air vents blowing cold?!

[guywithpajero]

I'm confused - When my heater is on most vents blow hot but one upper body vent (centre) blows cold?! What the hell could that be? I just had some work done chasing a coolant leak, got the paj back and viola - can they be related? Why do I have a feeling someone is about to tell me my thermostat is about to crap out?

[Micah17]

I have the same problem also. I could also not stop it from blowing cold so I took out my radio and manually closed the vents. I would also like to fix the problem. My back vent are also blowing cold.

[LeeHammy]

Hey we all seem to have that issue. I do have info on the rear heat issue. If you have a LWB you most likely have two A/C units. One for the front and one for the rear. Believe it or not you can be running A/C in the rear and heat up front and vice versa. I guess if you did that it would aid in dehumidification in the summer in a humid (Japanese coastal) climate.
You will notice in the rear you run heat from the bottom vent under the seat however you have no heat out of the ceiling vents. If you remove the cover on your A/C unit located behind the drivers side rear jump seat in the back you will also notice that the upright on that side is larger then the other side. This is because it acts as a main duct feeding the ceiling vents from the A/C unit you removed the cover from.
There is a 12V ceramic heater located downstream of the fan and A/C unit in the duct. Its a little and strange looking heater when removed. Mine heats up but very slowly and not very hot. I notice my air out the top vents is cool. Never cold but also never hot. This heater has seen better days but good luck finding a replacement. And making a Canadian Tire 12v heater fit would be asking for a car fire. Bets bet is if you want heat in the back just run the floor vents.
As for the center vents I don't know why they are not heating. On my owner manual (in Japanese) the vent layout shows these vents are all part of the main system in the front. Why they don't heat? (Possibly because it could overheat the instrument panel or it is intended for fresh air supply only) or there is another strange little ceramic heater beneath the dash I don't know about) all I do know is that I learn to live with the rear ceiling vents not running heat and I shut off the centre vents.

Oh and clean your rear A/C units removable washable filter.

Liam

[mararmeisto]

There is a slider underneath the clock that determines the air flow from the centre vents on the dash: slid one way and the air is heated/cooled by the HVAC system; slid the other way and it's straight from outside.

Most don't realise this feature until wintertime when there is a seemingly a very crisp breeze blowing on their left cheek/air/hand/knee.

And yes, the rear can be set independent of the front, which I can only imagine must make the automatic temperautre control really work for its pay.

[Pajero]

I think that alot of these switches are broken, I had to switch mine under the dash manualy as the clip at the end of the cable was broken.

[LeeHammy]

There is a slider underneath the clock that determines the air flow from the centre vents on the dash: slid one way and the air is heated/cooled by the HVAC system; slid the other way and it's straight from outside.

Most don't realise this feature until wintertime when there is a seemingly a very crisp breeze blowing on their left cheek/air/hand/knee..

Another slider in addition to the one that is obvious? Because this slider doesn't seem to make any difference. Its always cold out that vent.

[pajerry]

If the center vent is on blue, it is taking in outside air be it warm or cold. If you want recirculated air flip it to the black side and it will be slightly warmer. Im pretty sure its just meant to be a fresh air vent so it doesn't get stuffy. Kinda like on a plane with less control. Total guess through. I just keep it on the black position in the winter.

When its cold I found the Paj heating system to be really drafty on the hwy at the best of times and cardboard in front of the rad helped. Enough to make the GF complain forsure!

[LeeHammy]

When its cold I found the Paj heating system to be really drafty on the hwy at the best of times and cardboard in front of the rad helped. Enough to make the GF complain forsure!

Mine is from Brasil and boy do I know what you mean. "Its freeezing out like -10..." Its actually +4 but ok.
As fopr the cardboard... Anyone ever come accross a cold front made for a Pajero/Montero/Shogun?

[guywithpajero]

some really great posts guys - thanks!

[pajerry]

Okay, so just drove Van to Calgary yesterday, and I must say, the cold air only on the passenger side feet got really annoying. To the point that we had to put blankets on the feet and rotate seating positions to reduce the whining.

Where are these vent flaps under the dash that were closed manually. I'll take a better look today but would like a heads up.

Thanks.