Heater poroblem

[02Protege'5]

I did a search and found some information on the problem im having, but am a newb on this site and could use a hand. I have a '02 protege' 5. 30k miles. auto.

After my car is warmed up and all the heater controls are set to the appropriate positions, the heater only blows luke warm air, and then only throught the defrosters while set on the defrost position, and throught the dash vents when the dial is set to any of the other three positions.

I have an appointment with a dealer next week but would like to make it as easy as possible for them, my car is still under waranty but I had an aftermarket head unit installed and forsee a battle over the issue.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tony

 

[Robot Romeo]

they would give you a problem cause you installed a stereo?

 

[brealmp3]

i'm having the same issue with my heater. keep us updated. and a radio should not void your warranty.

 

[wannabe]

something to check before you take it in:

pop out the glove box (open it, squeeze the top sides towards the inside, it should come out more, and the pull the hook off the left side i believe)
there is a white dial behind the center console, there should be a wire attached to a post, and a clip attached to a stationary piece, make sure this is attached. when you turn the heat dial it should move. $5 says this is your problem. it probably came off during the radio install. happened to me.

 

[yelomp5]

something to check before you take it in:

pop out the glove box (open it, squeeze the top sides towards the inside, it should come out more, and the pull the hook off the left side i believe)
there is a white dial behind the center console, there should be a wire attached to a post, and a clip attached to a stationary piece, make sure this is attached. when you turn the heat dial it should move. $5 says this is your problem. it probably came off during the radio install. happened to me.

Totally agreed! check it out! cuz that is wat happened to mine too!

 

[02Protege'5]

there is a dial and a wire attached to the back side of my glove compartment?
I took it out like you said but just looking into the space behind the glove compartment the wasnt anything out of place, not to my eye anyway.

 

[NeverSober]

Mine only blows luke warm air too, but if I playt with it some hot air will eventually come out........very weird.

 

[protegerider18]

Dealer gave me a hard time when I had an aftermarket radio installed when I brought it in to have my A/C checked since the light would go on and off.

 

[wannabe]

Dealer gave me a hard time when I had an aftermarket radio installed when I brought it in to have my A/C checked since the light would go on and off.

this is a totally different issue than the heater one. there is a TSB on this and the dealer should fix it under warranty if you still are. i see your in cleveland, was it Classic in Mentor? those guys are ******* assholes.

 

[wannabe]

there is a dial and a wire attached to the back side of my glove compartment?
I took it out like you said but just looking into the space behind the glove compartment the wasnt anything out of place, not to my eye anyway.

no no. BEHIND the glove box. turn the temperature gauge and you will see a white dial move. if it doesnt, then theres your problem. let me find a pic for you.

 

[wannabe]

those are for taking it apart, you want to make sure its put together. see the post with the cable wrapped around it in the second pic? follow that cable back a little bit and there should be a metal clip on it, make sure that clip is attached to the plastic tab as you can see in the picture.

 

[eliwolter]

Thank You!

THANK YOU MP3wannabe!!!!

I have been having this same problem for months. Dealer told me that it was all working fine.

This fixed it in 3 minutes! Just getting into the Minnesota winter!

 

[booom]

go thread for those needing

last winter my car got broke into and my dash got all smashed up. when i had a new dash installed the guys at the dealer didn't even bother hooking up any of the cables so nothing worked. since i was so unpleasantly surprised i fixed it myself. anyway that was when i was living in wisconsin too!

if it feels like your heater still isn't kicking out enough heat - be sure to hit the re-circulation switch (amber - just below the fan speed dial) so that your re-heating the cabin air instead of wasting energy heating fresh air from the frigid outdoors.

let it snow!

 

[wannabe]

THANK YOU MP3wannabe!!!!

I have been having this same problem for months. Dealer told me that it was all working fine.

This fixed it in 3 minutes! Just getting into the Minnesota winter!

glad i could be of help.

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

I have a different heater issue not related to aftermarket radio install. Does everyone's ac compressor run if setting on heat (pointed at feet only) & fresh air & ac button not pushed in & temp all the way to red? The only way my ac compressor stays off is with dial towards feet & vent with ac button unpushed & on fresh not recirculate with temp dial towards red. On feet only & red for temp & ac button off, ac compressor should not be on......

 

[wannabe]

I have a different heater issue not related to aftermarket radio install. Does everyone's ac compressor run if setting on heat (pointed at feet only) & fresh air & ac button not pushed in & temp all the way to red? The only way my ac compressor stays off is with dial towards feet & vent with ac button unpushed & on fresh not recirculate with temp dial towards red. On feet only & red for temp & ac button off, ac compressor should not be on......

yeah, this is a common thing. i always do middle heat (pointed up) speed on 0 and blowing at feet. so i dont notice it.

 

[Erci]

I have a different heater issue not related to aftermarket radio install. Does everyone's ac compressor run if setting on heat (pointed at feet only) & fresh air & ac button not pushed in & temp all the way to red? The only way my ac compressor stays off is with dial towards feet & vent with ac button unpushed & on fresh not recirculate with temp dial towards red. On feet only & red for temp & ac button off, ac compressor should not be on......

This is not a problem, it's how the car is set up. Compressor kicks on in all, but "face" and "face/feet" settings.
There's actually a TSB out there that says customers may complain about this, but don't do anything.. this is how it comes from factory.
There IS a mod to make compressor fully independent of the air flow direction control in How-To.

 

[pasadena_commut]

After my car is warmed up and all the heater controls are set to the appropriate positions, the heater only blows luke warm air, and then only throught the defrosters while set on the defrost position, and throught the dash vents when the dial is set to any of the other three positions.

I just worked on the heater control cables on my 2003 and can tell you that they are very touchy about routing and having the cables clamped at the right place. The cable that goes to the right (to the control near the glovebox) MUST go between the left and center supports behind the central part of the dash and UNDER the wiring harness. From there there is really only one path to the place where it attaches and where its cable clamp attaches. Similarly, the cable that comes out to the left MUST go to the left of the left support behind the central part of the dash and again, UNDER the wiring harness. There is also a cable clip for this one but it's hard to see. (It's black, it's dark, you're all twisted up under the steering wheel, and if you're middle aged like I am you can't focus at that distance with or without your glasses!) Feel around for it then slide the leftmost cable down into it from the top. If you don't place that cable properly then the defrost setting won't work, with most of the air coming out the lower vents. Finally, if the cable gets bent at the end (one of mine was) it won't go smoothly in/out of the black sleeve. To fix that just bend it straigt with some tape wrapped pliers (so it won't be scratched). You can feel when it's straight enough by turning the control dials (without hooking up the cable to the plastic whels) - when it's good it will move smoothly between all positions, but when it's bent extra force will be needed to move between some positions.

I suspect that it's a common error to run the rightmost cable between the center and right supports behind the central part of the dash. Do that and it will be under a lot of force and will eventually pop the cable clamp on the plastic wheel off. Once that happens the control will really work like crap because the wire won't come in parallel to the plastic wheel, but will instead push into it.

It's possible but probably unlikely that the control wheels that the cable attaches to are damaged. That's easy to test though., just unhook the cables and rotate the wheels by hand.

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

I'll have to look into that how-to because I want full control of ac compressor on any setting. I don't want it on at all unless I push the ac button regardless of what any of the other settings are. Thanks, didn't know there was a how-to for that. Now I have 2 how-to's 2 do- that one & the fog light independent of headlights. My wife is forever confused about how many things there are for me to tinker with & change on a "brand new" car. Been going thru that for 36k now on this one. Guess it is not as confusing when I'm doing that with my 400k toyota truck. I'm forever confused about her confusion seeing as I have forever been doing this on whatever vehicles I have......

 

[hex2bit]

Just a note about the AC running when using the defroster settings, it's designed this way. It is assumed that if you are using heat when it is warm out, you are doing so to defrost your windows when it is raining or humid outside. AC removes humidity from the air, helping you defrost your windows faster and to keep your windows clear of fog. Once the temp gets cold enough outside, the AC will not run in these settings.