So having parked my car up for a few weeks, jumped into it this evening and as the temps dipped, I decided to turn on the heaters. Turned on as they should but a few mins into driving, noticed not much heat was coming out - car had warmed up at this stage.  So turned up the fans which didn't give the usual sound of fans becoming more audible as you'd expect when increasing fan speed. When placing my hands near the vents, heat can be felt but only just. 

 

Ideas on what this could be? A search has led me to believe it could be the blower motor but could it be something else? 

Anyone??

Simple heater or Climatronic?

If Climatronic then there is a way of cycling/resetting all the motorised flaps by pressing a combination of buttons on the unit. The exact combination depends the version fitted. Search on the forum to find the combination for your version, identified by the location of the controls and whether you have LCD temp setting or rear lit dial for example.

If a fault is found, a fault code(s) can be displayed on the Climatronic panel.

Best way of searching this forum is by using Google with a search line of Briskoda 11 followed by your search terms. You could also try the search box at the top of the page but is not so effective.

 

Have you tried recycling the motorised valves by simply changing the temp requirement and direction of air etc on the unit?

Sorry should have said, it is Climatronic but not sure what version is fitted. The car itself is a mk 2 FL on a late 59 plate. 

So reset the flaps but still no joy. If plugging into VCDS, what am I looking out for? 

Check the pollen filter is not clogged with leaves then check the heater motor shunt resistors, a known fault I believe and which might show up on VCDS if they are monitored, someone else can confirm.

VCDS will give you a complete view of all modules in the car, including the Climatronic module and sub parts, with details of faults and module part numbers. The fault codes can be decoded on the Ross Tech website (makers of VCDS) together with advice and possible causes.

Try switching to Econ, on mine when its cooling below ambient nothing appears to come out of the lower vents and the top ones which are closed are whistling with the air trying to be blown through them, like you I suspected the fan but switching to Econ and the cold air immediately comes out the bottom ones

26 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Check the pollen filter is not clogged with leaves then check the heater motor shunt resistors, a known fault I believe and which might show up on VCDS if they are monitored, someone else can confirm.

Climatronic doesn't have shunt resistors it uses fully variable PWM to drive the motor at variable speeds.

 

Has the op tried turning the fan speed and temperature setting up to max and leaving it for several minutes with engine running?

 

Perhaps try disconnecting the battery to reset the Climatronic completely.

So carried out VCDS scan and nicely presented with the image attached along with a list of other fault codes with my nav, central locking, parking sensors and few more!! 

 

Looks like it is a new blower. 

Might be the fan is physically stuck, something jammed in it. Got past the pollen filter during a change, or picked up through recirc. If possible, try to get access and see if you can turn it by hand.

 

Mind you at 264k km it may have died of old age.

Edited 1 April, 20197 yr by xman

7 minutes ago, xman said:

Might be the fan is physically stuck, something jammed in it. Got past the pollen filter during a change, or picked up through recirc. If possible, try to get access and see if you can turn it by hand.

 

Mind you at 264k km it may have died of old age.

 

The milage is what I'm also thinking may have killed it. 

So next question, does the glovebox need to come out when replacing the blower motor or can it be done by just removing the bottom panel under the passenger side footwell? 

No idea

Xman thanks for the info re the speed controller, knowledge is power!!!

 

I was going to suggest fan failure if high mileage, mine went on the MK1 at around 300K miles, I bought some time by bodging and allowing a bit more carbon brush extension but it did not last long.

 

I was apprehensive but on the MK1 it was incredibly easy to remove and replace, really well designed, a couple of screws and it just slid out, I reckon the MK2 will be equally easy, they seem to have carried forward all the good ideas and improved on them. Fan replacement can be a nightmare on other vehicles.

19 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Xman thanks for the info re the speed controller, knowledge is power!!!

 

I was going to suggest fan failure if high mileage, mine went on the MK1 at around 300K miles, I bought some time by bodging and allowing a bit more carbon brush extension but it did not last long.

 

I was apprehensive but on the MK1 it was incredibly easy to remove and replace, really well designed, a couple of screws and it just slid out, I reckon the MK2 will be equally easy, they seem to have carried forward all the good ideas and improved on them. Fan replacement can be a nightmare on other vehicles.

 

Did you remove the glove box?

A few years ago but I am 99% certain that I didnt, I think that I had to remove a felt type cover panel held on with a couple of push or perhaps screw fasteners and then the fan unit just slid out of a type of dovetail slide, there may have been one fixing that locked it in place.

 

It was amazingly simple.

 

I have had the glovebox out of the MK2 trying to do heater flapperobics and it was pretty easy to do anyway so dont be concerned if it does have to come out.

Thanks

Had a 'slow-blow' fan on mine the other week, the car has hit 230k so I too assumed the motor may have failed. Took the motor out (pretty easy, theres a video on youtube somewhere for a LHD version which you can use for reference) and gave it the old "engineers tap" to see if anything was stuck. A few bits of grit came out but nothing much. I gave the bushes a good dose of contact cleaner and a wipe where possible, and WD40/ceramic grease where I could on bearings and moving parts. Made the motor flow a lot more freely! Put it all back to together again and now all is good as new. Took maybe 2 hours in total I think. Then again, ive taken 3 dashboards out of 3 different cars in the last year, so give yourself a good morning to do it

That was pretty much my experience aside from giving the brushes a bit more spring loading and usable length, it worked well but ultimately failed again.

 

If the OP has an exchange fan motor to fit, if its as easy as the MK1 and he has a youtube video to follow then 5 minutes will suffice. I was gearing up for several days seeing where the whole dashboard had to come out on other cars.

Will have a go this weekend at taking it out. Not decided on whether I go for a new unit or try salvage the existing one. Will report back as and when its done. 

Right guys I'm struggling to get the motor out. Watched the video on Youtube but that guy takes out the whole glove box. If accessing from the bottom, are there any screws that need to come out? I've unplugged one clip but motor isn't moving and seems to be held in solid. 

 

**Edit** got the thing out, a few sprays of WD40, kept spinning the motor, plugged back in to test and hey presto, its working again. 

Edited 6 April, 20197 yr by 59p