Hi All,
As per the title, the heater in my Missus' Focus is only blowing out hot air when the engine is revved - when driving at low revs, it blows only cold air. The fan settings on the heater work fine, it's the temperature that isn't.
Anyone any ideas on why this might be happening?
Many thanks, Pootle
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Is the temperature gauge reading normal? If not could be a faulty thermostat, if the engine is overheating it could be a faulty waterpump, otherwise I would say that the heater matrix is blocked.
Edited by Peter.N. on 31/01/2010 at 22:16
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Thanks Peter,
Temp gauge is normal (looking through the paperwork, it had a new waterpump before we bought it - maybe around 3 or 4 years ago), so I guess it's the matrix?
Is this new heater matrix territory? Is 'blocked' likely to be a fix rather than a new part?
... Just Googled heater matrix for the focus - ouch!
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You could try flushing it out, its worked for me. Disconnect both hoses and feed water into each end alternately with a hosepipe until the water runs clear.
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Silly question, but is the water level oK?
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No, not a silly question, I really appreciate any advice anyone has on this. Just been out in the dark street with a 'headlight' on checking the levels... The coolant was sitting just below Min, so 0.5l water (I added some coolant also) has raised the level to Max. I got the car running and sat there until the temperature gauge on the dash got to almost midway, and the heater still didn't blow hot until I revved the engine - started blowing hot at around 2000 rpm.
Bit concerned that it's lost some coolant, it was serviced & levels topped up back in mid-September. Does coolant escape over time? My understanding was that it's a sealed system? I checked for leaks and spray under the car and in the engine bay but couldn't see anything untoward.
Off to the garage methinks - looking at the price of a new heater matrix, if worse came to worse and I needed a new one - is it worth looking for one second-hand or would I be asking for trouble going down that route?
Thanks again, Pootle
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Thought I'd post a follow-up for anyone in a similar situation...
Took it to the garage, they'd never come across it before, but tracked it down to a blockage in the heater matrix - flushed it through, also renewed the pollen filter and cleaned the dirt out.
Job done - all's well. Heater works. Mrs Pootle is happy.
Thanks for your replies/suggestions folks.
Pootle
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