Had the Big White adventure machine for two years and its GREAT. But now the heater fan has stopped working. a case of the lights are on but there's nobody at home! The heater controls all light up and seem to function but there is NO BLOW. I checked the 40 amp fuse for this circuit in the end of dash fuse box and its ok, even tested it with a meter and it is not blown. I fear its going to be electronic wizardry deep in the bowels of the dash thats failed and so a dealer job "if" its covered by warranty. Any ideas from the readers?

Thanks

Ciderpress

It will be covered. Don't worry!!

I'm sure it was covered under warranty, but what was the cause and has anyone else had the fan fail?

I need to find out before committing it to a Skoda dealer, as my Yeti is now out of warranty and if it's a simple fix, I'd like to do it myself if possible.

 

John H

Ciderpress, are you sure you checked the correct fuse?

Not calling you an idiot because the fuse diagram is confusing to say the least.

It's upside down and back to front from what I've worked out so far but it might have changed by the time I look again.

Ciderpress, are you sure you checked the correct fuse?

Not calling you an idiot because the fuse diagram is confusing to say the least.

It's upside down and back to front from what I've worked out so far but it might have changed by the time I look again.

I think you'll find that Ciderpress's original post was in May 2012, and that I've just resurrected it!

So it's me that currently has the problem, and yes, I've checked the correct (40A) fuse and it's fine.

Just like Ciderpress, everything else to do with the heater is working fine. All the appropriate lights light up whewn you press buttons, you can hear the flaps open & close when you select screen/eye level vents/footwell etc, it's just that the fan doesn't run on Auto or Manual - which is not particularly convenient when the windows start misting up!

 

And my SM is out of warranty :(

This happened to my Superb. Needed a new fan I'm afraid.

When this sort of thing happens on the Freelander it is normally the resistor pack for the fan that has failed. Often found on the side of the fan motor. Easy enough repair if you can solder.

I'll have to find the fan first!

Too wet outside today for vexploring,  I'll see what weather tomorrow brings.

Not sure if this is any help but the fan on my lads Fabia II stopped working on all but setting 4. Found it to be a common issue with the resistor pack failing also.

 

 

TP

Ok, so I've had a good look at the heater motor area today, using ELSAWIN to point me in the right direction, but I've totally failed to find the Motor Resistor Unit!

It looks as though RHD cars have a different motor mounting from the LHD cars shown on ELSAWIN, and the simple removal of the resistor unit that in theory can be done just by removing the foam trim that covers the pollen filter and disconnecting a couple of multi-plugs, seems to be far more involved on a RHD car. I think the glove box has to come out, which involves disconnecting the passenger airbag switch - and I'm not too happy about doing that.

 

Looks as though it's back to the dealer next week. They immediately offered to submit a claim to Skoda for a contribultion, so perhaps that's the best way to go (and I'll get a 2 year warranty on the repair).

It certainly seems to be a regular fault will all models in the VAG range.

 

John H

Edited 10 January, 201412 yr by speedsport

It certainly seems to be a regular fault will all models BY VARIOUS MANUFACTURERS .

 

John H

 

Corrected that for you, as I have heard of it now on VAG, LR, Peugeot, Renault, and even a few Fords

Corrected that for you, as I have heard of it now on VAG, LR, Peugeot, Renault, and even a few Fords

Don't have info on the others, but it was certainly a very common problem on Scenics and Lagunas from 2005 on, till around 2010 when uprated components were introduced.  Not so much the fan motors, more the resistor packs that either failed progressively losing fan speeds as it went, or the section of loom leading into the resistor pack burned out, taking all speeds together.  Renault even sold a special fix kit with a new section of uprated wiring, through dealers. The official installation guide said the whole dash had to come out to reach the resistor pack. But all stories said that never went back together properly and always rattled afterwards. Several enterprising owners (me included) did however work out that with some careful surgery to hidden parts of the dash behind the instrument cluster, it was just possible to reach the resistor pack with scars on the arms to prove it.  Best trick was to tie a length of string to the torx key you used to remove the screws holding the pack into the heater trunking.  So when you dropped the key, at least you could retrieve it again. 

 

How that helps if/when my Yeti develops a similar problem I'm not sure. But at least I know such things are possible.

Edited 10 January, 201412 yr by FlintstoneR1

Fan failure progress report:

Dealer just phoned to say that the motor electronic control unit has failed.

The good news is that cars with dual zone climate control don’t have the troublesome (£41) VAG resistor pack (which explains why I couldn't find one).

The bad news is that the electronic control unit is not available separately, but is integrated with the motor, so a whole new motor assembly is required at a cost of approx £340 for the parts, plus labour.

I am horrified, to say the least.

 

The garage has asked Skoda for a contribution, but knowing my luck even if they cover part of the cost it's still going to be ******  expensive.

 

I appreciate that most Yeti forumites are extremely pleased with the reliability of their cars and I may have been unlucky, but without doubt I have suffered dreadful reliability with my Yeti which has been the most fault-ridden car that I've  owned in 40 years of motoring (including many Fords and a couple of slightly questionable cars from Fiat and Peugeot).

 

I'm beginning to wonder what else is going to go wrong and whether I can afford to keep it.  I have been incredibly tolerant so far and have constantly sung the praises of the car resulting in 5 others (that I know of) having been bought by acquaintances after seeing mine. Whilst I love the theory of Yeti ownership and love the way it drives etc, the actual experience is wearing thin – elements of the design seem too complicated for Skoda/VAG to make them reliable. If I change (not that I can really afford to), should I even stay with VAG products?

 

Sorry, rant over!

 

 

John H

Edited 15 January, 201412 yr by speedsport

I collected my SM from the garage today, the bill......   £475 !!!!! Labour was £135, parts £340.

The price that manufacturers charge for some car parts is scandelous. it's just an electric motor and a matchbox sized piece of electronics for goodness sake.  I could buy a computer or a washing machine for that!

 

Now waiting for a response to the  goodwill claim to Skoda.

 

More oxygen please doctor.

My heater fan has failed twice.

On both occasions speeds 1, 2 & 3 did not work, but 4 was OK.

I was told that speeds 1, 2 & 3 were controlled by a variable resistor which had failed.

Speed 4 by-passes the resistor to run on full power, hence why it still worked.

On the first occasion (this summer) just the resistor was replaced. 

On the second occasion (to-day) the resistor was replaced, but the wiring to the resistor was inspected. 

Skoda (I assume) have issued some sort of directive regarding these failures.

The wiring was found to be chaffed and presumably shorted on the bodywork.

I hope that this has cured the problem, as my Yeti is out of warranty in the new year.

My heater fan has failed twice.

On both occasions speeds 1, 2 & 3 did not work, but 4 was OK.

I was told that speeds 1, 2 & 3 were controlled by a variable resistor which had failed.

Speed 4 by-passes the resistor to run on full power, hence why it still worked.

On the first occasion (this summer) just the resistor was replaced. 

On the second occasion (to-day) the resistor was replaced, but the wiring to the resistor was inspected. 

Skoda (I assume) have issued some sort of directive regarding these failures.

The wiring was found to be chaffed and presumably shorted on the bodywork.

I hope that this has cured the problem, as my Yeti is out of warranty in the new year.

Is yours fitted with climate control, or just Air Con? You talk about speeds 1,2,3 & 4 which suggests you don't have climate control.

Air con cars have a resister pack on the outside of the heater motor unit which can be replaced separately.

It appears that pre F/L cars with climate control have a 7 or 8 speed control unit built into the heater motor itself which then has to be replaced as a  whole unit at horrendous cost (like mine was!)

The fan has failed again, the third time.

 

My Yeti only has three years warranty, which ended in January.

 

I will argue that it is an on going problem, which they have failed to fix.

 

If they will not fix it under the warranty, how easy is it to replace the resistor oneself?

 

However that dose not solve the problem as to why the resistor keeps failing (more chaffed wires) ?

 

Seems to be a problem on other Skodas as well.

^ Has the pollen filter ever been replaced? Lack of airflow due to a clogged filter can contribute to the death of these resistor packs as they are cooled by the very airflow that they are regulating.

If they will not fix it under the warranty, how easy is it to replace the resistor oneself?

 

This is on a Golf, should imagine it's going to be similar.

The second clip about replacing the pollen filter shows the blower resistor better.

This is left hand drive so you will find it in the passenger footwell.

 

The YouTube clips are here

 

I have had to dismantle the blower on my Yeti for cleaning and greasing. I don't remember any resistors near it, and there definitely weren't any resistors on the blower assembly itself. I haven't got a climate control.

PS

Mine is a MY 2012 Yeti.

Edited 10 August, 201510 yr by briskycat

Looked in the catalogue, the resistor is there (number 11, p/n 1K0 959 263 A). I don't know how I managed to miss it while cleaning the blower... Anyway, pollen filter doesn't seem to protect it as it doesn't protect blower.
 

I can't tell from that picture whether the resistor pack is in the airflow or not, but assuming it is, I can't understand how the pollen filter could *not* affect airflow rate if it was clogged up with debris??

I can't tell from that picture whether the resistor pack is in the airflow or not, but assuming it is, I can't understand how the pollen filter could *not* affect airflow rate if it was clogged up with debris??

The resistor has to be in the airflow as the power it's consuming to reduce the speed of the blower will burn it out if not cooled by the airflow.

The only way it won't be affected by a blocked pollen filter is if the system is on recycle.

The only way it won't be affected by a blocked pollen filter is if the system is on recycle.

I wonder how, considering that the filter is behind the blower (so it doesn't matter where the blower takes air)?

Personally, I believe those resistors should be designed to work normally being cooled only by convection.

Personally, I believe those resistors should be designed to work normally being cooled only by convection.

The heat-sink would need to be enormous for that to happen.

The heat they produce is too much in an enclosed space and they would burn out in no time, you would not want to touch one on fan speed one.