Problem with center console fan

Anonymous · May 6, 2006, 11:08

I just noticed last night after driving with the roof down on a chilly night that i am getting no heat or even any air pressure from the fans which are directly above the fan controls no matter what settings i choose on the fan control.

There is air coming from the other two fans (by the passenger and drivers door) but nothing from the centre.

I did install a new stereo a few weeks back but that did not involve removing any of the centre fan only the controls. Everything else seems to be working.

Has anyone come across this before?.

kanujunkie · May 6, 2006, 11:18

well the 2 at the sides are normally direct feed from outside, theres no fan, but the central ones are as you say fed by a fan assist, personally without looking into it too much at the mo, i'd check the fuses, theres 2 of them and if memory serves me right, ones a 10amp and ones a 40amp, both need to be good to get it working

Anonymous · May 6, 2006, 11:32

There is only 1 fan, where the air goes is controlled by cables and dampers. There are 3 cables on the heater control assembly, and it sounds like you may have knocked one of them off.

Anonymous · May 6, 2006, 18:51

Thanks to your replies guys. Although still have not had any sucess yet.

I just had the fuses out and they look fine so i took the fan control thing off.. well i attempted to take it out by unscrewing everything but the wires at the back seem that tight that i can't even get the unit off. I was not agressive with it as i did not want to break it anymore!.

What concerns me though is how i could have knocked one of the cables out at the back of the fan unit as i have never had this unit all the way out before.

All i did when i installed my stereo was loosen the front facia part off so i could get the old fisherprice stereo off.

I noticed after somemore testing that the fan is turning fine and when i increase the speed the unit sounds as though it is adjusting the speed fine as well, its just there is no air coming from the centre console and possibly even the by the window now!.

Anonymous · May 6, 2006, 21:22

If you turn the fan speed all the way up, where is the air going, and does the mode dial change it at all?
If it's always in the footwells, or always the defroster no matter how you turn the mode dial, then the mode cable may have come loose on the other end.

On a US model, the BGB claims you get at this by removing the glove box, and the pictures make it look like the control may be near the back end of the stereo.

EDIT - I have trouble understanding the pictures in the BGB, so I went and looked at my car.

The mode cable goes directly to the left side of the heater unit (the big white box on the floor behind the stereo, you don't need to remove any parts to see it).
Check that the cable is still attached.

Anonymous · May 7, 2006, 20:21

Just had a look today and as you suggested the air is always going into the footwells.

I took your advise and took the glovebox out and noticed that the cable you described does seem to be disconnected from the left hand control (See photographs below).

Any idea how i can connect this back up, the cable does not seem to be at the right angle to go through the hole in the plastic white arm thing or has something broken off?.

Any chance someone could take a photograph of theirs or describe how theirs looks so i could see how its meant to go?.

Anonymous · May 7, 2006, 21:11

That picture shows the side the cable goes in from, push it in far enough that the U shaped part straddles the plastic.
I tried to get a picture of mine, but for the US the whole assembly is up-side-down from yours, and I can barely see the cable.

Anonymous · May 7, 2006, 23:11

I think i know what you mean.

Just to clarify: The cable is currently lying on its side as you can see from the other photographs.

So im going to try and twist it so that the u shaped part is pointing downwards towards the direction that the photograph you quoted was taken and then somehow thread the end up through the hole and i am imagining that the u shaped bit will hold it in place when you move the control around.

Is that right?

spit · May 8, 2006, 01:15

Just taken half a dozen pictures for you and realised I've photographed the wrong end of the cable !!!!

Doh!

Anonymous · May 8, 2006, 09:00

Doh!. Well thanks anyway m8 s;)

s;)

The picture of homer made me laugh anyway which is not good when your in a quiet office on a monday morning.

Would appreciate anyone taking a picture though just so i can see how theirs connects.

spit · May 9, 2006, 17:09

Here y'go Mike. Apologies for the big pic but my ability to get this in focus aint as good as yours s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

The pic is the right way up, so hopefully that'll help you get orientation!

The dimple in the wire is to allow it to ride round the plastic arm as it pivots, so all you got to do is get the first part of the wire through the hole.
Its the second part of the wire (ie between the first and second bend) that acts as the pivot in the hole. Thus:

Can't see, but I've had a feel ( s:oops: :oops: s:oops: ) and there's nothing on the first part of the wire to hold it in place.....which suggests you're going to have to get firm with it to get it back in.....maybe hold the wire at the appropriate angle with pliers as you turn the direction control knob clockwise - ie feed the arm onto the wire rather than the other way round.

Or, you can lift the facia and unscrew the whole heating control to get a bit more (but not a lot) angle of movement if you need it.

Let us know how you get on.
Ste

Anonymous · May 9, 2006, 18:14

Thats brilliant really appreciate that, thanks m8

Top marks on the photo. I can now understand how its meant to connect. What seemed so complicated seems quite obvious now s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

I will give it a go in next day or so and let you know how it goes.