Heater question.

[SoulGrind]

Hello, I'm somewhat new.
The fan works in my car for the heater/AC but only heat will come from the top part of the vents (under the front window) no heat will come out of the front vents.
The heat that does come out is enough to stop the car from fogging up, and somewhat keep the cabin warm, but you can't feel any heat when you put your hand up to it. I've checked the hoses going into and out of the heater and both are hot. My coolent level is fine too, any ideas what is going on?

thx in advanced.


Heres my newely aquired car


VH 202 3.3L SLX with lots of little things i've done. I'm still learning however.

[spd_dmn]

I have exactly the same problem. And the same car, with the same colour, same engine, same make, lol. But yeah, an answer would be good.

[Shifty1]

Ensure all your vacuum hoses are connected to their correct position. Sometimes they can fall out if you put a cd player in.

Cheers

EDIT: That is one nice and clean looking VH, top job

[Spike79]

Just from memory the heater control unit for air-con models has three levers, one for temperature and two others that direct the air to the windscreen and the floor. When the floor and windscreen levers are pushed towards each other this should allow air to flow through the face vents, Right?

If this isn't working then i would assume that maybe one or two of the control rods have come loose. The control rods open and close various flaps on the air distribution housing in the dash. you may have to remove some parts of the lower dash to get in and have a look.

Also from memory the shortest control rod is for the floor vent, the medium rod is for the windscreen vents and the longest one is for the air temperature.

Give this a try, i should be able to give you a bit more help if you need it.

[Spike79]

Ensure all your vacuum hoses are connected to their correct position. Sometimes they can fall out if you put a cd player in.

Thats what i thought at first too, however i think the VB to VH models didn't have a vacuum control valve like the VK does.

Actually, i think they did. Was it on the lower dash panel to the left of the steering wheel?

Its been too long! and i'm tired!

[SoulGrind]

Thnx for the help guys, well i've looked at the temperture rod. Closet one to the floor space, lt seems to be working fine, When i move the temp lever it moves too. but as for the heat. No idea, i don't know where to look for the vacuum hoses. Are they behind the headunit (cd player) to the side or will have i have pull apart more then just removing the head unit? cheers.

[Shifty1]

They go behind the control panel, next to the cd player (to the left im pretty sure, aint seen a vh for ages).

Sometimes they get moved when a cd player is put in n accidently pulled out.. as for no heat, well.. i cant answer that for you..

[SoulGrind]

ok, i've done a small test. There is heat coming from the top window vents and for the feet. But still no heat coming from the front vents facing the cabin.. any ideas on what would do that? or is that normal.

[Shifty1]

No, it should come thru when you have "vent" selected.

[SoulGrind]

hmmm, not sure what u mean by vent.


heres a pic of the inside of my car.


All the siders are in the down postion. except the top vent.


which vent should be where to get heat from the front vents? I thought it should always come through, even when both top and bottom vents are closed.

[Shifty1]

I cant see your heater control very well, and i thought it was the same but is it setup with 1 lever saying the following:

DEF
VENT
..
..
..
MAX
NORM
OFF

its like that in the vk's and i assumed it would be the same in a vh, my bad

[Spike79]

Check the rods connected to these two levers. They control the direction of air flow. You should hear the flap inside the air control unit open and close. I'm pretty sure thats how the air is disributed. When the flap for the demister opens it closes off air flow to the face vents, same for the floor vents too. You may need to pull out the air control unit and check if its operating correctly.

Is the air-con on/off switch where i've circled? If so there may be vacuum pipes behind that, not too sure about that one though. I'll see what i can find about that.

[Spike79]

Whoops! better add the picture too!

[Shifty1]

To switch the aircon on you use the switch.. it is a little different to a VK..

the lever controls which vent is used.. its vacuum based too

[atrail308]

I had the same prob with my old VH, and fixed it realising that the air distribution hose from the heater box to the centere vents had come loose and was sending hot air to other areas besides the vents... check that one out, and if you have any probs, let me know and i'll post some pics from the GM holden workshop manual for the heating/cooling setup...