| 204 Hot feet cured! Nick Grant (Woodcote Green 0388) from Tyne & Wear was concerned that the legwell air vents were permanently blowing hot air onto his feet. - fine in winter but with the approach of Summer he was wondering how to cure it! Fellow members provided help. (May 04) Nick contacted the V8 Registrar saying "I am the proud owner of an immaculate RV8 which has only done 9,300 miles and "touch wood", everything appears to be running well. However never having owned a convertible before I am wondering whether it is normal for the air from the legwell vents to be permanently blowing hot air on both the driver's feet and those of the passenger!" He mentioned he had obviously checked that the heater control in the cockpit was set to cold and directed the air to the screen, but still had a constant blast of hot air in the legwell. Dr Gavin Bailey (BRG 0766) responded with some thoughts - "it is normal for the legwells to get warm as the catalysts on the exhaust system are under the floor on both sides. However you mention hot air coming from the vents into the legwells so assuming the heater fan is not on, I would check the rotary heater controls are actually working and that the temperature control is effectively operating the rotary control with someone under the bonnet checking the solid rod from the heater control, is in fact moving the arm of the heater control valve. The valve is an inline unit and I think is located near the heater motor - my car is not near at hand to check at present!" Brian Moyse (BRG 1714) added "I had you problem when I first bought my RV8 and found it was the heater valve - or rather the control cable connected to it - that needed adjustment. Lift the bonnet and the valve is located close to the right nearside end of the heater assembly below the windscreen scuttle in the water hose. As it is a water valve type of control, the adjustment is rather crude and even if the valve is cracked open just a little, hot water will flow to the heater matrix and then provide hot air in the car". Nick Grant set about investigating and reported "the |
first problem I found was there is a three position flap in the air box which would not close and consequently allowed a constant blow of air to come into the legwell. Since that air was hot, really hot feet ensued! A small cable running in a sheath had slipped from its catch, so I have re-secured it. There also appears to be a small piece of foam from inside the unit has fallen out and this has glued itself to the bulkhead under the flap". Nick later reported he had found the cable leading to the heater valve control had slipped in its clasp and thereby allowed the heater valve to remain slightly open all the time - even when the heater control in the cockpit appeared to be "closed" if you see what I mean! Subsequently Nick reported this had cured the difficulty "simply by slackening off the screw (No 2 in the diagram) and pulling the cable to the right, making sure the temperature control inside the cockpit set to "Cold", to ensure the valve was fully closed. You then re-secure the clasp and tighten the screw". Nick was delighted to find that hot air no longer came through the legwell vents when the heater control knob was set to "cold". Hopefully now the hot feet difficulty will no longer ruin his enjoyment of the car in warmer weather.
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