Technical 2012 Twinair - Heater Blowing Cold Air (The story so far...)

[skelkelly]

Hi All,

I recently bought a 2012 Twinair with a known issue that the heater only blows cold.

So far I have found the following...

Air con works fine
Heater matrix seems to be fine, no leaks and both feed and return pipes are warm
The cabin filter was very dirty and had leaf debris in it
The actuator up inside the passenger footwell isn't working as it is just clicking and the controls to change the direction of the heat have no effect

I only get cold air on the screen at the moment. I have removed the actuator and can manually move the large cog to change the direction of the air flow, I have also removed the cabin filter and replaced the cover to see if this made a difference to the heat, it didn't.

I have ordered a new actuator and filter so my questions are...

Does the actuator control the blend flap or just the flap to direct the heat?
Before I go down the dreaded dash out and replace the whole lot route, is there any way of checking if it is the heater blend flap or a way of manually moving the blend flap?

Many thanks
Shaun

 

[corb2000]

How did you get on with fixing this? My daughter's car has the same issue and the local garage were reluctant to start dismantling the dash.

 

[skelkelly]

I fixed it, didn't cost a penny either, just an hour of my time. Found this on another forum and used this method, worked perfectly...

https://www.abarthforum.co.uk/diyhow-to-section/s3-500-climate-control-heater-box-fix-without-removing-dash/

Good luck.

 

[corb2000]

I fixed it, didn't cost a penny either, just an hour of my time. Found this on another forum and used this method, worked perfectly...

https://www.abarthforum.co.uk/diyhow-to-section/s3-500-climate-control-heater-box-fix-without-removing-dash/

Good luck.

Impressive stuff. Realistically though having just moved house with a lot of unpacking and a long list of jobs to do I am struggling to justify spending more time on her car before she sells it after Easter. I might just have to let it go with the heater fault and accept the hit on whatever it fetches.

 

[DerbyTwin]

I fixed it, didn't cost a penny either, just an hour of my time. Found this on another forum and used this method, worked perfectly...

https://www.abarthforum.co.uk/diyhow-to-section/s3-500-climate-control-heater-box-fix-without-removing-dash/

Good luck.

Great piece to share with us. However mine is a little different as someone has already been in there & messed about. I now have 2 positions, full hot or cold by moving an arm, without all panels in situ. Works for me. When it gets too hot, I turn the blower right down & crack open the windows (visors fitted). In summer or wet weather, I leave the a/c on.