can anyone help? - suddenly the first three speeds on the heater fan have gone completely dead - no sound or fan movement. But the fastest speed works fine. Completely out of the blue, seems unrelated to any other elec. mailfunction.

Any thoughts out there?

cheers

Mick

I'm not aware of the setup on VAG cars but have experianced similar on others and it might not be good news!!

They normally consist of a resistance on the lower speeds hence why fast works and one of the other resistors has gone open circuit (Fitted in series). They are also normally located inside the fan motor housing. If you can get at them then great, a trip to Maplins and a quick spell with some solder and your sorted but to be honest try a scrappy for a replacement.

**Update**

Just had a check and a new one might be around

Warranty surely ? It's a rather worrying thing imho as these things are always WAY overpriced and badly made for that price...

thanks very much Stu - I had thoughts in that direction, but hoped for a 'swift tap on the passenger doorhandle' sort of cure . . . I'll follow up the resistor idea.

Three years and no problems whatsoever, a couple of weeks out of guarantee and this comes along . . .grrr. I don't suppose the dealer will be sympathetic - I know the VW dealers (some time back) used to be reasonable when things had just gone out of guarantee, but my local Skoda dealer does a good impression of Dixons, as far as customer service goes . .

thanks again

Mick

For reference, in case anyone finds themselves in a similar situation: the diagnosis was correct - it was the 'resistor pack' that had failed. I asked the dealer if Skoda UK would entertain this as a warranty claim - the car was about four weeks out of warranty. They said they'd ask. Came back and said Skoda will pay for the part, but you'll have to pay labour. They advised it took a fair amount of faffing about. In the end they quoted

Fascinating quite how stupid car park attendants etc think you are when you pull up, lean your head towards them as if to speak . . . and the opposite window glides open . . .

That must be so embarrasing Almost as embarrassing as having the window pack up altogether and having to get out (squeezing inbetween the tiny gap between car and booth) to pay the car park attendent :rofl:

Chris

Glad it's all sorted (oh and of course that my diagnosis was correct )

Can't really complain at

Have done quite a few of them resistors (sorry I didnt spot the thread sooner). They are quite fiddly if you have large hands. The resistor sits in the heater box behind the glovebox, right at the very top.

I was kinda hoping you'd pop up and tell us where they were

Sorry!

You can't be perfect all of the time eh.

:confused: On Mick's Fabia the first three speeds went dead: one mine only the first speed has died.(yesterday)

I usually leave it running at this speed all the time so as to keep the air con (I do not have "posh" climate control) running all the time.

Does this indicate that the other speeds will also die in the near future?

Is each speed controlled by a separate resistor?

thanks in advance for any advice

Martyn

The exact same thing happened to me with my 2000 Fabia. Setting 0-1-2-3 were dead with only speed 4 working. Thanks to this post I quickly found out it was the resistor pack. It cost me £22 for the part and is easily fitted. I'm no expert but here's a basic breakdown of how to do it.

1. Take all you **** out of your glove box.

2. Take the glove box door off (two wee black plastic bolt-like things in the bottom right and left hand corners. Should prise out with a screwdriver but may require a bit of force).

3. Using a torque screwdriver remove the three screws along the top of the glove box, where it is attached to the dash. Then remove the two screws on the underside of the glove box.

4. Put these in your ashtray and they will roll off and disappear if you put them down on your drive like I did…

5. Remove the side panel i.e. the bit of plastic that covers the joint between the dash and glove box on the side (the same bit that covers the fuse box on the driver’s side). Use a flat headed screwdriver for this.

6. Gently prise out the glove box unit.

7. As you will look at it, the resistor pack is located to the top right. It's actually located inside the air 'duct' so it's not visible. What is visible though is the wires going to it.

8. Remove the wiring connection (squeeze and pull out) and then somehow or other remove the resistor pack (it's a round piece of plastic with the resistor on one end and a green wax-type substance around the rest of it - I told you I was no expert!)

9. Replace with new and connect up to wiring connection again. Switch on the ignition and CHECK IT WORKS!!

10. Repeat steps 1 - 6 but in the reverse order.

Hopefully this will help you anyone who's got the same problem. Like I said, it cost me £22 and they had the part in stock (so maybe a common problem).

The exact same thing happened to me with my 2000 Fabia. Setting 0-1-2-3 were dead with only speed 4 working. Thanks to this post I quickly found out it was the resistor pack. It cost me