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Topic: Intermittent lack of air through vents (Read 152 times) |
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DavidBE
Full Member
1998 Ghia X 2.9 24V Auto Estate
Posts: 135
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Intermittent lack of air through vents
« on: Apr 15th, 2023, 10:34pm » |
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After finally replacing my now long ago damaged front bumper, figuring out what to do about the missing front edge strip on the headlining, replacing the driver door check strap, and VERY belatedly realising I was suffering from a stuck-open thermostat and having it replaced, I have just one thing not working properly in the whole car, which I'd love to fix but just cannot figure what could be causing the symptom.
VERY important to note that my Cossie estate is a Ghia-X, NOT an Ultima (and I'm rather afraid I'm the only still-Scorpio user whose Scorpio is not an Ultima, so no-one will be able to help).
The problem is in the ventilation system. This is NOT a Climate Control model. I have the manual ventilation system with three rotary controls: one hot-cold dial that directly moves a flap; one blower control with blower speeds 1, 2 and 3 clockwise for external air, anti-clockwise for recirculated air, push to turn a/c on/off; and one distribution dial. Everything (now the new thermostat is giving hot hair when I want it) is working as expected EXCEPT for a problem I've had since getting the car in late 2020.
The problem is that while everything always works on stating and short trips (like 1/2 mile each way to the village Co-op - no, disability won't let me walk that far), on longer trips at some point the air through the vents just cuts out apart from a very slight flow, even though the blower fan is still audibly going. On my rare even longer trips, like say a 40 mile loop just to give the car a longer run, the air flow from the vents is liable to cut, then later just re-start ... and then cut again. So I always get airflow from the vents to start, but it might cut out after 15 minutes, then cut back in 10 minutes later, then cut out again twelve minutes after that, etc.
I just don't get what this can be. It's NOT the blower fan cutting out - I can hear the fan running as set on the blower control throughout. (And it is definitely NOT the blower resistor - I know that one; I've replaced 3 blower resistors in the time I've had the car.) When the air flow cuts out (apart from a very faint breeze) changing fan speed between 1, 2 and 3 causes the fan sound to change as expected, but no air flow. Changing between external air and recirculated makes no difference. Turning the a/c off and on makes no difference. Changing the distribution makes no difference. Turning from cold to hot or vice versa I can hear the clunk of the flap moving across and the very slight flow changes cold to hot, but it makes no difference to the lack of flow. There's always supposed to be air flow from the dash vents (if they are open, which they always have been with me) whatever the distribution setting, but when whatever it is happens there's virtually no flow. And then it starts working again. Then stops again. But the blower fan is running throughout.
Any ideas?
I could kind of understand this kind of thing if I had Climate Control like on my old 2.3 Ultima saloon - with that I spent most of a whole year with nothing on the CC panel working, and full heat, full fan the whole time! But that's where the controls are only inputs to a computer module. This is NOT Climate Control equipped. It's as if something is causing the flow to be cut off after a little while, but as brain addled as my meds make me, even looking at the parts diagrams for the system I can't even see a flap or whatever that could allow the flow to the vents, then close it off, then lift to allow it again, then block it again.
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