- Joined
- February 3, 2007
- Messages
- 3,637
- Reaction score
- 256
- City, State
- Oakland, CA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '00 Mountaineer
2000 Mountaineer with the HVAC panel shown below, dealing with some weird issues with the heat and AC. The back story is I had a roll cage built a while ago that goes through the dash and firewall into the engine bay. Because the A-pillar tubes enter the dash where the side vents are, the ducting to the side vents was chopped off so that the HVAC air just blows out behind the dash now. I still have the center dash vents and the center defrost vents, it was maybe 6 inches of the ducting that was cut out for each pillar tube right where the tubes are. But after the cage work, the issues I started having are:
1) When the system is turned off, there's still a very small amount of air coming out of the vents, as if the system is not completely off. It's not just ambient air that I'm feeling - the temperature of the air depends on what the temp was last set at...even though the system is off. I've noticed this happens in other much newer cars for whatever reason, for example like the last two daily driver Mazdas I've had (which is aggravating - off should be off !!), but in the 15 years I owned the Mountaineer before the cage work, this never happened. Since there's no flap or anything that blocks off the vents when the system is off in the area that was chopped out, I don't understand why this would suddenly start happening.
2) For those who aren't familiar with this HVAC system, the temperature options start at 60*, then jumps to 65, then 66, 67, 68, 69, etc. and on up. If I set the vent/AC temp at 60* it is cool/cold, but if I go up one option to 65*, it drastically changes to hot air. From 65* on up, the temperature doesn't change, it's just hot. Doesn't matter if it's A/C or just the vent setting. This was never a problem before either.
3) The center of the dashboard and center console below the dash become extremely hot to the touch. The HVAC controls, radio controls, the top padding of the dash all become very hot. Hot to the point that I'm seeing the heat waves in the air floating above the dashboard as I drive. I think the heat even killed the screen on my head unit.
I've had a few thoughts but wanted some input. Thoughts:
A) My obvious first thought was the removal of some of the ducting was the issue, but like I said above, this shouldn't be the cause because there's no flap or door that controls the air that was removed. And since the ducting was only cut at the outside vents, it doesn't make sense that only the center part of the dash gets hot. So I've ruled this out.
B) I thought maybe since the steel tubing of the cage is coming from the engine bay, maybe the tubing is getting hot in the engine bay and then radiating behind the dashboard. But I've ruled this out too. The cage only goes through the firewall right in front of the A-pillars. There is not a tube spanning behind the dash from one pillar to the other. So again doesn't make sense that only the center of the dash would be getting hot.
C) I haven't taken the dash apart to investigate, but there are some electrical issues that also started right after the cage work, like the power mirrors don't work, the overhead console screen for the outside air temp and compass don't work, the dimmer switch is finicky now, and maybe some other random things I can't remember. My thought is there must be some electrical issue causing this, but I know very little about wiring. Other than searching for a broken wire, I wouldn't know where to start. The cage fab guy was very careless about several other things he did which I'm not happy about, so an electrical issue is definitely a possibility.
So what would you guys recommend looking for as the culprit? Do all these symptoms seem related to one root cause?
1) When the system is turned off, there's still a very small amount of air coming out of the vents, as if the system is not completely off. It's not just ambient air that I'm feeling - the temperature of the air depends on what the temp was last set at...even though the system is off. I've noticed this happens in other much newer cars for whatever reason, for example like the last two daily driver Mazdas I've had (which is aggravating - off should be off !!), but in the 15 years I owned the Mountaineer before the cage work, this never happened. Since there's no flap or anything that blocks off the vents when the system is off in the area that was chopped out, I don't understand why this would suddenly start happening.
2) For those who aren't familiar with this HVAC system, the temperature options start at 60*, then jumps to 65, then 66, 67, 68, 69, etc. and on up. If I set the vent/AC temp at 60* it is cool/cold, but if I go up one option to 65*, it drastically changes to hot air. From 65* on up, the temperature doesn't change, it's just hot. Doesn't matter if it's A/C or just the vent setting. This was never a problem before either.
3) The center of the dashboard and center console below the dash become extremely hot to the touch. The HVAC controls, radio controls, the top padding of the dash all become very hot. Hot to the point that I'm seeing the heat waves in the air floating above the dashboard as I drive. I think the heat even killed the screen on my head unit.
I've had a few thoughts but wanted some input. Thoughts:
A) My obvious first thought was the removal of some of the ducting was the issue, but like I said above, this shouldn't be the cause because there's no flap or door that controls the air that was removed. And since the ducting was only cut at the outside vents, it doesn't make sense that only the center part of the dash gets hot. So I've ruled this out.
B) I thought maybe since the steel tubing of the cage is coming from the engine bay, maybe the tubing is getting hot in the engine bay and then radiating behind the dashboard. But I've ruled this out too. The cage only goes through the firewall right in front of the A-pillars. There is not a tube spanning behind the dash from one pillar to the other. So again doesn't make sense that only the center of the dash would be getting hot.
C) I haven't taken the dash apart to investigate, but there are some electrical issues that also started right after the cage work, like the power mirrors don't work, the overhead console screen for the outside air temp and compass don't work, the dimmer switch is finicky now, and maybe some other random things I can't remember. My thought is there must be some electrical issue causing this, but I know very little about wiring. Other than searching for a broken wire, I wouldn't know where to start. The cage fab guy was very careless about several other things he did which I'm not happy about, so an electrical issue is definitely a possibility.
So what would you guys recommend looking for as the culprit? Do all these symptoms seem related to one root cause?
