No cold air since coolant change?
 

Hi guys, this is my first post since becoming the proud owner of a 96 classic 2 litre turbo scooby wagon. It's my first scoob so I'm real new at all this. My friend has a bugeye and he did a service on the car for me when I first got it involving changing the oil, filter, spark plugs and the coolant fluid.

now since changing the coolant fluid I can't get cold air from the blowers no matter what I do, I have tried all the settings on the system, including the button that looks like it circulates the air internally but all I get is hot air, even when I'm giving it beans down the motorway to try cool things down. Now it's a little awkward as my missus is 8 months pregnant and it's been quite warm here in North wales lately.

Can anybody help me out at all?

It needs bleeding mate. Fill the system from the hose between the coolant tank and the turbo, then run the car with the heaters and fan on full.

I was really hoping it wasn't going to have to come to that after the trouble we had getting an air block out of the radiator last time we did it but if that's what it's gonna take then I guess it'll have to be done. Thanks for the advice

i would imagine that if all you can get is hot air then it does not need bleeding, you will probably find that you have a problem with the heater control switch, which controls/adjusts the temperature in the cabin

Never thought of that. The engine temp never gets above half way so I was unsure whether it was a coolant problem as it was a right pain when the coolant was changed, I'd heard they were problematic to do but 5 hours trying to get an air block out really did it for me but it's behaved perfectly since. I'll try check the switching tomorrow, cheers again guys

no probs all the symptoms of an air lock are not being able to get hot air, as you have hot air already, it is most likely down to the heater control, also did you run the car up till the fan come in?

Yes I had to run my nan to manchester airport yesterday so the car had a good run and I tried the fan after about an hour of driving, it was still only putting out hot air which was a little uncomfortable to say the least. I'll have to check the heater controls out today I think, cheers again

Right, I've checked the controls and they all appear to work ok so now I'm at a total loss where to look next, any ideas guys? :wonder:

no i mean did you run the car up until the engine cooling fan came in?

Yes I have tried that too but it still comes through hot

mine is the same but i thought it was just the temp knob thing, what you checking next, phil.

Well ater checking the temp knob and knowing that the coolant is ok as it hasn't blown my car up yet I'm at a brick wall with it. It has put cold air out when i was fiddling with controls to see what did what (its got some sort a recirculation button in it, god knows what its for) but now I could do with a bit of cold air I cant get it and I really don't know what to do next

Could it be the internal temp sensor at all as I've noticed a cut out area by the heater controls that looks like it'd be something to do with temp sensing possibly? I really do need this sorted, the missus is melting!!

not sure about that one, do you not have a friend with a same model year car to borrow there heater controls to eliminate them?

Unfortunately no, I only have one mate with a scoob and his is the bugeye. I might try getting it to the local subaru dealer and see how much they want to bankrupt me to look at it

I don't think classics other than Imports have full-on climate control.

I think it's all yer basic, push/pull flappy things with air-con being a "turn on the chiller" type of arrangement.

It's got to be a siezed up flap or a blockage in the cold air inlet. Have you had a look around the scuttle panel area to check for leaves, moss, other crap etc?

J.

I have been told (with the same problem of only being able to get hot air) that its prob the inlet as my air con isnt working either... so that would make alot of sense...

let us know if the problem lies here as I have to do mine @ some point!!

Call me stupid (everyone else does) but where is the scuttle panel and how can I check for and clean out any blockages?

the scuttle panel is the plastic trim at the bottom of the windscreen where your wiper blades sit

Oh yeah, I told you I was stupid!! I'll check it tomorrow now when I have some natural light and will let you know

If it's got air con, maybe the air con charge is empty ???

Look at the top of the ally cylinder by the n/s strut top and see if there is liquid in it, or bubbles moving across it. If empty, or bubbles, you are empty / low on air con material, Klea 134a, about 750 g.

The recirculation button puts the in-car air back through the ventillation system, so may help cool car down quicker in hot weather and keep out smells etc. when it is off an air is continually drawn in.

My car doesn't have air con unfortunately, could have done with that. Thanks for the info on the circulation button, had no idea what that was all about. Just really hope its something as simple as the scuttle panel getting clogged up, it's too damn hot to have no blowers going

Heater valve n/w m8

How could I check that?

I've pulled teh scuttle panel off and checked all round underneath it, it's as clear as anything, I also tried wedging my hoover down near the opening for the air to clear it out but all is clear. I checked the air it's pulling in when the fan is going and it's definitely cold going in but its always hot coming out, hotter even when the engine is running. Any ideas guys?

air stuck in the hoses ? is the top rad hose hot and the bottom one cold ?

They were like that after the coolant change. This problem has only occured since then and it's driving me mad. When we changed the coolant the top one was always hot and the bottom cold but as it's a radiator I assumed it was supposed to be like that. How can I sort that out without bleeding the system again cause it took 4 hours last time to remove an air lock?

happened to me both times i changed coolant, take the caps off tank and overflow, run engine with heater on max then keeping on squeezing both the rads hoses to force any air out. Worked for me.

Excellent, thanks. I'll give that a try. Fingers crossed it will work because it's driving me insane now. Next time I'm due a coolant change the local scooby garage can sort it out

Well I tried that with the hoses and both of them get warm so a friend of mine is leaning towards the thermostat being stuck so I bought one and I'll be fitting it later, fingers crossed yet again