be overheating if it was an airlock from the rad - not the cold air.

[Mardybum]

An airlocked cooling system will result in a cold heater, and an overheating engine! Perhaps not the probable cause but maybe worth mentioning given the rad change.