No heater temp adjustment.

[gingeh721]

SMers,

I have now got a rather annoying fault that has made my heater temp adjustment stop working. The temperature adjustment knob turns but the digital display stays on 15deg and the air is cold.

If I turn the directional knob to the 'heater max' setting, it blows hot air at the windscreen but the digital display still says 15 deg.

The fan speed button works and displays correctly and the directional display works and also displays correctly. Recirculation and ECON are also working.

I have carried out at least 3 resets of the HVAC system and have no codes or E symbol. I have also pulled the reverse lever assembly and had a feel about, all seems to be connected. (It's very tight under there and appears to just be one full control pannel)

Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated as I'm on either Arctic breeze or Afghan summer with no hot air unless it's on the windscreen which isn't ideal.

I appreciate all cars get faults but I'm beginning to get rather annoyed with this car and to be honest and I'm starting to consider getting a Boxster S.

 

[CatmanV2]

This is a guess, but I'm thinking first place to check is the temperature selector.

C

 

[gingeh721]

This is a guess, but I'm thinking first place to check is the temperature selector.

C

I would also bet money on the temperature selector knob being inoperative. However, it appears to be non removable and lucky for me, my whole control panel assembly (including sport, msp, fogs, heated screen etc) in my car (facelift 4200) is one unit and only the reverse, auto / ice assembly is separate. I'm guessing that it's going to be the price of a cheap car to get a whole switch control panel just to fix a single temp switch.

 

[casadalloro]

My heater problem is that the blower cycles zero to full ..usually... Then sorts itself randomly.... Thinking it may be an internal / external air temp sensor fault as sometimes external sensor reads -----.(no temp given).... Thats when it cycles...

 

[gingeh721]

My heater problem is that the blower cycles zero to full ..usually... Then sorts itself randomly.... Thinking it may be an internal / external air temp sensor fault as sometimes external sensor reads -----.(no temp given).... Thats when it cycles...

If yours says it has a temperature fault and the outside temp is not displayed, the sensor is cheap but a pain to change. You need to remove the mirror from the car and almost completely dismantle it to change the sensor.

Different cars I know, however, on BMWs a random fluctuating fan is caused by the heater blower resistor. If this doesn't solve the problem, or the problem shortly reoccurs, it is a failing heater motor that is causing it to draw more current and making the variable resistor fail. On a BMW the resistor is a 40-50 quid, ten min fix, the fan motor is a 4hr dash top off job though. It could be the cause of your issues once you change your external temp sensor.

 

[casadalloro]

Thanks.. Ill get my guy to work on it after Christmas....

 

[gingeh721]

No problem. Good luck with your fault repair and have a great Christmas.

 

[BennyD]

Unfortunately, I have had something similar and it is a b!tch to fix. There are two servo motors which control the temp and air flow around the car and it becomes apparent, when you start the repair, that they held these two motors up on wires and built the car around them. It took two of us two days to sort it. My problem was the temp selector showed 'E' and wouldn't change the temp selection which was a tad inconvenient when the outside air temp was 32 degrees and the system was pumping out hot air. Good luck, I wish you well! Having said that, stick with it as a Boxster 'S' is nothing but a plunge into mediocrity and conventional bollox.

 

[gingeh721]

Thanks Benny. After some further digging and looking on Eurospares I have found that they are indeed separate. The main panel has two button assemblies which attach underneath it. One being the aircon controls and the other being the sport, window and fog buttons.

I'm going to try buying a second hand aircon control panel that holds the three control buttons and see if that does the trick. I have no error codes or E and it does go onto to hot using the direction button on max, so I know the flap works. For 200 quid I may as well try it eh.

I do love the car but I also hate it sometimes. I hate setting off in it as it's just not as good as a manual and really bugs having to wait till it's engaged fully before pressing on. A manual gives so much more control in that area. There are also some other minor and major faults that including the seatbelt squeaking on the seat behind my head, my easy entry resets fine but loses memory and stops working after 2 min, semi sticky stereo buttons, countless F1 faults which have left me stranded at the worst times and places(m4 junc 11 intersection at reading!) in the last two months and are still not right despite Emblem and Autoshield working on it.

There have been more faults which I have turned a blind eye to and rectified, and defended the car but to be honest it's annoyed me that much I'm going to get rid soon. I've driven BMWs which looked great, handled great and had awesome engines and transmissions and never broke down once and I did a heluva lot of miles in them. I'm talking 85k, 190k and 80k. Regardless of whether the masser is epic in looks or performance or has that hand built in Modena mystique etc, when you are sat stranded in 4/5 lanes of very busy traffic with cars coming at you at speed and you are stuck with no place to go it sort of destroys your faith in the car. I don't trust it anymore and I've only done 18k in it.

 

[gingeh721]

Thanks Benny. Going to try buying the 3 button aircon panel that bolts to the outer panel first. There are a couple around 200 quid on eBay. If that doesn't work then it's likely what you had.

I'll try and stick with it but I've so far had countless F1 issues that have left me stranded in very dangerous places. These have been fixed by Emblem and Autoshield but it's still not right. Other faults such as primary car failure and and multiple minor faults are just starting to annoy me.

I've done 80k, 190k and 85k in previous cars and never broken down or had as many faults. The car looks great, sounds great and goes great but when you've been AA breakdown relayed twice in two month from hants to lancs it starts to get annoying.

Thanks again Benny. Merry Christmas.

 

[BennyD]

I understand your frustration and also understand your desire for reliability. Apart from an alternator issue that could have happened to any car I have, so far, had complete reliability with mine. It's a shame you seem to have had an unfortunate car as they are not all like yours. If they were, I am sure we would be getting rid as well! I wish you all the best. Merry Christmas to you and yours.

 

[gingeh721]

Fingers crossed that I've just had an unlucky few months and the car is ready to gain my trust again. I also hope that yours and everyone else's stays reliable.

 

[BennyD]

Cheers mate. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

 

[gingeh721]

Just to prove my point about how annoyingly shite this car is, the F1 light is yet again on, and it will not start. So after a dealership has looked at it, and two independents, the car is still faulty. It's a good job in not traveling to Lancashire today, oh wait.....!!

 

[Contigo]

Hmmmm I feel your pain! Testing times....

 

[Contigo]

There is a self test you can do on the 3200 and maybe 4200 where it gives a code to tell you if it is a sensor etc... You done that yet?

 

[gingeh721]

It's not even been recovered yet as the AA don't have the means to recover it. They are now sub contracting a different company who use skates to recover the car as it's stuck in gear.

It will be dropped off at Autoshield tomorrow but they aren't in work till 5th Jan. I'm at work in Salisbury on the 4th so it's going to be a while till it's sorted.

Once it's fixed and I have it serviced it's going and I'm selling it! I've currently done 17k in it in 9 months (it's at 76k) so I've had more time at the wheel in a 4200 than most in 5yrs.

 

[gingeh721]

An update on the heater control problem. It was the temperature control switch on the HVAC control panel. I bought a used one off eBay for £197 and it worked.

 

[BennyD]

Have you sorted all its other woes? Looking back through the thread it seemed you were running out of patience. Still the case?

 

[gingeh721]

I also had the F1 pump changed at Christmas. I bought one for £250 and had it fitted etc at Bowker. They gave me a car for 1 pound a day after my 3 day free car with AA ran out, washed and cleaned it and charged £264. Not bad as Autoshield charged me £339 to tighten a bolt, fill the F1 fluid and nothing else. I knew it was the F1 pump but was told otherwise. I had just had it with the car. It's all good now though.

I've bought a runabout to keep the miles at bay as I was racking up way too many. Believe it or not, it's a 15yr old 1.4, 5 door micra and I love it. It does everything that it's supposed to do and it does it well. Never thought I'd say that. The micra has stopped me getting annoyed with the Masser when it's not in its element.

I'm still going to sell the car this year. It will have around 82k on it, of which 20 of them had been done in a year. I will have the wheels reconned, service at 81k, almost brand new tyres, and new discs (when they arrive). I bought it for £17k from R Grace. I will prob let it go for around 13.5k or a bit less. I'm hoping for a full suspension recall as that will be a nice bonus for the new owner.