Heater Control Valve problems

Hi there,

I think I know the answer to this question, but I thought I would seek confirmation from those that know these cars inside and out.

My HCV I think is not working properly. When on cold, the air that is coming from the vents is warm. Its definitely not hot, but is warm. When I put the fan control to 3 or 4, after a few minutes, it will cool down, but with the fan control on 1 or 2, it stays warm.
When I put the heater up to hot, it gets hotter, and cools down again when I put it to cold. Therefore, I believe my heater control panel is working correctly. When I put the AirCon on, it gets cold, and pretty quickly.

My question is: Do the HCV valves fail like this? Do you get a bit of heat soak through the pipes to make the heater matrix fairly warm? The HCV has never been changed, the car is a 2001. But, it only has 35k on the clock.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Alex

If it gets cold and quickly, I'd say the HCV is operational. Of course you need A/C to cool it, otherwise noone would buy them!
To me it sounds like everything is OK; it is normal to blow in hot air in summertime, regardless of position on hetare control panel...

Thanks very much for your reply.

That's put my mind at rest

Well, that answered my question....... Pipe snapped off the HCV while driving on my way to work this morning :roll:

TC Harrison in Huntingdon wanted £53.53 for a new HCV..... got a patent one delivered from central auto for £15. at that price, I dont mind changing it every 6 months.
10 mins to fit, 40 mins to bleed the coolant system

Nooooo!!! You'll be lucky if it lasts a month! I promise you I'm speaking from bitter experience

Oops, forgot to update this thread....

The parent one lasted aproximately 48 hours!!

Went to ford, asked for a trade discount on a new hcv. Fitted in 10 mins.

The patent one was ok when on the motorway, but as soon as the speed dropped, the temp in the cabin rocketed up!
Fitted the ford one and all is ok.
I got refunded for the crap one too from the motor factors.

Funny, My Puma (That's being replaced next week) has just started doing this....

I'm going to change the Heater Valve on mine. Been advised to get a genuine Ford one. Cheap ones on Ebay pack up quickly.

I fitted a brand new (eBay one) last night. It didn't work at all, the motor just kept 'clicking' and it didn't operate the valve. What an annoying waste of time.

The comments in this thread attribute to the reason why we always suggest using a genuine HCV, it just isnt worth the hassle hoping to get a good pattern as it's definitely a rare percentage of them!