Blower and recirculation flap not working. (1.2 TSI Elegance, climatronic)

[kab]

Hey all,

 

My Fabia Combi Elegance mkii from 2010 has started giving me some trouble lately. The blower does not work at all (Climatronic 7 speed) and also the recirculation button does not trigger a sound that i could usually hear when the flap would turn into the other position. 

So far i tried to check if the fuse(39) is broken but it seemed fine. I tried to find out how to get the blower motor out but it seems that it is an entire dash-removal job so i'd like to find out if the issues actually point out to a faulty blower motor.

 

VIN: TMBJN65J6B3029496

 

Thanks for any help

[KenONeill]

34 minutes ago, kab said:

The blower does not work at all

OK, if you press the fan speed +/- buttons or the Demist button, does the demand fan speed shown on the display change? (Probably to 6/7 in Demist).

 

You also say the Recirc button doesn't work. Does that seem to be stuck in external mode or Recirc mode?

[kab]

All the buttons respond on the display and indeed goes 6/7 when i press the Demist button. I am not sure in which mode the recirc flap currently is, the recirc icon is shown and hidden when i press the Recirc button.

 

Another thing i just noticed is that i can hear some soft rattling for about a full second when i mess about with the controls and when i twist the key so the car powers on(not ignition).

[KenONeill]

37 minutes ago, kab said:

All the buttons respond on the display and indeed goes 6/7 when i press the Demist button.

Ok, after reading this in full, I think you may have the Recirc flap stuck in Recirc mode. Not sure how to fix that beyond that it definitely needs access to the heater box.

[mrgf]

The heater fan does unfortunately require the dash to be removed to swap it for a new one. A specialist will undertake the operation quite quickly but its still an expensive thing to change as the fan is quite pricey too. I doubt its worth fitting a used one either unless you know it to be working and/or are selling the car.

[kab]

Sadly i have some more problems with the car that have made me wanting another car badly but i also like to diy on the car and can fall in love with it again if the problems are solved. Removing the entire dash is not something that scares me but just seems to consume a lot of my time. 

 

Could a stuck recirc flap cause the fan to go faulty or disable itself? Upon searching for clues i took a dive and went under the glove box to look for answers and noticed a flap at the end of the passenger footwell. I took some videos while pressing the different buttons on the climatronic unit but it wouldn't move. Is this the recirc flap? The sound seems to come more from the middle than from that flap though.

 

Also, one of the other problems i have is that it was showing a MAP sensor fault. Both have been replaced in the meanwhile but my problem remains. EPC light goes on(mostly on low rpm or stationary after driving for a while) and goes into slow-mode, sometimes with an engine light that disappears some startups later again.

 

Upon searching for fixes for that issue, i also came across that the certain code i had, could also be caused by a stuck recirc flap but i went and tested that after i found it and heard the flap motor going. This is how i know that the sound is now not happening..

 

Anyway thanks for the help so far, just spewing out some thoughts

[LGM]

If you need any fully working parts I’ve got some for sale, removed them from my vRS.

[kab]

@LGM Thanks for the offer but i am not sure what to replace yet.

 

I ordered a Ross-Tech device to be able to actually find out what is going on. Will try to do a 'Basic function' for the HVAC and hope it will reset the flap and make the blower magically turn on again. Fingers crossed..

[kab]

Did some work on the car regarding the heater problems. Performing a basic setting didn't solve the problem so i started taking out the dash. I just tested the Blower by applying power and it spins so i guess that is working. Strangely the connector also shows it is giving power(12+ volt). When i press the recirculation button on the climatronic panel, the flap does not move. and the motor doesn't make any noise. I also tried looking for the blower resistor but can't seem to find it..

 

Can anyone show me where to go from here with this information?

 

2 Faults Found:
01274 - Air Flow Flap Positioning Motor (V71) 
            000 - -
             Freeze Frame:
                    Fault Status: 01100000
                    Fault Priority: 3
                    Fault Frequency: 159
                    Reset counter: 152
                    Mileage: 150258 km
                    Time Indication: 0
                    Date: 2059.14.24
                    Time: 14:34:36

01273 - Fresh Air Blower (V2) 
            000 - - - Intermittent
             Freeze Frame:
                    Fault Status: 00100000
                    Fault Priority: 3
                    Fault Frequency: 14
                    Reset counter: 175
                    Mileage: 152476 km
                    Time Indication: 0
                    Date: 2061.14.06
                    Time: 17:37:42

[kab]

Found the resistor, was looking at the one that is used in the manual blower speed version but i needed to look for the climatronic one. Could this be faulty part? Any way to diagnose?

[kab]

Another short addition, i measured the voltage to the blower while turning the fan speed knob, there was little to no movement of voltage, shouldn't this be going higher when fan speed knob goes higher?

[Breezy_Pete]

6 minutes ago, kab said:

Found the resistor, was looking at the one that is used in the manual blower speed version but i needed to look for the climatronic one. Could this be faulty part? Any way to diagnose?

 

Does it get 12V power on the red/black wire (pin 2 of connector) with engine running?

Edited 27 July, 2021 by Wino

[kab]

Just to be sure, are you talking about the connector that connects to the part shown in the picture?

 

[Breezy_Pete]

Probably not, as the device I'm referring to has a total of 7 wires going to it!  It's shown in the wiring diagrams for Climatronic as J126 "fresh air blower control unit" but can't be the same thing as that.

Where does that connect to? If it's an inline connection, what colour are the wires of the mating connector?

 

I seem to not know what I'm talking about.

See if you can find a thing anywhere nearby with 7 wires. 

 

 

[Breezy_Pete]

Ah, there's a connector on the  back!

Pin 2 of this connector:

 

[Breezy_Pete]

Fuse 39 feeds that black/red wire at pin 2, so see if you can measure 12V on one or other side of the fuse socket when engine is running (or both sides of it if you can measure with fuse in place).

 

 

[kab]

Haha yes i was just replying that! I measured 12v on the plug, on pins 2 and 4(without engine running though, does it rly need to run?)

[Breezy_Pete]

 

The feed to fuse 39, and on to this unit, pin 2, is via the so-called 'load reduction relay', which is definitely energised when engine is running. I didn't want to take the chance of suggesting checking it with just 'ignition on', in case that relay isn't energised then.  

 

Odd that you're seeing 12V on pin 4 though, as that's supposed to be the earth connection.  

 

 

[Breezy_Pete]

Or did you mean that you measured 12V between pins 2 & 4?

[kab]

Hehe yes, sorry English isn’t my main language so i might be confusing sometimes

[Breezy_Pete]

No worries.

In that case I think the unit you've found is faulty.

[kab]

Would this also be the reason that the recirculation flap is not working or should I diagnose that separately?

[Breezy_Pete]

Unrelated fault, I think. 

 

Recirc motors/potentiometers tend to wear out over time due to the fact that they are commanded to shut the flap to outside air every time reverse gear is selected.  But they don't seem to be designed to be robust enough to survive such frequent use.

 

 

 

Edited 27 July, 2021 by Wino

[kab]

Okay, i ordered a new control unit and a new flap motor. First i will swap the control unit and see if the flap motor starts working, if not I will replace that! After that i will lubricate the fan and try to stick everything back together!

 

Thanks for your help

[kab]

So today I tried out the new parts, first the control unit which didn't make the blower spin but the voltage was different than what I measured before so I lubed the blower and now it spins again! The flap motor also seemed broken and my replacement part had another 'arm' to move the flaps so I ended up swapping the motor and one cogwheel of the new part and got it working, happy days!

 

On to the next problem, p0068, already tried to swap out some sensors which didn't solve the problem so i am going to let it be tested for vacuum leaks, fingers crossed. Thanks for all the help!