HVAC vent locations? Cold driver side.

[James_FRwagon]

Morning all.

So I've been going through some problems with my heating recently. I have a 2014 Leon FR ST 2.0 tdi with dual climate control.

It started off a month or two ago as the summer faded away, I noticed my car was blowing air but it wasn't even warm. It turns out my heater matrix was blocked, to a point where I couldn't even blow through it. So I've picked the car up last week from the garage that replaced it, and it works! .... kind of.

So now, the passenger side is lovely and hot, but the driver side (feet and face blowers) are only very slightly warm. Now, when I turn on the face blowers, i can hear a click and a slight creek from the back of the dash, sounding immediately like one of the blower vents is sticking or being blocked by something.

My question is, is the vent part located directly behind the matrix? Could the mechanic have knocked one of the vent motors out of place or moved something in the way to block it? Is it something I can easily check and release so it moves freely?

Photos or drawings, or even some type of tutorial would be an absolute life saver, I froze my ass off on the way to work this morning! Was almost tempted to hit cruise control and climb over to the passenger side!

James.

 

[Lozzy15]

One thing you could try first is to reset the adaption values with VCDS or a similar tool, could be that since things have been touched they need to be re-adapted. It's a quick easy thing to check first that may resolve the problem.

 

[James_FRwagon]

One thing you could try first is to reset the adaption values with VCDS or a similar tool, could be that since things have been touched they need to be re-adapted. It's a quick easy thing to check first that may resolve the problem.

IT's finding someone near me that has VCDS I've done the reset thing where you hold the AC and face blower buttons but that didn't do anything and can still hear it sticking afterwards!

Would that VCDS give readings for each vent to see if one is blocked? Could i use carista to get that? i have a carista dongle.

thanks for the reply!

 

[RUM4MO]

It does sound a lot like the driver's side temperature flap motor is the problem, now the only thing is, it has been said that the matrix gets removed relatively easy via the passenger side and so I'd doubt if the mechanics would need to go anywhere near the temperature flap motor - but it is obviously causing you a problem now.
The only thing is, was it like this prior to that repair and you didn't notice it, or was it okay prior to that repair, you do seem to have "a noise" now that you did not have before - or is that not just you being more aware of any new noises after that repair?
Having your dealer run diagnostics on that HVAC system would let them observe the electrical feedback responds from all flap motors and that would either reveal that all the motors are travelling through their intended positional changes - that is if your mechanic is able to work that out. Running basic settings or whatever the official dealer tool calls it would re-cal the system and maybe slightly hide any issues - and still not get a faulty flap to move through its full intended span of travel - though if the results were interpreted intelligently the mechanic would still be able to work out that the flap travel was being limited either because it is faulty or there is now something physically stopping it.
Not in any way rocket science.
Just to let you know if you don't know already, every flap motor in the HVAC system has a built in positional feedback capability, and it is that feedback that confirms that it had moved to its correct or demanded position by the controller - this feed back system is simply a carbonised resistive track with a wiper contact, all/most VW Group cars that have this system can end up with either a dirty track or wiper, so these systems can and do fail with time, demanding Hi then waiting a few seconds, say 10, then demanding Lo then waiting maybe 10 seconds, then repeating this maybe 10 times might just clear the dirty track and/or wiper enough to restore correct operation for a short time - and so give you a better clue as to what is wrong. Obviously if there is now a physical barrier that is stopping the full movement nothing will change.

 

[James_FRwagon]

It does sound a lot like the driver's side temperature flap motor is the problem, now the only thing is, it has been said that the matrix gets removed relatively easy via the passenger side and so I'd doubt if the mechanics would need to go anywhere near the temperature flap motor - but it is obviously causing you a problem now.
The only thing is, was it like this prior to that repair and you didn't notice it, or was it okay prior to that repair, you do seem to have "a noise" now that you did not have before - or is that not just you being more aware of any new noises after that repair?
Having your dealer run diagnostics on that HVAC system would let them observe the electrical feedback responds from all flap motors and that would either reveal that all the motors are travelling through their intended positional changes - that is if your mechanic is able to work that out. Running basic settings or whatever the official dealer tool calls it would re-cal the system and maybe slightly hide any issues - and still not get a faulty flap to move through its full intended span of travel - though if the results were interpreted intelligently the mechanic would still be able to work out that the flap travel was being limited either because it is faulty or there is now something physically stopping it.
Not in any way rocket science.
Just to let you know if you don't know already, every flap motor in the HVAC system has a built in positional feedback capability, and it is that feedback that confirms that it had moved to its correct or demanded position by the controller - this feed back system is simply a carbonised resistive track with a wiper contact, all/most VW Group cars that have this system can end up with either a dirty track or wiper, so these systems can and do fail with time, demanding Hi then waiting a few seconds, say 10, then demanding Lo then waiting maybe 10 seconds, then repeating this maybe 10 times might just clear the dirty track and/or wiper enough to restore correct operation for a short time - and so give you a better clue as to what is wrong. Obviously if there is now a physical barrier that is stopping the full movement nothing will change.

That's great information mate thankyou for your time. I am an auto electrician at jaguar cars in castle bromwich and the main test we do before vehicles leave the plant includes a HVAC vent values check which gives results like you explained, but i've never had to actually work on one that failed because the very rarely did fail. I might book it into Seat themselves and get them to try and run some type of HVAC diagnostic check so they can officially tell me if one of the flaps is blocked or obstructed. Do you know where abouts said flap is? is it on the driver side etc? would be a massive help if it's easy to get to i can see the motor whilst pressing the buttons to see if it is actuating properly!

 

[James_FRwagon]

That's great information mate thankyou for your time. I am an auto electrician at jaguar cars in castle bromwich and the main test we do before vehicles leave the plant includes a HVAC vent values check which gives results like you explained, but i've never had to actually work on one that failed because the very rarely did fail. I might book it into Seat themselves and get them to try and run some type of HVAC diagnostic check so they can officially tell me if one of the flaps is blocked or obstructed. Do you know where abouts said flap is? is it on the driver side etc? would be a massive help if it's easy to get to i can see the motor whilst pressing the buttons to see if it is actuating properly!

Also, it did work fine prior to the work, I'm sure of it!

 

[RUM4MO]

Typically most of that stuff will be hidden by trim, but there is a copy of the official workshop manual somewhere on this site, I have down loaded a copy in case I need to offer any support to my daughter for her MK3 Leon, I had already bought copies of the same for my wife's 2015 Polo and my 2011 S4 from Easymanuals.

I'm not convinced that all flap motors have external linkages to give you an idea of how far they are moving though.

 

[Bedlam]

Typically most of that stuff will be hidden by trim, but there is a copy of the official workshop manual somewhere on this site, I have down loaded a copy in case I need to offer any support to my daughter for her MK3 Leon, I had already bought copies of the same for my wife's 2015 Polo and my 2011 S4 from Easymanuals.

I'm not convinced that all flap motors have external linkages to give you an idea of how far they are moving though.

Link to manuals https://forums.seatcupra.net/index.php?threads/leon-mk3-official-seat-workshop-manuals-link.442353/