Is my heater\vents broken or just rubbish? + unknown Button
Discussion
Hi All,
A few questions if you don't mind. (I did do a search and whilst found many similar queries I did not find one asking such basic questions
Whatever I do with the heat\cool button and up\down button on my pre-cat 4.3 I seem to get cool air blowing up towards the windscreen. Is this a case of "they all do that" or should these things actually work and mine is broken? I would like if possible to have cool air directed into the cabin. Also with the heat\cool control which side do I press for each? (Again can't seem to make any difference) And how can I tell when set at hottest or coldest?
Also I have found a button under the dash on the drivers side on the transmission tunnel and I don't know what it does. It doesn't seem to "do anything" so any enlightenment in this area also much appreciated.
Cheers
Paul
A few questions if you don't mind. (I did do a search and whilst found many similar queries I did not find one asking such basic questions
Whatever I do with the heat\cool button and up\down button on my pre-cat 4.3 I seem to get cool air blowing up towards the windscreen. Is this a case of "they all do that" or should these things actually work and mine is broken? I would like if possible to have cool air directed into the cabin. Also with the heat\cool control which side do I press for each? (Again can't seem to make any difference) And how can I tell when set at hottest or coldest?
Also I have found a button under the dash on the drivers side on the transmission tunnel and I don't know what it does. It doesn't seem to "do anything" so any enlightenment in this area also much appreciated.
Cheers
Paul
Hi Paul, the button on the tunnel side switches on/off the panel lights, no one has yet come up with a reason why you should want to do this but that's what Peter Wheeler decided was needed! Regards ventilation mine is a 500 so the controls are slightly different but by the sound of it the control rod which operates the flap that directs air flow has come loose from the servo motor but before going into details I'll wait for someone with a pre-cat 4.3 to say if it's the same basic system behind the controls. 
Rich...
Rich... RichB said:
Hi Paul, the button on the tunnel side switches on/off the panel lights, no one has yet come up with a reason why you should want to do this but that's what Peter Wheeler decided was needed! Regards ventilation mine is a 500 so the controls are slightly different but by the sound of it the control rod which operates the flap that directs air flow has come loose from the servo motor but before going into details I'll wait for someone with a pre-cat 4.3 to say if it's the same basic system behind the controls. Rich...
Ah-ah Thanks Rich! The panel light switch might help answer some of my other queries. One Down! Rich... Cheers
Paul
I think that dash light switch is a great idea! I use mine a lot when travelling on the at night, especially on the motorway as it pretty much blacks out the entire cabin which somehow makes it much easier to concentrate on the road. Just flick them on every once in a while to scan across the gauges and all is good
I had a play with mine and it seems that my lights are permanently on - well I can see the down arrow next to the switch at the bottom of the console (and if I cover it with my hand the up arrow on the other side) but clicking the button makes no difference!
I suppose for now it's better stuck on than off.
I can confirm that clicking the up down button causes a noise from behind the dash but does not seem to have any affect on the direction of air travel. Also hitting the warm\cold switch in either direction makes no difference to the temperature of the air expelled, I was just idling although I did let the engine get up to temperature before deciding it wasn't doing much. (ie warm air was not being produced).
On the good side the blower has three settings and they all vary the noise level slightly
Oh well not urgent I'll ask someone to take a look when I get it serviced in 4.5k miles time (blimey where did those last 1.5k go
)
I suppose for now it's better stuck on than off.
I can confirm that clicking the up down button causes a noise from behind the dash but does not seem to have any affect on the direction of air travel. Also hitting the warm\cold switch in either direction makes no difference to the temperature of the air expelled, I was just idling although I did let the engine get up to temperature before deciding it wasn't doing much. (ie warm air was not being produced).
On the good side the blower has three settings and they all vary the noise level slightly
Oh well not urgent I'll ask someone to take a look when I get it serviced in 4.5k miles time (blimey where did those last 1.5k go
) Pull the battery cover in the passenger footwell off, up to the left hand side are a couple of servo motors and arms which control the air direction and heater temps, ensure that these are moving when you press the buttons, might be fouling on something.
The manual gives the descriptions of what does what but its raining and its in the car. When I get a moment I will post up a scan for reference.
Where in SW are you? I am near Caerphilly.
MikeyB
The manual gives the descriptions of what does what but its raining and its in the car. When I get a moment I will post up a scan for reference.
Where in SW are you? I am near Caerphilly.
MikeyB
just a small point to add i had the same prob and it turned out i had no heating ducts at all from the hole in the inner wing and the dash vents and looks as though tvr forgot to fit them in their rush i dont think this is an isolated case either.
check the dash illumination button hasnt been used as an over ride for the otter switch which i did to mine before going to sunny(not) lemans last year
check the dash illumination button hasnt been used as an over ride for the otter switch which i did to mine before going to sunny(not) lemans last year
K4000JB said:
just a small point to add i had the same prob and it turned out i had no heating ducts at all from the hole in the inner wing and the dash vents and looks as though tvr forgot to fit them in their rush i dont think this is an isolated case either.
check the dash illumination button hasnt been used as an over ride for the otter switch which i did to mine before going to sunny(not) lemans last year
Funny you should mention this but my Chim has the ducting missing to the dash vents. Where did you get the new ducting from? check the dash illumination button hasnt been used as an over ride for the otter switch which i did to mine before going to sunny(not) lemans last year
BagOfOldRats said:
Funny you should mention this but my Chim has the ducting missing to the dash vents. Where did you get the new ducting from?
When I changed the stereo I accidently Knocked the piping to the dash vents. On mine (97 500) they were rectangular aluminium tubes that were just loosely pushed together and presumably losing some of the air behind the dash. I used some of the small rectangular (~4x2 inch) plastic ventilation ducting (the kind of stuff for bathroom or cooker extractors) and cable tied it between the joins of the metal tubing. It was a little on the big side but all I could find at the time, still it worked fine and there was a noticable gain in pressure from the vents.G
Edited by GJR on Tuesday 27th May 11:06
gopher said:
I had a play with mine and it seems that my lights are permanently on - well I can see the down arrow next to the switch at the bottom of the console (and if I cover it with my hand the up arrow on the other side) but clicking the button makes no difference!
I suppose for now it's better stuck on than off.
I can confirm that clicking the up down button causes a noise from behind the dash but does not seem to have any affect on the direction of air travel. Also hitting the warm\cold switch in either direction makes no difference to the temperature of the air expelled, I was just idling although I did let the engine get up to temperature before deciding it wasn't doing much. (ie warm air was not being produced).
On the good side the blower has three settings and they all vary the noise level slightly
Oh well not urgent I'll ask someone to take a look when I get it serviced in 4.5k miles time (blimey where did those last 1.5k go)
If your temp doesn't change it sounds like your HCV has gone... About a tenner for a replacement from GSF.I suppose for now it's better stuck on than off.
I can confirm that clicking the up down button causes a noise from behind the dash but does not seem to have any affect on the direction of air travel. Also hitting the warm\cold switch in either direction makes no difference to the temperature of the air expelled, I was just idling although I did let the engine get up to temperature before deciding it wasn't doing much. (ie warm air was not being produced).
On the good side the blower has three settings and they all vary the noise level slightly
Oh well not urgent I'll ask someone to take a look when I get it serviced in 4.5k miles time (blimey where did those last 1.5k go
) 
350Matt said:
Take a look on the griffith pages for the heater mods you can do to a precat, as std they're not great
When I did mine as detailed on the griff pages its made a big difference.
Matt
Thanks for that, I've found the article and it's something I'll consider. I need to spend sometime getting around the engine bay to see what's what, I think it will also help my confidence a bit when I get Steve Heaths book. When I did mine as detailed on the griff pages its made a big difference.
Matt
gopher said:
HRG said:
If your temp doesn't change it sounds like your HCV has gone... About a tenner for a replacement from GSF.
Errr, whassat then?
Edited by gopher on Tuesday 27th May 19:07
) A VW one can be modified to fit. Can't find the part number and instructions at the mo, but you just have to cut/drill it a fraction. Easy enough to do. It lives just under the glovebox.HRG said:
Heater Control Valve (Damn you making me type it out in full! ) A VW one can be modified to fit. Can't find the part number and instructions at the mo, but you just have to cut/drill it a fraction. Easy enough to do. It lives just under the glovebox.
Ah Ah - thanks - that adds up with the "GSF" I found when searching. Cheers.) A VW one can be modified to fit. Can't find the part number and instructions at the mo, but you just have to cut/drill it a fraction. Easy enough to do. It lives just under the glovebox.Hi Gopher,
I've just gone through the process of rebuilding my ventilation system. As you say, before it was absolutely hopeless and I thought the fact I couldn't get cold air into the cabin meant my HCV was broken. When I bought the car I was told that the fan worked 'well' for a precat but in all honesty there was never much airflow out of any of the vents. Since improving the air flow across the heater matrix I've realised the HCV does work! It's a bit of work to get it all running to a reasonable standard but I'm happy with mine.
I started doing what's described on the griffith pages but couldn't get it to work as well as I wanted. After advice on here (thanks chaps) I ended up moving the fan to the space behind the wheel arch and to the left of the passenger footwell. I created 2 ducts from the fan, one to two of the dash vents and one to the heater control matrix (which supplies the rest of the ventilation ducts). It involved a bit of foil ducting from the motor factors, some aluminium sheeting (to make an air tight connector to the heater matrix), some sealant, some gaffer tape, a number of fibreglass splinters in my hands & arms, and a fair amount of swearing.
As others have said elsewhere, the directional flap in the precats heater matrix is rubbish and I still don't really have the ability to vary how much air goes to the windscreen or footwells. I have a permanent good supply (of cool air that doesn't go over the heater matix) to the dash vents and can turn them off at the vents themselves. The air flow over the heater matrix is so much better that I get a good amount of air from both the windrscreen and footwell vents. I've heard others have swapped to Griff 500 heater matrixes which are supposedly better but I wasn't convinced this was worth the effort and can change it later if needed.
I'm going on a trip to France in the summer and the aim was to making touring a little more comfortable - we'll see!
Duncan
I've just gone through the process of rebuilding my ventilation system. As you say, before it was absolutely hopeless and I thought the fact I couldn't get cold air into the cabin meant my HCV was broken. When I bought the car I was told that the fan worked 'well' for a precat but in all honesty there was never much airflow out of any of the vents. Since improving the air flow across the heater matrix I've realised the HCV does work! It's a bit of work to get it all running to a reasonable standard but I'm happy with mine.
I started doing what's described on the griffith pages but couldn't get it to work as well as I wanted. After advice on here (thanks chaps) I ended up moving the fan to the space behind the wheel arch and to the left of the passenger footwell. I created 2 ducts from the fan, one to two of the dash vents and one to the heater control matrix (which supplies the rest of the ventilation ducts). It involved a bit of foil ducting from the motor factors, some aluminium sheeting (to make an air tight connector to the heater matrix), some sealant, some gaffer tape, a number of fibreglass splinters in my hands & arms, and a fair amount of swearing.
As others have said elsewhere, the directional flap in the precats heater matrix is rubbish and I still don't really have the ability to vary how much air goes to the windscreen or footwells. I have a permanent good supply (of cool air that doesn't go over the heater matix) to the dash vents and can turn them off at the vents themselves. The air flow over the heater matrix is so much better that I get a good amount of air from both the windrscreen and footwell vents. I've heard others have swapped to Griff 500 heater matrixes which are supposedly better but I wasn't convinced this was worth the effort and can change it later if needed.
I'm going on a trip to France in the summer and the aim was to making touring a little more comfortable - we'll see!
Duncan
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