Interior heater fan...HELP!!!

[lig]

Hi Chaps,

got a problem ....my interior heater fan doesn't work!! Had the car ('96 Griff) a few months and it has never worked, i think it could be the 'control box'?? which i have been told is about £300? can anyone give me any advice on where to start looking?? i think the control box is behind the dash connected via a ribbon cable, also can anyone tell me where the actual fan is?? some say it is in the passenger footwell rivited on, Steve Heaths book says its accessible from the passenger side front bulb changing inspection hatch???

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Lig.

[Joolzb]

Hi, the heater control system consists of the "TVR Environment Processor" and the "TVR Environment Control"(??). The processor is on the back of the control panel and the Env Control is under the radio (on my car) connected by a ribbon cable, it's contained within a black box.

The problem I had with mine was down to a bit of solder coming off. You may be lucky and it may just be the connections have come loose.

[lig]

Hi Joolz, Cheers for the reply, was your bit of solder from a wire or within the box?? and did you fix it yourself?? i think my first port of call will be to get the switches off and see (hope) that it is a connector that has come off!!

Cheers,
Lig.

[pebbledash]

Joolzb said:

Hi, the heater control system consists of the "TVR Environment Processor" and the "TVR Environment Control"(??). The processor is on the back of the control panel and the Env Control is under the radio (on my car) connected by a ribbon cable, it's contained within a black box. The problem I had with mine was down to a bit of solder coming off. You may be lucky and it may just be the connections have come loose.

Have mine apart at the moment. I had a servo that was always hunting for position, turned out to be a 'dry' joint on the controll pannel..

[JoolzB]

The solder was within the box itself on the circuit board. The problems this caused tho were far worse than just the fans not working, all the other controls developed a mind of their own, your problem doesn't sound that bad.

If it's just the fans on your I guess you can narrow it down alot. First of all I'd check the connections are ok where they attach to the main processor box. I can't remember which connector the fans are on but Pebbledash may be able to confirm as he says his unit is out at the mo.

Also mine had a problem with the earth on the switch part of the pot(on the control panel), this stopped the fans from working altogether.

A couple of places to look and I'd say very fixable if yer prepared to tinker a bit.

Lastly I would like to say I fixed it myself but it was down to a very helpful fellow PH'er.

[lig]

Cheers Chaps,

Pebbledash.....can you tell me how you fixed the 'dry' joint, i have that problem as well with the hotcold control, when it is on full cold i can hear the servo hesitating in the passenger footwell just below the glove box - sorry to be so thick here i would appreciate it if you didnt just say 'i wet it'!!

Lig.

[david beer]

First place to check would be the four wire connector that lurks behind the carpet in the passengers footwell. It only has two wires though, or is it three ? Its white and carries the "juice" to the fan. Then on the "environment controller" there is a two pin plug and socket that has thick cables, green and black, these go to the mentioned plug. Then inside the "controller" is a MOSFET that controls the fan speed, available for around forty P. If you take this connector off and short the two pins together the fan should run, if not then its the wiring to the fan or indeed the fan. Thirdly, the motor has two windings so if it has burnt out you could use the other although its not quite as "fast", if a Griff fan can be "fast". Well, thats my car.

[lig]

Hi David, Cheers for the reply i will investigate as soon as i get my car back...(good to get all the info up front). I thought i recognised your name....i spoke to someone who was acting as your 'male secretary' a few months back and i then left a message on your mob. The guy explained you were starting other business ventures and were no longer trading mod-wise?! Have you started again??!!

[david beer]

"male secretary" means a guy who works for me filtering calls, secretary, i wish ! New interest is now up and running so i have time to "tinker" with bits and bobs. I will email "off air" as it were.

[DustyC]

BONNET STAY PLEASE!
cheers, I'll email you tomorrow.

[pebbledash]

lig said:

Cheers Chaps, Pebbledash.....can you tell me how you fixed the 'dry' joint, i have that problem as well with the hotcold control, when it is on full cold i can hear the servo hesitating in the passenger footwell just below the glove box - sorry to be so thick here i would appreciate it if you didnt just say 'i wet it'!! Lig.

basically a "dry" joint is fixed by reflowing the solder, depending on who you speak to depends on how to do it, some just add flux and re-solder (this can be frowned on and can make a sticky mess) add more solder if there is not much, or clean of the old solder (solder wick or solder sucker) then re-solder. I hope your fault is not with the little panel in the centre console (where mine was) as its a sod to get at if you cant let the hand break cable off. I had to resort to taking the Whole dash out, it does allow me to fix all the other little things now though

As I Said before my symptom was a motor hunting from end to end, it did it every time the console was touched