E36 328I Heater Problem

[Redbullracer]

Hi guys new to the forum and just got myself a 1996 e36 328i. When i got the car the climate control panel was playing up so removed it and its away getting repaired. So I managed to pick up another control panel which seems to work but the problem is: When the heater is on the fan comes on and you can control the speed so I know the fan is working. The problem is the heater is not blowing any air out of any of the vents. You can set it to the floor or up to the windscreen or even to the vents in the dash and nothing at all comes out. I removed the pollen filter and it was not in the best of conditions so just chucked it in the bin. Before I replaced the pollen filter cover I switched on the heater and the fan was blowing air out of where the filter goes. When I put the cover back on still nothing coming out of the vents. On the right side of the heater unit I found 3 motors 1 of which controls the fresh are vent and I recon the other 2 control the airflow direction flaps. When I press the button for the fresh air I can feel that motor working but when I press the buttons for changing the direction of the air flow none of the 2 motors seem to be doing any thing. Could this be a faulty digital control panel or could both of the flap control motors be faulty or is there something else between the control panel and the motors that could be faulty.

Thanks for any help.....Paul

[Guest Mister Dabsy]

Sounds suspiciously like the renowned "Hedgehog" heater regulator to me... Common fault :huh:

[Redbullracer]

I thought the regulator just regulated the fan speed and not the air flow flaps. You learn something new every day.

[Guest Mister Dabsy]

If its anything like the same system as mine (96 728 E38) there are temp sensors built into the vents, these send the actual car temp thru the digital control then tell the regulator what it needs to do LOL

[Greeney2k1]

Replacement guide in electronics section

your welcome

^_^ lol

[Redbullracer]

Woo hoo thats the heater up and running as it should. Tested all he wiring from the heater controls all the way to the heater and low and behold I eventually found a broken wire. Now on to sort out the noisy power steering and the abs fault.

[G4VHD]

Nice one

[andy-mcq]

happy days, gettin there

[Guest Mister Dabsy]

Damn those pesky wires !:rolleyes: