(G) Heater and Ventilation controls

Hey guys,
was just wondering.....what does the left knob do in the heater and ventilation controls?Mine is a Mk2. It has Air written on it and at the extremes it has off and MAX!! What does this do?? Never seen it in any other type of car!!Also....why cant I get hot air to come out of the ventilation from the dashboard. I mean the ones which point to the drivers face! Hot air can only come out from the front screen demister in my car!! Is this normal???

Thanks

speaks for itself really, it allows you to control the amount of airflow through the vents by opening the airflow pipe wider or closingh it altogether. I think it's on the right-hand side of the panel though and not the left... on most models the hot air only comes from the 'foot' and 'screen' vents and not the dash vents

The tiny vents (unadjustable) at the dashboard ends provide hot air. All the 4 adjustable vents provide cold air. Those 2 in the middle is also driven by an extra fan. Else it is driven by your speed and wind speed. Also the pressure in the cabin might change the amount of air let inside. Try to open your windscreen a bit when driving and notice much more air coming in through the side vents. And the "AIR" is to the right. Hot/cold is to the left, right? Heh...

Morten.

Thanks a lot Morty. Now I figured out how it works!! I found your information really valuable!! Also, while heating the Air knob has to be on MAX or else no hot air will come out from the windscreen vents!Why is this so??

Yes the heater/temperature control is on the left and the AIR knob is on the left.

The Air knob opens a flap to set the airflow through the heater unit, so to get maximum heat, Air must be on 'max'. The Temp knob sets the amount of engine coolant that flows through the heater unit, so with that turned up, you get hot air from either the windscreen vents or the footwell vents.

If, for some reason, you wanted to prevent all outside air from entering the car (driving in a tunnel, for example) you would turn the Air knob off, and close all the adjustable vents. Most of the time, you would leave the Air knob set to 'max'.

The adjustable vents in the centre and the adjustable vents at the sides blow cold air only. The vents in the centre are also boosted by the fan, but still cold air only - that's correct behaviour. You can always turn them down a bit to prevent draughts.

The alternative to all of this is a full climate-controlled air conditioning system, like in my Alfa, where a computer with three temperature sensors makes all the decisions and controls motors that move the flaps as required. Believe me, it is a major headache if it doesn't get the decisions quite right, or if the motors start to play up. The Uno gives you full control.

I'm not sure what Monty Mort meant when he said to try opening the windscreen... where I live, the windscreen is the fixed, curved window in front of you, with the wiper. Cars before the 1930's used to have a windscreen that could open... :-)

-Alex

I don´t know the right phrases for freaking everything. Haha. Windscreen applies to all windows - in this particular case, those attached to the doors and have the possibility to be opened by either an electric button in the door trim etc. or manually by a rotating lever. This one also usually placed in the door trim / interior.



Morten.

hehehe thanks a lot guys,
really much appreciated! Im not so sure about the flexibility though. My previous car was a daihatsu charade and you could control from where you wanted hot air to come out from, from wherever you wanted!!

Good sense of humour as well guys....nice to see that on the board..ur leaving a good impression on me

Thanks