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Heater fan - screen demister not working
Had a spot of bother last Friday - I couldn't get any air to blow up on the screen and therefore couldn't demist. Not funny in the rain, trying to get home and knowing you need the truck the next day 
I had a play with the search button which led me to the linkage on the right hand side of the heater box - viewed by laying on your back in the driver's footwell with a torch. Reached up and tried all five fan direction buttons on the dash. After a while I sussed out that the "windscreen/feet" button and the "winscreen only" button was not moving the linkage far enough for it to work properly (Working your way along the row of five direction buttons should take the linkage from one end of its travel to the other end in stages). Tried some WD40 on the linkage (including a dose in left eye for good measure
) but no improvement 
Decided to take the easy option; as I needed to speak to TonyN on another matter I picked his brains 
Helpful as ever he described how the linkage is operated by a cable which in turn is operated by a servo. He had known the cable to kink at the servo end on a couple of Surfs. To access the servo I removed the lower left hand, right hand and centre sections of dash. Behind and below the radio there is a small plastic cover with two retaining screws. Behind the cover I found the servo ............. and kinked cable
I found it easiest to unscrew and remove the radio and cage (only 4 x screws) for access.
So, I straightened the cable and tried the heater direction controls and all was well - Yipee
Tried them all again another ten or dozen times and it all looked good. Satisfied and contented I refitted everything and tested the operation again for good measure .................. Time for many obscene words - it was back to square one.
So its Friday night, freezing cold, legs are soaked where they,ve been dangling out the door, I've lubricated my left eye, burnt my cheek on the 300 watt working lamp and the damn thing is still not playing
Pulled all the dash out again etc and found the cable kinked again. After much investigation and faffing about I found that the cable was only bending under certain conditions; the fan needed to be at full or almost full speed and then when moving from "feet only" position to "screen/feet" position it would kink. So it seems that with the air rushing through the heater box a flap or something is jamming when moving between these two positions.
Didn't much fancy removing the heater box so I'm going to try and remember to turn the fan off before I alter the direction in future. I guess a new cable wouldn't hurt but for now I,ve left the white plastic cover off the solenoid. By doing this I can remove the small piece of lower centre dash (the bit with the little storage tray in it) and then reach into the back of beyond and straighten the cable if needed.
Hope this will be of use in the future and if anyone knows of something I have missed then now's your chance to let us know..............
I had a play with the search button which led me to the linkage on the right hand side of the heater box - viewed by laying on your back in the driver's footwell with a torch. Reached up and tried all five fan direction buttons on the dash. After a while I sussed out that the "windscreen/feet" button and the "winscreen only" button was not moving the linkage far enough for it to work properly (Working your way along the row of five direction buttons should take the linkage from one end of its travel to the other end in stages). Tried some WD40 on the linkage (including a dose in left eye for good measure
) but no improvement Decided to take the easy option; as I needed to speak to TonyN on another matter I picked his brains Helpful as ever he described how the linkage is operated by a cable which in turn is operated by a servo. He had known the cable to kink at the servo end on a couple of Surfs. To access the servo I removed the lower left hand, right hand and centre sections of dash. Behind and below the radio there is a small plastic cover with two retaining screws. Behind the cover I found the servo ............. and kinked cable
I found it easiest to unscrew and remove the radio and cage (only 4 x screws) for access.So, I straightened the cable and tried the heater direction controls and all was well - Yipee
Tried them all again another ten or dozen times and it all looked good. Satisfied and contented I refitted everything and tested the operation again for good measure .................. Time for many obscene words - it was back to square one.
So its Friday night, freezing cold, legs are soaked where they,ve been dangling out the door, I've lubricated my left eye, burnt my cheek on the 300 watt working lamp and the damn thing is still not playing
Pulled all the dash out again etc and found the cable kinked again. After much investigation and faffing about I found that the cable was only bending under certain conditions; the fan needed to be at full or almost full speed and then when moving from "feet only" position to "screen/feet" position it would kink. So it seems that with the air rushing through the heater box a flap or something is jamming when moving between these two positions.
Didn't much fancy removing the heater box so I'm going to try and remember to turn the fan off before I alter the direction in future. I guess a new cable wouldn't hurt but for now I,ve left the white plastic cover off the solenoid. By doing this I can remove the small piece of lower centre dash (the bit with the little storage tray in it) and then reach into the back of beyond and straighten the cable if needed.
Hope this will be of use in the future and if anyone knows of something I have missed then now's your chance to let us know..............
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