Technical No airflow to dashboard and window vents

[W Bakker]

Hey everybody,

My 2008 500 1.4 lounge has stopped sending air to the dashboard and window vents.
I keep getting air through the floor vents, even when I turn them off.
The car has a digital climate control cluster.

Hopefully, somebody knows a fix to this since summer is coming up

Cheers!

 

[J4MALD1N]

Sounds like an actuator that works the flaps on the heater matrix has decided to quit. Can you hear anything when changing the airflow?

I'd also check all relevant fuses

 

[Baglady1990]

Was the auto climate around in 2008? If so it’s older than I thought
You really need to connect multiecuscan see if any faults are registered on the ecu I had issues with my auto a/c last autumn and I went in-depth trying to get to the bottom and the fix was not as hard as the dreaded blend door issue!

Are you getting heat/cold? If so the fault lies just with the air flow direction .. there is a little motor that moves the plastic cogs for the air flow it’s under the passenger side footwell (up behind gearshift)
The actuator motor for the hot/cold flap is same position but drivers side

It “could be” just the motor that’s packed up as long as you can still get hot & cold air more details are needed before I can advise more

 

[W Bakker]

Was the auto climate around in 2008? If so it’s older than I thought
You really need to connect multiecuscan see if any faults are registered on the ecu I had issues with my auto a/c last autumn and I went in-depth trying to get to the bottom and the fix was not as hard as the dreaded issue!

Are you getting heat/cold? If so the fault lies just with the air flow direction .. there is a little motor that moves the plastic cogs for the air flow it’s under the passenger side footwell (up behind gearshift)
The actuator motor for the hot/cold flap is same position but drivers side

It “could be” just the motor that’s packed up as long as you can still get hot & cold air more details are needed before I can advise more

Yes, it was. I was surprised too.

I am getting heat/cold. I'm assuming the actuators are switched for me since my car is LHD.

I will give it a listen tomorrow morning.
Thank you for the quick response!

 

[W Bakker]

Sounds like an actuator that works the flaps on the heater matrix has decided to quit. Can you hear anything when changing the airflow?

I'd also check all relevant fuses

I'll give it a try tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[Baglady1990]

Yes, it was. I was surprised too.

I am getting heat/cold. I'm assuming the actuators are switched for me since my car is LHD.

I will give it a listen tomorrow morning.
Thank you for the quick response!

Yes I’m guessing it’s the reverse for your car ..so if your getting hot & cold it’s not the usual issue that scares everyone
I’m not 100%on the air direction mechanism but when I had my motor & one of the cogs off I did not see any sign of any flap actuator

 

[W Bakker]

Update, it works!

For all the people with the same problem,

I removed the plastic cover on the Driver side (LHD car, passenger side for RHD cars)
Removed the plug and removed the actuator.

Turned the white plastic cog and turned the AC on the test if air kept coming out meaning the internal flap was broken or if it managed to stop airflow to the floor vents.
Luckily the former was the case suggesting something was wrong with the actuator. Gave it all a good clean and reinstalled it to make sure I had to replace it.
Turned the AC back on and surprise, everything worked like it was brand new.

If the internal flap works by manually turning the cog, you'll have to either clean, repair or replace the actuator. If it doesn't, the internal flap is most likely the cause meaning the entire interior has to come apart.

This all took me about an hour in the drivers' footwell and I'd expect it to be a lot faster on RHD cars without the pedals and steering column in the way.

Useful info, the screw for the plastic cover is a TX-25 and the actuator is mounted with two 5.5mm bolts.

I've also attached two images of the front and back of the actuator including the white cog.

Thank you all again for thinking along with me!

 

[John202020]

It's such a good feeling when it's a simple fix

 

[Baglady1990]

Update, it works!

For all the people with the same problem,

I removed the plastic cover on the Driver side (LHD car, passenger side for RHD cars)
Removed the plug and removed the actuator.

Turned the white plastic cog and turned the AC on the test if air kept coming out meaning the internal flap was broken or if it managed to stop airflow to the floor vents.
Luckily the former was the case suggesting something was wrong with the actuator. Gave it all a good clean and reinstalled it to make sure I had to replace it.
Turned the AC back on and surprise, everything worked like it was brand new.

If the internal flap works by manually turning the cog, you'll have to either clean, repair or replace the actuator. If it doesn't, the internal flap is most likely the cause meaning the entire interior has to come apart.

This all took me about an hour in the drivers' footwell and I'd expect it to be a lot faster on RHD cars without the pedals and steering column in the way.

Useful info, the screw for the plastic cover is a TX-25 and the actuator is mounted with two 5.5mm bolts.

I've also attached two images of the front and back of the actuator including the white cog.

Thank you all again for thinking along with me!

That actuator is obviously a tiny motor and was the issue for me I fixed it but it later failed again and had to replace it

 

[Baglady1990]

I’ve also wondered if those cogs being plastic should be lubricated? As mine are not and are dry

 

[chris3234]

I’ve also wondered if those cogs being plastic should be lubricated? As mine are not and are dry

Don't think so but a light spray of something like silicone spray shouldn't hurt

 

[John202020]

PTFE dry spray?

 

[Baglady1990]

PTFE dry spray?

Yeah I’ve got that will give it a go seeing as their plastic I would have thought they would be anyway

 

[W Bakker]

I’ve also wondered if those cogs being plastic should be lubricated? As mine are not and are dry

My hands did get some sort of lubricant on then after handling the cogs, so I'd definitely try to get something in there.

 

[Baglady1990]

My hands did get some sort of lubricant on then after handling the cogs, so I'd definitely try to get something in there.

That’s a big help thank you..it seemed logical that they would!

 

[Sparky29]

Update, it works!

For all the people with the same problem,

I removed the plastic cover on the Driver side (LHD car, passenger side for RHD cars)
Removed the plug and removed the actuator.

Turned the white plastic cog and turned the AC on the test if air kept coming out meaning the internal flap was broken or if it managed to stop airflow to the floor vents.
Luckily the former was the case suggesting something was wrong with the actuator. Gave it all a good clean and reinstalled it to make sure I had to replace it.
Turned the AC back on and surprise, everything worked like it was brand new.

If the internal flap works by manually turning the cog, you'll have to either clean, repair or replace the actuator. If it doesn't, the internal flap is most likely the cause meaning the entire interior has to come apart.

This all took me about an hour in the drivers' footwell and I'd expect it to be a lot faster on RHD cars without the pedals and steering column in the way.

Useful info, the screw for the plastic cover is a TX-25 and the actuator is mounted with two 5.5mm bolts.

I've also attached two images of the front and back of the actuator including the white cog.

Thank you all again for thinking along with me!

Are you able to turn the cog on the actuator by hand? I've just taken the actuator out on mine and it seemes to be seized solid.

 

[John202020]

Is it worm drive so will seem "seized"

 

[Sparky29]

Thanks. That's reassuring. I will put it back into the car now that I've established that the flap of doom is intact.

 

[John202020]

Thanks. That's reassuring. I will put it back into the car now that I've established that the flap of doom is intact.

Try operating the servo in your had connected up to see if it works? Before reassembling

 

[Sparky29]

Try operating the servo in your had connected up to see if it works? Before reassembling

This was a brilliant piece of advice. The actuator worked in my hand so I refitted it and my heating appears to be back and functioning now (albeit it's not totally hot but I supsect that's down to an aging thermostat).

The positioning of the teeth on the cog on the actuator side is all important as there's a large tooth in the centre of the flap side which must marry up with a gap on the actuator side. It appears the teeth on the actuator side have become worn or mis-shapen over time and this may have alowed the cogs to become misaligned.

I will report back over coming weeks but fingers crossed this is good news. Now to find out what is causing the earth fault in the display...