Ford Ka, heater not working. Any ideas?
Discussion
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!
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!
On my '97 Mondeo, the rotary temperature control turns and instead of pushing the heating vent flap in the footwell open by pushing the cable, the operating cable just bends. Terrible design. Not sure if the Ka is the same but check the route of the wire from the rotary control to the lever on the side of the heater casing (often in the driver's footwell) and check the lever moves as you turn the dial.
On the Mondeo, I tied the lever up initially so I had permanent hot air but then took the dash apart to straighten the wire. Now as long as I do it gently, it works, any speed of twist and the wire bends again. Worth checking.
On the Mondeo, I tied the lever up initially so I had permanent hot air but then took the dash apart to straighten the wire. Now as long as I do it gently, it works, any speed of twist and the wire bends again. Worth checking.
My money would be on the heater control valve, but that usually defaults to hot when they're duff and you say this one is stuck on cold. If you do go for a new valve, get one from Ford. Euro car parts pattern one has just been recalled as they're nearly all faulty out of the box or last less than a day.
Parrot of Doom said:
Theres some kind of valve on these that always fails. Its a bad design.
That's all I know Friend had one, exactly the same fault.
the valve is in the bulkhead under the bonnet there is a plastic strip at the back near the bonnet edge with 2 pipes going through the lower edge in the middle the valve is there its dead easy to change and a common fault That's all I know Friend had one, exactly the same fault.
tj2002 said:
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!
its a common failure, part is under 20 quid form ford, look on ebay, loads of them listed too.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!
take off wipers, take off plastic trim around wipers, remove a couple of bits on plastic trim and its under there, bit fiddly, I think you need a posidrive screw driver and a meaty pair of pliers for the hose clamps, that sort that you squeeze to undo. Should be done in about 20 mins, might loose a little drop of coolant, its not easy to spot, look for 2 water hoses heading into the bulkhead, its on the end of those, roughly on centre line of car just under bottom edge of windscreen.
Piece of piss.
If you are near southampton pop round and I'll do it for yer.
Do a search for 'ka valve' on the biggest internet auction site, you'll see the kind of thing you're likely to need. I changed one on my daughters car to fix a problem that sounds the same as yours..
Takes about an hour + skinned knuckles + backache, but it had to be done!. I dont think the one I got was genuine Ford, but its been fine for well over a year now..
Takes about an hour + skinned knuckles + backache, but it had to be done!. I dont think the one I got was genuine Ford, but its been fine for well over a year now..
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