Well I have been working on this problem for about 2 or three months now, three dealership visits, tried a ton of possibilities, and replaced many parts.
The issue here is there is just about no hot air coming into the cabin. Another extremely weird issue is as you move left to right (driver to passenger) the air coming out of the cabin vents becomes cooler. I proceeded with taking the car twice to MOB and once to Alexandria. Neither could figure out the problem, they just gave me a list of what may or may not be causing this. Some of which I agreed with and other things I didn't. I have done the climate control diag. and it completed with no faults or anything. I watched all the servo arms move. I smelled antifreeze so I replaced the reservoir tank which seemed to be leaking and wouldn't hold pressure, I have pictures later to show that mess. When MOB replaced a heater core in June of this past summer they apparently did a coolant flush but didn't tell me about the tank and all the sediment and crud in it. I would have gladly replaced the tank at that point. The cap was also blow to hell:pictures to follow. I then replaced the thermostat with no success, still no heat. Another thing that seemed weird to me was when I completed the climate control diagnostic while in mode 1 i think i could see the arm move for every two degree increase or decrease but when out of the diag. the servo arms only seem to move every ten degrees or 5 or so clicks. Does that make sense? I am also concerned about all the built up matter that was laying in the tank being a problem. I might add that the dealerships said that everything's hot in the right places but they couldn't figure it out so maybe we all can.

Any help would be appreciated...I can't take a girl out when it feels like she's got a/c blasting her when the heats on HIGH!

Cheers everyone

Here is a picture of the new and old tanks...



And the caps, in the first pic the new cap is on the left and the reverse for the second picture.



A last a picture of the liquid that came out of the tank...and I wanted to add that this isnt the stuff coming out of the bleed screws...that stuff is pristine.

 

TTT any ideas are welcome, thoughts, concerns also.

 

I can't find the part, but I believe that in the UK they call it the heater core that has gone bad. It is located in the cabin. Sounds like this might be the problem.

 

I think he said they replaced his heater core....

You said you replaced the thermostat, did you put it in right? Is the car operating at normal temperature? Are you sure?

There are basically two parts to getting heat into the car - the hot water into the core and then the air flow thru the core and into the car. You need to determine which side is giving you the problem then you can find the fix.

So, if you have a nice hot heater core - but no air being ducted thru it - you won't have heat. Likewise, if the core is cold, you can't heat the car.

If the dealer says all the things that are supposed to be hot are, then it sounds like you have a control problem - either the air isn't getting thru the core, or it's not being ducted correctly. Can you manually open the ducts, or are you getting lots of flow and it's just cold?

If the latter, then either the valve that ducts water to the core isn't opening (or opening enough to let full flow) or the core is blocked. My first suggestion is to backflush the system to make sure it's not loaded with crud, then see if it works any better.

God luck!

Just like with A/C systems, they always fail to work when you need them the most!

 

Looks like the tank was bad...needed replacing anyway. Unless the system was low on fluid (air in the heatercore as a result or something along those lines) I think you need to look at a few items...like the hoses on the firewall side going to the heater core...are they hot to the touch after a drive? Is the heater core hot...if yes, then it is a distribution issue...but if the coolant is not getting into the core and circulating, you will never have heat...
It sounds like it must be troubleshoot systematically...eliminating one item at a time, rather than trying different items...that approach has not worked.
So check that you have hot fluid in the hoses leading to/from the core...
One tip...
I find I can get adquate heat, even with the fan off with the auto climate system with the carvmoving....
Simpley set a temp...then turn the fan off...air will be forced through the heating core, and come out the vents...need more heat, turn on thectemp controller, set a higher temp, then turn the fan to off....you will get warmer air....the sunroof can be cracked open to get more air through the system...
Most cars function like this....
It let's you get heat even if the fan fails...
The side effect is folks sometimes set the temp to max...then wonder why they get hot air comming out the vents with the fan off....

 

When you say dealer...is it a mini dealer or a different make/used car dealer?
I reRead you said they mentioned everything was hot in the right places...
There is a thread where a person or two have used bent coathangers..the wire ones, to manually open the mixer doors to get heat...
Just a thought....

 

Would not be the first time that I have heard of a heater core being installed and found bad. Could also be an air lock at the core.

Is the car overheating?

 

Thanks everyone!

@MINIDave - How do I go about flushing out the system. There could be crud in there and its possible after seeing all the sediment come out of the tank. An what do you mean manually open the ducts?

@ Zippy - These were all MINI dealers...The two metal hoses to and from the core are extremely hot after a drive and even after about 5 - 7 minutes at idle. I am going to have to try and wedge the coat hanger up and see what happens, I dont have anything to loose at this point. I saw that also i just thought it was to deflect from the defrost to the feet. Did I read incorrectly, if so I suppose the hanger actually moves the mixer for hot cold air? I do feel an ever so faint warm air but the other vents blow out cold air so I don't even feel the little warmth from the vent to the left of the steering wheel.

I am going to try and get a coat hanger up there and see what happens...

Thanks for the insight gentlemen.

BTW daflake I am just north of you in Baltimore county

 

Let us know how it goes, I am interested in how this one pans out, especially after a dealer looked at it several times.

 

Before you just stick a coathanger up there, check thecthread.....you bend it a pretty specfic way to pull the doors open/shut.

 

Is it for the cold/hot air or is it for the foot well and defrost?

 

Yes i am going to keep a log of all this because I don't want to do anything twice ya know? Good thing winter break is coming, this will allow me to tear down the center console if needed. I will probably take the car back to the dealer once more maybe one last different one as in Annapolis and see what they have to say.

Cheers

 

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