Escort, mechanical query

YoungBlood · 27 Sep 2009 at 15:33

Anyone know why the air vents inside the car would blow cold even though its turned all the way to the red.
The switch is not broken, you can feel it physicaly redirecting the air but it blows cold, luke warm at best, certainly not how it used to be.

No matter how warm the engine gets, its not blowing out warm air.

I imagine it will be a pita when winter comes.

Berger · 27 Sep 2009 at 15:38

Knackered/blocker heater matrix perhaps.

NightShadow · 27 Sep 2009 at 15:55

Have you had any work done on the cooling system recently? Could be an air lock if so?

Lopéz · 27 Sep 2009 at 16:06

Check there is coolant in it.

Scania · 27 Sep 2009 at 16:48

And see if the water pump works! - I've just had mine replaced and all of a sudden, my non working heaters work!

iaind · 27 Sep 2009 at 19:28

Check to see if the footwells are damp under the dash - will tell you if the matrix is leaking

BigglesPiP · 27 Sep 2009 at 19:31

Usually this is an issue with the valve that the dial acts on.

Sin_Chase · 27 Sep 2009 at 19:32

I yanked the thermostat out of my 1990 Orion Ghia when I had it as a first car as a stop-gap repair.

This totally screws the ability to warm your air

Lopéz · 27 Sep 2009 at 19:37

I always remember my mate's Sierra - the lever rods snapped and jammed it on fully cold but it used to mist up badly so you had no choice but to sit there in the icy blast.

We went to a foam party/wet t-shirt night in November and my god it was so so so cold on the way home at about 2am, we would have been warmer walking I think. Neither of us could see much either as the foam was stinging our eyes like crazy. Still not sure how we made it home in one piece.

Amoeba · 27 Sep 2009 at 19:39

Lopéz said:
story

Happy days

Love memories like that

Lopéz · 27 Sep 2009 at 19:43

Amoeba said:
Happy days Love memories like that

There's a long straight out of Ammanford in South Wales called the Glynmoch Flats, it's basically a bypass with a gentle curve in the middle. I steered all of that bit from the passenger seat because my mate just had to close his eyes because of the burning. For the rest of the journey we took it in turns closing our eyes and steering while he did the throttle and brakes.

A bit haphazard and not recommended

iaind · 27 Sep 2009 at 19:47

Haphazard or just hazard? :eek:

YoungBlood · 28 Sep 2009 at 14:34

Thanks for the replys guys been a great help.

Footwells are dry so matrix proberly not leaking and its full of coolent.

How would I check if the water pump is working? (sorry cars not realy my thing)
I have noticed the engine is running a lot warmer, not overheating as it hardly has time to, but its warming up a lot faster than usual.

So would a faulty pump cause the engine to warm up faster and stop warm air blowing out the vents, presumebly as no water is circulating through the matrix?.

I take it bad pump = potential to over heat and blow the head gasket?

mattyprice4004 · 28 Sep 2009 at 15:01

If it's warming up quicker, then waterpump sounds likely.

Scania · 29 Sep 2009 at 05:21

My 328i BMW was warming up extremely quickly - when it finally started to move (after a couple of minutes running) you could see the needle move from cold to 1/2 way on the guage in around 4 seconds!

Its waterpump was shafted, sounds like you could well have the same problem.