Unusual heater problem - HELP

[ady_glanza]

Hello all

This morning was driving to work and had to use the air vents in the car in order to get rid of the steam from the windscreen. However i tried the low setting and medium setting and there was no air coming out from any of the vents, however it seemed to work fine when i put it on full blast. All the various vents in the car work i.e. air to windscreen, mid air vents etc. The coolness/warmness of the air is also fine.

What could be the problem as i don't want to always be using the full blast air as i normally only leave it on the low or medium setting when required. It was all working fine last week.

Any help much appreciated.
Many thanks

 

[weeJohn]

It could be a fault in the fan electrical system or the fan itself. When it was on the low settings could you hear the fan running at all or nothing?

 

[ady_glanza]

It could be a fault in the fan electrical system or the fan itself. When it was on the low settings could you hear the fan running at all or nothing?

hi mate
You can hear nothing hen its onl the low settings.
I've done a bit of research and been told that the most likely situation is that the heater resistor has gone and would need replacing/fixing.
Any idea on how to fix it and where it is located?
thanks

 

[funny onion]

mine was exactly the same when i got it, nothing at all on low settings apart from the high setting. there is a resistor block in the heater, and one of the connections snaps sometimes and causes the problem. basically if you take your glove box out there is a small plastic panel with two screws holding it in, right in front of you. take it out ad have a look, will be a block of ceramic over the components but you will see the connections and see where it has snapped off. just solder it back up, thats what i did anyways. im not sure if these pics will work;

 

[funny onion]

didn't realise how dark the first pic is, but that's where it comes out from behind the glovebox, just to the left of the white logo, you can just make out the hole and two screw holes above/below the hole

 

[ady_glanza]

mine was exactly the same when i got it, nothing at all on low settings apart from the high setting. there is a resistor block in the heater, and one of the connections snaps sometimes and causes the problem. basically if you take your glove box out there is a small plastic panel with two screws holding it in, right in front of you. take it out ad have a look, will be a block of ceramic over the components but you will see the connections and see where it has snapped off. just solder it back up, thats what i did anyways. im not sure if these pics will work;

hi mate
thanks for the info and pics
what do i need to soldier together as it seems like various metal strips and do i need to wrap anything around it once soldiered?
On that connector blocked you've got in your hand is that before oor after you've soldered it?
many thanks

 

[funny onion]

the bottom pic is the best to see where it has snapped, the shiny bit just above the thumb is where the long strip should be stuck onto. that pic is before it was soldered. i took mine into uni to solder it, just your bog standard cheap as chips iron and solder, nothing special, i'm not trusted with the special things, girls and power/expensive tools and all that haha. just hold the strip down to where it should be stuck onto, heat the area with the soldering iron and then solder it basically haha. be careful to hold it in place for about a min after youve applied the solder though because it may flick off and it hurts like a bitch haha. i would'nt advise wrapping it in anything bud as the ceramic and metallic strips get bloody hot! youre likely to set fire to your car if you wrap it. Also, don't remove it while the car is still warm, again it gets bloody hot lol.
If you have any more problems mate just message me, and if worst comes to worst you could just mail me your resistor card and i'll solder it and send it back to you!