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constant Hot air on feet

Mackay Girl

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Hi guys
I am having problems with my '97 VS series II Commodore sedan (no climate control).
1. Hot air is constantly blowing on my foot even if the air con is off
2. the heater hoses in the engine bay are white - is this normal?
We have replaced the fan resister, the heater tap and hoses are fine with no kinks, vaccum tank has no dents.
I am replacing the air conditioner compressor as it is on its way out.

Can anyone help me as this has been a problem for years and the air con techs don't know what the problem is.
 

Zeussy

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Is there a grommet missing in the firewall? Or a big hole in it? :p

Does the heater tap work? (in the engine bay) Turn on/off when you move the heater controls? (I know you've replaced it, but does it work!!)
 

08sky_way

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The following is a copy of a post I put up in 2008 in answer to a similar problem and may be a solution to the the constant heating:

This is problem I've come across speaking to 4 or 5 VR/VS Commodore owners over the years. In the cases I've seen it has been in the adjustment on the linkage that connects to the heater control knob. It can be seen by looking up from the driver's footwell. Turning the knob does 2 things. The first part of turning it on (just a fraction of a turn from the off position) activates the heater tap and about 15 seconds after activation hot coolant will circulate through the heater radiator (just reach down and touch the coolant pipe by the driver's left foot and you it should change from cold to hot if working properly). If it is not adjusted correctly and the heater knob is turned off, the pipe will feel hot. The only other reason the pipe will feel hot when the heater knob is in the off position is if the heater tap is faulty.
If the heater tap (in the engine bay) is not faulty, the initial action of turning the knob just a fraction, opens the heater tap fully. Further rotation of the heater knob merely mixes the amount of cold/warm air to control the heat in the cabin.
The following adjustment will prevent coolant circulating through the heater assuming the heater tap is not faulty:
To adjust the mechanism under the dash on the driver's side, gently open the plastic clip that sits over the threaded part of the spindle (the clip is hinged so I spring it open with a small screw driver - I can't remember whether it is hinged at the top or the bottom), pop the threaded part of the spindle out of doover to which it is connected, and move the plastic lever up the spindle by one thread or to the point that when the heater knob is turned fully anti-clockwise the tap is activated in the engine bay. You should be able to hear the vacuum system activate the heater tap or you can watch the tap turn on/off if you get someone to turn the knob for you. If the tap turns on/off and hot coolant still circulates through the heater, the heater tap will need to be replaced.
 

hako

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Hi guys
I am having problems with my '97 VS series II Commodore sedan (no climate control).
1. Hot air is constantly blowing on my foot even if the air con is off
2. the heater hoses in the engine bay are white - is this normal?
We have replaced the fan resister, the heater tap and hoses are fine with no kinks, vaccum tank has no dents.
I am replacing the air conditioner compressor as it is on its way out.

Can anyone help me as this has been a problem for years and the air con techs don't know what the problem is.

Re 1....I'd say the vacuum is not connected to your air mode control dial/switch - it then defaults to directing the air to the footwell irrespective of where the dial is set PLUS the air that goes to the heater/aircon will also default to "outside" air and not recirculate. If this is so, the hot air will only blow over your feet when the car is in forward motion....even with the fan off. Fix is to find why the vacuum is not reaching the back of the switch (switches also can fail).
Re 2....If the heater hoses are white, I'd say some tight ass has replaced the black rubber hoses with 2nd hand hot water hoses from an old washing machine....probably seems like a good idea but the car coolant reaches 108 deg whilst washing machine HW hoses only carry temps up to 80 deg....they will blow!

You need to check all the vaccum lines from manifold to vacuum tank to one way valve to bulkhead to heater switch and mode dial.......otherwise you will never find the problem. Good Luck.
 
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shanhsv

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I have the exact same issue in my berlina(hot air at feet regardless of aircon settings). Could mine be the same to fix ie the heater tap
 

AqaumarineVR

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Take the Heater tap off,and check the lil door in it.i replaced vacuum motors,vacuum switches,adjusted the heater rod a million times,and had hot air on my feet all the time(my heater tap looked new,so thats why i didn't think about checking it).eventually pulled heater tap off and the lil steel door had half corroded away,letting hot coolant to flow thru the core
 

hako

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I have the exact same issue in my berlina(hot air at feet regardless of aircon settings). Could mine be the same to fix ie the heater tap

Berlina will have climate control and no heater tap.....think in CC there is an electronic item that fails....The1 has posted about it so I'd say PM him.
 

Mackay Girl

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Hey, thanks for the information and I will get it all checked out this week-end hopefully. Will let you know the outcome.
 

Bitz R Broken

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Check the 1 way valve, mine had water in it, which was causing the problem
 

Cracka

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