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No warm air in cabin

btw I presume that it's stuck in this position (the closed position) ??




IMAG0556__zpsffadb3f7.jpg






if it's stuck in the other (open) position, then the valve is stuck open and the matrix is blocked too





Stevearcade said:
Indeed Brian, I'm thinking maybe it's time to drain and replace the coolant, just to be on the safe side.
Click to expand...

you can write it up and then I'll do it too ....I've no plans to work on my car imminently because it's SORN and I'm using a J-reg Suzuki Alto 2-speed automatic 800cc at the moment (it was my mother's car and it's been sitting in the garage unused for several years)
 
It's exactly as pictured Brian.
 
Might do, I've got a little free time next week. But it would have to be done at the road side, which is never nice! As for the offending article. I'll do all I can to get it moving again. If I can't and it needs replacing, the part if only £50 according to LINGS, so if it comes to it, I'll get the part from HH, book it in at my local indie and get them to flush fluid, replace valve, refill with new coolant. Bish bash bosh! They've very good at my local place, will probably sort it in under an hour and charge very little for it.
 
Steve when you change the temperature in the car can you hear a motor turn?

Have you tried it manually from the engine bay?
 
aye it might not be the valve of course, from post #16 it could still be

item 3 (cable issue)
possibly the cable has come adrift or is rusted inside .....if it has come adrift you can move the valve by hand but if it has rusted internally you still won't be able to move the valve

or item 4 (transistor in link above or from picture in 2013 thread, found in #10)
if the transistor/power actuator is dead, you might be able to move the valve to the open position by hand


edit:
maybe see if you can detach the cable from the valve and see how easy/difficult it is to turn the valve
also with cable detached, try the hi-temp/o-temp trick and see if the cable extends and retracts
 
I would want to disconnect the valve actuating cable before trying to 'waggle' the valve free... that way you'll learn if it's the valve itself that's seized, or whether the actuating system is seized or otherwise unresponsive (which will require further investigation into the motor or maybe the motor drive electronics). And you may then be able to leave the valve in an open position to allow the heater to give out some hot air as a temporary measure.

Please don't buy a replacement valve without proving the current one to be jammed (and unable to be freed)!
 
My cars not lost any coolant sisnce my ownership of it in nearly 8 years. I have recently done a full coolant flush using honda coolant. Defo worth doing
 
Cheers lads. I shall have a go tomorrow. I shall unhook the cable and see if she moves. But I tried both hot and cold in cabin air with the engine running at normal temperature and there was no budging on this thing. It did not move.
 
Well I couldn't sleep worrying about the problem in your car ....... not really :lol:

Anyway I've just been out to the car to see if the valve can be moved with the cable attached ....it can't, don't try it, because at the other end, the cable is probably attached to either a small high-geared motor, or a worm-drive.

But it is easy to detach the cable from the valve. In the picture, the clip over the blue cable is very easy to pull away. Just get your index finger behind the tab on the bottom left (in the picture) then pull it sideways and the clip comes up, and the blue cable is no longer captive. Then the cable can be moved outwards a bit, and the metal loop pulled off the pillar on the valve. With the cable off the valve, the valve can be moved very very easily.

If you can do that, to test the motor, turn the ignition on (you don't need the engine running) set the aircon to OFF, fan speed as low as possible, and then
1. if the cable is retracted (for valve in the OFF position) put the temperature to LO, and you will hear the motor extend the cable
2. if the cable is extended (for valve in the ON position) put the temperature to HI,and you will hear the motor retract the cable

So there you have it, how to test the valve and the drive separately.
1. If the drive can be heard and the cable moves, but the valve is stiff, the valve is the problem
2. if the valve moves easily and the drive is silent (with cable not moving), the drive is dead
3. If the valve moves easily and the drive can be heard, but the cable doesn't move, then the cable has come adrift from the drive

.I'm not sure which of the above is most favourable, pros and cons for each.
 
Nice one Brian. I shall attempt this this evening. Weather permitting. That will have given the WD40 a nice 24 hours to soak in too.
 
Right, so yesterday I gave the valve a damn good soaking in WD40. I'm about to start an evening shift at school, but in the break between last lesson and when I start my evening duty at 5:00 I popped the hood, got a long flat blade out and prized off the loop on the end of the cable.

The valve was stuck, well sort of. More sticky! I gave it a damn good wiggle and it freed up and became much more how I imagined it should be. I reconnected the cable (with a little bit of tricky wiggling and using the same flat blade screw driver to push the loop back over the peg.

I set the temperature to "HI" and would you believe, I have hot air in the car again! Whoop! Major +1 for Brian, Jon, Cliff and the rest of the crew who helped out on this one. It's fixed and didn't cost a penny.

While the cable was fully extended, I squirted it with some spray can lube stuff I've got in the office (used for moving parts on disco lights and things) and squirted the inner part of the cable. Figured it would help the movement. Did a few more in/out temperature changes to make sure the thing was all good, it was.

So a massive thank you guys. You've enabled me to drive safely again the cold and damp, which is pretty important this time of year. And just for good measure, here are a couple of pictures:

Retracted cable for cold air - this is how it was stuck
2014-10-15163534_zpsde0aae46.jpg


Extended cable for warm air - this is most likely where it will be staying for the remainder of the winter
2014-10-15163555_zpsb5bfbc5f.jpg


Thanks again guys.

Next job on my to-do list is to change the coolant, seeing as how it's just above minimum :mellow:
 
Great job Steve.

When you change the coolant it's worth replacing the o-ring on radiator drain plug - if you re-use the old one, they can leak.
 
Cheers Cliff, will do.
 
tbh, that was a bit of a ham-fisted technique Steve, one wouldn't use a screwdriver to tune a Stradivarius, and someone at Honda has gone to great lengths to design (or copy the design) of that clip on the blue cable. When I looked closely at the clip in the dark with my torch, I could see the elegance of the way it works.

I strongly recommend a flush out ASAP if the valve was stiff. WD40 did nothing, there is a build-up of corrosion internally, and the next thing you'll have a blocked heater matrix or a blocked radiator matrix, or both.

But good to know that the car is warm again, and also to know that I was right all along :D
 
Great stuff Steve glad your sorted.
Also a good tip if this happens to anyone else
 
I've got next week off work so will sort it then. Thanks again guys. :D
 
Change the coolant. It sounds like its gone off. Plus give the system a good flush before refilling
 
Stevearcade said:
I'll get the part from HH, book it in at my local indie
Click to expand...
Glad you got it sorted; will bear this in mind!

Who's the Honda Indie or do you mean the Honda dealer in Bexhill? Who's HH? :)
 
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