No Heating

[CraigB]

Hi,

 

My 1997 galaxy TDi Ghia X has no heating and the kids are complaining !!

 

Neither the front nor rear heaters are producing any heat irrespective of control settings. This has been an ongoing problem for the last year but a cold winter has prompted me to try and fix it or at least diagnose the fault.

 

How is the matrix fed with hot water, is it somewher I can feel it to see if it is hot ? Is it via the radiator or from a seperate system using seperate thermostats etc. The radiator doesn't seem to get warm at all during the normal 15min runs that I do. During the summer the car didn't run hot at all and on one particularly hot day the heating worked breifly after I had parked it for 20 mins and got back in.

 

I am technically minded but don't know locations of pipes, valves and any specifics of how things work in this vehicle. The fans do run and the controls do speed things up and divert air to windscreen etc ok. Someone suggested removing power from the climate control system unit to reset it, but this didn't change anything.

 

I did buy a Hayes manual but have misplaced it and it didn't seem to cover the climate control model !!!

 

Any help would be gratefully received.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Craig

[chromedome]

Do a search for aux heater, it has been covered hundreds of times.

 

TDI's need it because the engine can't generate enough heat on it's own.

[tim-spam]

If it's the booster heater at fault, the heating system will still work, but not as well as it should. If you are getting no heat at all, there is a problem with the heater matrices or the operating controls.

[CraigB]

Hi,

 

I'm fairly sure there isn't an Aux heater fitted to the car, I can't see any sign of it on the rear ns wheelarch and there are no controls for it in the cabin.

 

There are no leaks and I am not losing coolant.

 

Regards

 

Craig

[Guest Buddman]

hi

try a search under buddman!! i had a similar poblem (I hope and pray its not the same problem, head gasket)

[CraigB]

hi

try a search under buddman!! i had a similar poblem (I hope and pray its not the same problem, head gasket)

Hi Buddman,

 

I've just had a look at your posts and I'm resonably sure that it is not the head gasket. I'm not losing any water from the cooling system and the car isn't overheating and is running normally.

 

Regards

 

Craig

[seatkid]

1994? Did they make Galaxies that old? Dont think it has a booster heater then.

 

Has it got climatonic (LCD digital control panel) or the 3 rotary knobs?

[CraigB]

1994? Did they make Galaxies that old? Dont think it has a booster heater then.

 

Has it got climatonic (LCD digital control panel) or the 3 rotary knobs?

Hi seatkid,

 

It's a 1997 model and it has a climatronic control panel, which I have tried depowering and resetting on the advice of a friend. This panel does flash at startup but has done since we bought the car 4 years ago and is doing so due to the AC not working (due to no gas methinks). The heating problem only occured a year ago.

 

Regards

 

Craig

[marty16610]

Hi m8 sounds like your thermostat is stuck open. Ive just had to take mine out because it wouldn't open and since removing it i have no heaters at all. Before i took it out the heaters were blowing lovely and hot, now not even lukewarm

[CraigB]

Hi m8 sounds like your thermostat is stuck open. Ive just had to take mine out because it wouldn't open and since removing it i have no heaters at all. Before i took it out the heaters were blowing lovely and hot, now not even lukewarm

Hi marty,

 

It could be this but the radiator doesn't seem to warm up, even after a 10 min run and sitting idling on the drive for an additional 10 mins there was no detectable heat in the rad.

 

Craig

[johnb80]

If the thermostat was stuck open there would be little / no heat on the radiator or the heating system.

 

Regards - JB

[seatkid]

If the temp gauge doesnt get near the centre of the dial, then I would concur the thermostat is duff.....

 

However CraigB did say that the front radiator doesnt get warm either, which it would if the stat was open. No overheating either, so water pump should be OK - could be an airlock but both front and rear? Make sure the CC is set to ECON In AUTO the radiator fan comes on and will cool the radiator efficiently!

 

If both front and rear heating are blowing cold, then both heater matrixes unlikely to be faulty...the pipes to the front heater matrix are just to the left of the wiper motor (see below) both should get hot. The pipes to the rear heater run under the car and are obvious when you look (passenger side)

 

After checking the pipework, it could be an electrical problem with the Climate control, check Fuses F6 (25A), F14 (15A) and F22 (10A).

 

Has the climate control got seperate front rear temperature control?

 

Could be temperature flap motor drive or there is an "electric switch valve" whatever that is.....

[marty16610]

Just for reference. I'm running without a stat fitted at the moment and temp gauge barely gets out of the first white section. The only time the gauge goes higher is when the booster heater is running. After a good run the rad does feel warm NOT hot. The maximum gauge reading i get is 1/4 over even then the heaters blow cold.Hope this useless info is of help to someone-maybe ;)