DaveM

Don't know where you live, but i bought two Dunlop SP2020's fitted and balanced for

Great, but are they thermostatically controlled ?! ;)

Anybody know what fuse and if anything else is fed on the same circuit as the heated front seats on a v6 ghia x (1998) I noticed tonight that the driver side heated front seat has stopped working, (it worked 3 days ago) The passenger seat still works. Haven't really investigated it yet as it was dark, but i suppose the fuse is the first place to look, (and why it blew, although we do tend to wack every heating appliance on straight away in the cold weather) any other suggestions ? cheers

That's sorted that out then ! I have dual control, single air con. bit of a con really, as the rear control allows you to set it a degree or two cooler than the front.....yet with no evapourator coil ! figure that one out ! cheers all let's see what a difference the air con service on Tuesday makes.

Well mines a 2.8V6 with dual (control) air con and a electric sunroof AND dual electric rear quarter openers ! none of this makes sense !

I'm confused ! if it's only front air con, why the climate control for the rear on the lcd ? I can set a temperature for the rear and a seperate temp for the front. I can also adjust the fan speed both front and rear. (or just leave the both on auto) if there's no rear evaporator coil, why offer this level of control for both front and rear ? D mind you, it was previously owned by a manager of a ford dealership in coventry. it seems to have all sorts of non standard extras. electric rear window panels on both sides and an electric sunroof that's never been used !.

No grilles in the roof lining, they arrived in 1999 models i think mine's a dec 1998 it's got grilles in the bulkhead next to the rear near side passenger seat that blows air at feet level. it's got dual controls for front and rear on the lcd screen in the front.

Can anybody confirm the weight of refrigerant that goes into my 2.8 V6 ghia X air con ? It's got climate control, with controls for both front and rear on the lcd screen in the front. (can change front and rear temps to within a couple of degrees of each other) Is it a dual system ? i.e two top up valves ? or top up both via the connector behind the front driver side indicator unit. The plate reads two seperate refrigerant weights, but not sure if the combined weight should be added through the valve detailed above or whether there is another valve for topping up the rear air con system. The joker in the garage told me that I should ignore the second refrigerant weight on the plate as my car does not have air con in the back "if it did it would have seperate controls in the back of the car" was his technical analysis !! in the end, i'm sure he didn't put the correct weight of refrigerant in, as it's not as effective as it used to be. (last serviced two years ago) The reason i ask is i've got it booked in for an air con service on tuesday and i don't want to be fobbed off again if he doesn't believe me.

Further to my recent thread on the the Aux heater packing up on my 2.8 V6 a couple of weeks ago.... it now has burst back into life, but only intermitantly. i.e. start up, and after a couple of seconds, the drone turbine like pump/fan starts up. but then again, sometimes it doesn't, (it used to start up every time) one thing though, you guys said the gizmo was positioned underneath behind the driver seat. Well there's a lump that looks like some sort of pump/heater in that position, in fact it looks like a mini alternator ! (I know it's not, but it gives you an idea). it also chucks off some serious heat ! The main turbine/fan/pump like noise emits from behind the under engine cover underneath the front of the car. I assume this is the additional water pump that pumps the aux heated water around the engine thats making the noise. but then again, what do i know !?!

Eeek ?! I thought i got a rough deal ! oh, they also incorrectly stamped the service book after failing to stamp the book at all the previous year. To rectify the in-accurate details ?.... simple, half a pot of tipex and a couple of crossed out ticks ! - nice job, especially as it was the want of a consistant service history that took me back to the jokers in the first place ! i shall be asking for a replacement service book

Ford dealership in Bedfordshire Last year, took my 2.8 V6 for 30k service, drove in, running as sweet as a nut, paid my 200 quid and drove away Kangarooing down the road ! Brittle spark plugs to blame, all 6 changed one by one. still miss firing. Turns out the coil was faulty. (strange, but it seemed fined before the service). Coil replaced, (

yes, i have a 2.8 V6 petrol, and yes i've got all the gubbings, or bits and pieces underneath that resemble the aux heater described in deisel versions and within this chat room, i'm beginning to wonder whether i should get the digi camera out to proove to you guys that it exists on a petrol motor !

oh and by the way, yes, the 98/99 V6 has this aux heater as well as the Tdi motors cheers, Dave

after speaking to an ex Ford technician on friday, (now independant because they don't pay enough !), he said that the aux heating 'turbine' roar on start up and switch off is normal. He said that the reason that some people would not hear it is because the pumps are prone to seizing up altogether ! and as there are no obvious effects on engine performance, (apart from taking it longer to warm up), people don't realise that the unit is not functioning. mine seized up two weeks ago,... so alas no impressive roar when it starts up.

I was amazed at just how quickley the CC demists the windows. Leave it on 'auto', wack the demist button and all windows clear within seconds.

This is weird. thanks for all the replies, but there's still some confusion in what heater went faulty in the first place. Yes it's a V6 ghia X with full climate control, (front and rear controlled via the digital display in the front). But both front and rear are working perfectly. It definately is a pump/fan/system that compares to the system you all describe exists in the deisel only. On cold starts, the pump/turbine like whoosh starts up and shuts down after a couple of minutes, it also kicks in when the engine is switched off, running on for 30 seconds or so to, I assume, disperce heat, as you can feel a warm blast round your ankles when you step out of the car. it certainly sounds impressive and turns a few heads ! My car does seem to be a 'one off' though. it was ford owned by a dealership manager in coventry for 12 months before i brought it. It has some non standard bits on it, like electric sunroof and full climate control !. it also has double rear electric quarter light windows and floor vents as opposed to ceiling vents. confused ?..... i am !

Hello all, new member just joined and needs advice. i've got a 1999 2.8 V6 Ghia X My Aux heater has packed up after/during the annual service at a local ford dealer, (Strange that it was functioning perfectly well before the service but when I picked it up it sounded like it was going to explode !). They offered to book it in another day to repair it. they said it was a heater that heated the AIR up during cold starts and mumbled on about it being something to do with the fuel mixture ! The bloke clearly didn't know what he was talking about so I declined the offer and phoned around a couple of garages. with the help of these garages and this forum, I now know what the aux heater actually does. The aux heater continued to scream for a week, now it has seized up all together, (well it's now silent) The advice from the two garages, (one a different ford dealership), was, "it doesn't do much, so save yourself a +500 quid repair bill and forget about it" Can anybody out there confirm that by leaving the aux heater seized up, i'm not damaging something in the long term ? for the hassle of it taking a little longer to warm up in the mornings, i'd rather save the +500 quid cheers, (great site by the way)