4th Gen HEATER QUICK FIX

Rick89GTS

New member
4th Gen HEATER QUICK FIX

For a temporary quick fix:

Undo the piano-wire loop on the heater inlet located on the firewall.
Push the lever all the way to the rear for heat.
Slide down by the passenger side left footwell beside the heater.
Unclip the white plastic clip that holds the heater vent control arm.
Push the lever all the way forward and that will allow heat to enter the cabin. (If you don't unhook the arm, intermittent contact will cause it to default back to the cold position.)

This will get you through winter but the long term fix is the soldering repair. I've done 4 already [Ugh] It ain't too bad.


01heater_firewallinlet.jpg

03.jpg


Here's how it looks unclipped. It will move back, so check it every now and then.
*Don't lose that little clip - keep it in a safe place.
heaterservoclip.jpg


*Here's the direct link to the long term fix / soldering method, (originally posted by Zak062 at http://www.st162.net):

http://www.st162.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=878
 

Kcman91gts

New member
So what are the symptoms this can cause ? if this has happened does it cause the vehicle to produce no heat at all ? or just not very warm heat ? and do you seriously have to take apart the WHOLE dash just to take out the center console in these vehicles ?
 

Rick89GTS

New member
Kcman91gts":1767lqnk said:
So what are the symptoms this can cause ? if this has happened does it cause the vehicle to produce no heat at all ?
or just not very warm heat ?

You will get no heat or intermittent random switching from hot to cold. It depends on how big the gaps are in the cracked solder connections; if they're close to touching, you may get intermittent heat.

Kcman91gts":1767lqnk said:
and do you seriously have to take apart the WHOLE dash just to take out the center console in these vehicles ?

Not the WHOLE dash, but you will have to remove the surrounding bezels and any overlapping trim pieces like the glove box and lower dash piece.
 

transce080

New member
Rick89GTS":2pdj0id0 said:
Push the lever all the way forward and that will allow heat to enter the cabin.
Ah, I finally found this thread again! You are my #$%&ing hero! Thank you, then thank you some more, and then thank you on top of that. You have made this winter infinitely more bearable once I finally understood why my heat would mysteriously stop working sometimes. I didn't bother disconnecting the clip, I just push the lever back by hand if it doesn't go into place which is only about once a week. I wanted to come back and say thanks sooner but had trouble finding the thread again.
 

Rick89GTS

New member
You are most welcome.
You have a good idea of how frustrated I was trying to figure out the stupid heater control panel.
I'm just glad this fix has helped many Gen4 owners :)
 

jonahs_3sgte

New member
just did this the other day
to bad i didnt read this til today
would have saved me the hassle of pulling the lower part of my dash apart but oh well i got heat now
 
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