Heating system is useless

[mji111]

I was believing your post until you said this. Your word is suspect at best.

OK...I'm busted.

 

[mcdoogs]

@Jeremy996 makes a great point. Adjust and wait 30 seconds before you adjust again. I found that mine worked much better after bleeding and a coolant top to up

Did you bleed the system? If so, how is it done?

 

[parb]

Did you bleed the system? If so, how is it done?

I actually didn't do the work myself. I had a tech do it for me at the ineos dealership. it was actually he who told me that they had seen this before and come up with this approach.
I was also a bit low of refrigerant. I know i wrote coolant, but i meant to say refrigerant. He bled it slightly (i guess the correct term is he recovered it) and added in new refrigerant with a dye in it so that in the future any leaks can be traced.

 

[DFW Guy]

Have you guys checked the temperature coming out of the rear center vents? Mine felt like they were 200* while the front blew out cool air. Shut the rear vents and now the whole car gets toasty.

 

[HereinDaRockies]

Have you guys checked the temperature coming out of the rear center vents? Mine felt like they were 200* while the front blew out cool air. Shut the rear vents and now the whole car gets toasty.

Shutting my rear vents didn’t affect the front vents much.

 

[carlg007]

The heating system is "crap" I have cold feet when it is on Max heat and I live in Florida! I can't imagine how bad it is for you guys that live in really cold weather. My dealer is 4.5 hours away and so a trip to the dealer is not so easy!

 

[CRH]

The heating system is "crap" I have cold feet when it is on Max heat and I live in Florida! I can't imagine how bad it is for you guys that live in really cold weather. My dealer is 4.5 hours away and so a trip to the dealer is not so easy!

2 deg.C here today, hot air in 5mins or so.
I have said this so many times, I have had all the same issues with the heating system, it needed to be bled about 3-4 times & topped up, it now works pretty well.
If you are in the car for a long period it's better to just use on auto and set temp rather than go hot and try to reduce as it blows cold on certain areas as the sensors are a bit slow. I fix this by either deliberately blowing cold air for a couple of mins to reset the sensors then use auto or if I'm stopping, make sure open door for a minute then use auto at a normal temp. The system works and it gives hot air very quickly, we just need to understand it

 

[Jeremy996]

Did you bleed the system? If so, how is it done?

This is the official process - best with a cold car.

 

[ecohen2]

DAMN that is cool! "CCU" is the thermostat inside the car?

 

[LWA55DAL]

Ok - finally got cold in Texas this past week and finally had a chance to run the heating system through its paces and here are a couple observations - in all modes EXCEPT the upper front vente only the heater is amazing and the temperature of the air coming out of all of the vents, including the rear, are the same temperature. In position 1 (upper front) the temperature coming out of the front vents is significantly cooler than the temperature of the air coming out of the rear vents. I have played around with moving back and forth between all of the various positions back to #1 and occasionally I can get full heat to come through the front vents, but it takes about 8-10 tries to get it to work correctly. My ONLY guess is there is an actuator that is not closing heater flaps and maybe it’s a software issue. I am scheduled to take it to the dealer tomorrow for a couple of other warranty related items and I will report back to the group. I sincerely hope it is a simple software update, but we will see.

I also have the VERY loud blower motor noise on speed 4. This has been present since I took delivery. In AC mode I can occasionally switch between 3 and 4 and get the noise to go away, but in heater mode - there is no way to get the noise to stop. My guess is an imbalanced blower fan OR simply cavitation (ie the fan motor in unable to pull enough air into the system and therefore it over speeds. If anyone else has fixed this I would be curious to know the solution.

 

[HereinDaRockies]

Ok - finally got cold in Texas this past week and finally had a chance to run the heating system through its paces and here are a couple observations - in all modes EXCEPT the upper front vente only the heater is amazing and the temperature of the air coming out of all of the vents, including the rear, are the same temperature. In position 1 (upper front) the temperature coming out of the front vents is significantly cooler than the temperature of the air coming out of the rear vents. I have played around with moving back and forth between all of the various positions back to #1 and occasionally I can get full heat to come through the front vents, but it takes about 8-10 tries to get it to work correctly. My ONLY guess is there is an actuator that is not closing heater flaps and maybe it’s a software issue. I am scheduled to take it to the dealer tomorrow for a couple of other warranty related items and I will report back to the group. I sincerely hope it is a simple software update, but we will see.

I also have the VERY loud blower motor noise on speed 4. This has been present since I took delivery. In AC mode I can occasionally switch between 3 and 4 and get the noise to go away, but in heater mode - there is no way to get the noise to stop. My guess is an imbalanced blower fan OR simply cavitation (ie the fan motor in unable to pull enough air into the system and therefore it over speeds. If anyone else has fixed this I would be curious to know the solution.

The cool air for the upper fronts - there is NO fix for it.. dealer says that’s the way they are suppose to be. Ineos and dealers demonstrates no urgency and just “chill guy” about it. Make it make sense.

 

[LWA55DAL]

The cool air for the upper fronts - there is NO fix for it.. dealer says that’s the way they are suppose to be. Make it make sense

So the front vents are always going to put out some random temperature level while the rear will blow completely hot air? I would love the hear the explanation on why that is an intentional design?

Transitioning between modes it does put out very hot air, same temp as the rear, during the transition, but eventually it is just partially warm. Nice….. Another wonderful “quirk”. If you want real heat in the front then just use positions 2-5, but not number 1 - that one just doesn’t work.

 

[HereinDaRockies]

So the front vents are always going to put out some random temperature level while the rear will blow completely hot air? I would love the hear the explanation on why that is an intentional design?

Transitioning between modes it does put out very hot air, same temp as the rear, during the transition, but eventually it is just partially warm. Nice….. Another wonderful “quirk”. If you want real heat in the front then just use positions 2-5, but not number 1 - that one just doesn’t work.

I don’t get warm air in upper front mode, regardless of fan speed

 

[rovie]

I don’t get warm air in upper front mode, regardless of fan speed

Keep your settings and press Window Demist Front. Then you should get warm air in upper front vents. At least that's the case for me.

 

[CRH]

They should all be able to blow hot air if system is properly bled, as in many times, and topped up

 

[chrsbe]

View attachment 7883665

View attachment 7883666

This is the official process - best with a cold car.

Just so I understand, we are talking about the coolant level of the #1 High-Temperature coolant reservoir. As seen in the attached screenshot. Am I right?

 

[Skydance]

Just so I understand, we are talking about the coolant level of the #1 High-Temperature coolant reservoir. As seen in the attached screenshot. Am I right?


View attachment 7884265

1 and 4 in your diagram. Level surface. Cold engine first thing in the morning without starting. Prop up bonnet in maintenance mode. Check both blue and black coolant levels. Top up so both at the max level.

If problem still exists then perform a Ineos blees procedure. This might need to done a couple of times.

 

[HereinDaRockies]

They should all be able to blow hot air if system is properly bled, as in many times, and topped up

We are talking about different vents and different hvac settings as the cause of whether hot air comes out of the face vents.

Coolant system issue would ensure consistent lack of hot air in any conditions, no?

The fact that it requires specific hvac settings to ensure hot air coming out of the face vents, makes me think it’s a hvac issue.

 

[Skydance]

We are talking about different vents and different hvac settings as the cause of whether hot air comes out of the face vents.

Coolant system issue would ensure consistent lack of hot air in any conditions, no?

The fact that it requires specific hvac settings to ensure hot air coming out of the face vents, makes me think it’s a hvac issue.

The HVAC is indeed not perfect we all know that. But ensuring the coolant is level to max, ensuring it’s bleed properly in the first place is a key step in the right direction. It would then you give you heat within first 5 minutes of start up, no more condensation, fogging or dripping from the air on pipes.

It is hotter on the rear and floor vents than face vents. We know the system is slow, sometimes whistles when the actuators are stuck or not locked in (face/feet) and finally we know that fan 4 or window dentist produces a high frequency drill sound.

But it’s getting better everyday once things are wearing in. If only Ineos can look at why the actuator is sticking in between face and feet. Maybe the seal is too big or design error we don’t know.

Agreed it shouldn’t be like this. It’s backward move for Ineos. Even my 40 year old Fiesta had better HVAC. But is a modern old school defender with all the quirks and character and that’s what makes the Defender currently so iconic.

 

[HereinDaRockies]

The HVAC is indeed not perfect we all know that. But ensuring the coolant is level to max, ensuring it’s bleed properly in the first place is a key step in the right direction. It would then you give you heat within first 5 minutes of start up, no more condensation, fogging or dripping from the air on pipes.

It is hotter on the rear and floor vents than face vents. We know the system is slow, sometimes whistles when the actuators are stuck or not locked in (face/feet) and finally we know that fan 4 or window dentist produces a high frequency drill sound.

But it’s getting better everyday once things are wearing in. If only Ineos can look at why the actuator is sticking in between face and feet. Maybe the seal is too big or design error we don’t know.

Agreed it shouldn’t be like this. It’s backward move for Ineos. Even my 40 year old Fiesta had better HVAC. But is a modern old school defender with all the quirks and character and that’s what makes the Defender currently so iconic.

I am referring to “process of elimination”.

Rear vent is blowing hot hot air, while the face is blowing cold air, surely this symptom doesn’t indicate issue with the coolant level. So we can eliminate that as a root cause?

The above issue is what many are observing. Throwing out the “top off coolant” solution doesn’t add value for this kind of issue, no?