heat to windscreen

[broken-wheel 659]

been chasing a fix for this for a while without taking the whole dash out

 

tested vacuum switch in centre console and works fine, heat works as expected, fan works as expected, all the buttons/sliders work as expected but when you throw the slider to the right to heat the windscreen you can hear the fan going but there is no air coming from anywhere .... is there a way to fix this without taking the dash out ?

[deankxf 20,266]

yes, there is a way to fix it without the dash out (providing the hoses are ok)

 

all the vents are vacuum operated.

do you have the the vac hoses hooked up in the engine bay,
 

what model car is it?.

[broken-wheel 659]

yes the vacuum works, i can operate the heat to the floor or face nut not windscreen, i've taken the centre console out and tested the vacuum hose and it all seems ok

 

car is an XE

[deankxf 20,266]

if you turn the engine off, it should go to screen..
if not, i have never had that issue... i'd have to see a heater box to work out why?(possibly someones hooked a vacuum hose up wrong)

[broken-wheel 659]

yeah with engine off it still don't go to the windscreen, i thought without vacuum it defaults to the windscreen but not the case here, everything works as expected except when you flick the lever to the right to go to the windscreen you just get the fan noise but nothing coming to the windscreen, hot or cold

[deankxf 20,266]

i haven't got a heater box laying around like i used to, so maybe someone can correct me if i am wrong.

but there is a plastic duct that clips to the heater box that the clips could have come off? can you feel air blowing near the hand brake lever when the engine is off,(vents should default to the screen)
 

i haven't looked under a dash for ages, but i think you might be able to see this duct from under the dash to the left of the hand brake lever. (stick your head next to the brake pedal.. get a torch and don't get stuck, and check for red backs if the car is spider ridden)

 

hope the pic helps? ist just one i had done in the past(made foam gaskets from seat foam)(this is an XF heater box, but they work the same pretty much)

 

 

[broken-wheel 659]

Tanks! I'll have a look tonight when I get home.

 

The centre console and glove box and under the steering wheel is off already so should be easy to look, I'll get back to you sometimes tonight when I have a look

[deankxf 20,266]

good luck, the console doesn't give you much to see, the vac hoses have a plug of about 8 vac hoses which sometimes pull out.. but it would always go to screen in my experience.. yours is a bit weird, thats why i was thinking your vent tube might be unclipped or the foam is completely gone

[broken-wheel 659]

yup there is a round vac plug, tested it and looks ok, no hissing or anything and no split hoses in sight

 

i did notice behind the radio there was a T piece in a black vacuum line with one of the ends blocked with a screw so not sure whats going on there

[deankxf 20,266]

yup there is a round vac plug, tested it and looks ok, no hissing or anything and no split hoses in sight

 

i did notice behind the radio there was a T piece in a black vacuum line with one of the ends blocked with a screw so not sure whats going on there

i don't have access to an XD or XE here, (have an XG, but it is working,and different enough not to be able to work it out)

EXTREME KARTS (Mark) has to take his dash out one day and go over the whole heater box/vacuum hoses, i'll probably be helping him out with that.. depends how urgent you need yours working, if you can wait or figure it out.

[broken-wheel 659]

Ok so I crawled under and you're right, it blows onto the steering column or there abouts when I set it to windscreen, a lot of air. So is it a dash out job or can it be fixed by practicing some gymnastics? I tried to get my head under there to have a look but I think i need to do some stretching beforehand and maybe some cues to what I'm looking for, all I seen was plastic and the under carpet 

[deankxf 20,266]

i read this last night but was too munted to do a reply that would make sense.

if that screen duct is unclipped, i have reached under and got one clip on i am fairly sure(was 20yrs ago, theres no way i'd try it now 20kgs heavier)

 

you can gain some room if you are careful, by removing the bolt in each kick panel and the 2 behind the center console(long ones with 10mm heads)

, this will allow the bottom of the dash to kind of open out a little.. if this isnt enough, dont force it.. the top 5 mountings along the screen are fragile(see NEW XE TOY thread to see how they break).

 

as much as pulling the dash out seems like a massive job.. it comes out whole, thats with cluster and everything(i never understand when i see people pulling them completely to bits..)its in the heater core replacement part of the service manuals. and i have done a thread on it ages ago
 

if you pull it out, you may as well pull the heater box out unless your air con works(why upset working air con, unless the heater core is leaking?)
even though the heater core isnt leaking now, its going to be old even if it was replaced 20yrs ago..

 

the links i can find are here(on xfalcon, someone copied it to here once.. ) if it has air con, i had to heat the TX valve to free the nuts going into it..not ideal, but the air con core isn't available anymore to My knowledge so don't wreck that if you can help it.

 

http://www.xfalcon.com/forums/index.php?/topic/34793-dash-removal/

http://www.ozfalcon.com.au/index.php?/topic/3318-diy-dash-removal/

[broken-wheel 659]

so is there a picture of something I can have a look at so I know what I'm meant to clip in? also since the dash is in pieces, can I put it all back together and remove the whole dash as a unit down the track if I can't reach hose clips ?

[deankxf 20,266]

so is there a picture of something I can have a look at so I know what I'm meant to clip in? also since the dash is in pieces, can I put it all back together and remove the whole dash as a unit down the track if I can't reach hose clips ?

yeah the only thing that makes pulling the dash out whole, is the radio(antenna mostly) and alarm wires or other added wires.

 

i cant find a good pic of the heater box to show the clips,

[broken-wheel 659]

ok i'll do some warm up stretches an try to get under there tonight ...

[broken-wheel 659]

Ok so i went under the dash and had a look, can't see much but took some photos as i can wield the camera better than my head 

 

This photo is taken  from the hand brake level from drivers towards passenger side behind the dash

 

 

This photo is of the black box at the drivers left foot, not sure what this is meant to do, it does have a vacuum line to it, i guess is for the footwell heater? anyway its loose and only rests on the handbrake umbrella lever 

 

 

everything behind there is super clean (relative to age of car) so I'm confident to stick my hands in there and do whatever needs to be done to clip the thing back on if it looks unclipped 

[broken-wheel 659]

Been doing some googling and came to one of your posts

 

 

the circled vent at the top, is that the one that goes all the way to the footwell? because it seems that's the one that's loose

[deankxf 20,266]

Yeah that's what I was expecting. .it's come unclipped. Shouldn't hang that low .probably does windscreen and feet. .you would probably see the vacuum move on the floor setting with engine running.

That first pic you just posted should have the vent box attached over it

[broken-wheel 659]

so it's dash out? or you reckon I can clip it back in? is it the bit that goes to the foot well that needs to be pushed up and to the right to clip in that hole ?

 

 

 

found a pic, I guess that is what it should look like? anyone got some pics of where the clips are?

[deankxf 20,266]

you should be able to push it into position.. might be able to get one screw in through the lip and be good enough..smear some silicone etc along the edges for a better seal..
it tucks in on one side and has 2 clips from memory(be 5 yrs since i had one apart i guess)

[broken-wheel 659]

Thanks, I'll drop the steering wheel and drop the dash methinks. Ive taken the two 10mm bolts out from the bottom of the console, i think there are only one on each side top of the kick panels yes? and the ones across the top near the windscreen ? Do I need to do anything about the handbrake cable ?

[deankxf 20,266]

with the hand brake, i undo the nuts at the firewall(engine bay on pre XF) undo the nut on the lever under the dash, pull it back about 50mm(has spikes into the dash) and rest it on the floor. leave the cable connected. easy to refit.

 

you might be able to just loosen the 5 screws on top and swing it out 50mm ish to get at that vent.. would be much easier if so. maybe remove 2 or 3 screws completely just incase something gets broken.

i'd undo the cable off the heater box behind the glovebox, they snap very easy. do this first.

[broken-wheel 659]

fixed, thanks! wasn't that hard once I took more photos and got my way around it, I'm going to glue it tomorrow or maybe put a self tapper in there but for now it's clipped back and and working as expected

 

ordered some dash lights as I noticed one was out, thanks again

[deankxf 20,266]

now you can help someone else with the same issue lol.

 

no idea why they used a clip here, but in 20yrs i have only had one of these fall off like yours(had about 20 cars over that time)
 

[broken-wheel 659]

i think the foam perishes with time and it becomes loose? they were built in the early 80's 

wast thinking of taking it out and putting a 12V hair driver but the meh ... the weight of the box is not that much