03-10-2023, 02:51 AM
I seem to have a heater that is only working on the Passengers side, not the Drivers side of the cabin?
It doesn't matter where the air is directed, screen only, footwells only, dashboard vents only, or any combination; with the heater turned up the air on the left/passenger side is Hot but the air on the right/Drivers side remains Cold.
Does anyone know about the cabin heating arrangements please? I can't find a manual or any documentation anywhere that shows how the cabin heater is put together/operates.
I have disconnected the heater pipes inside the engine bay, (quite easy once you've done it once or twice), and flushed and backflushed with clean water. Got a tiny amount of material out and no improvement in heat. I then bought some Wynns Radiator Flush and put that in. Half the bottle into just the heater matrix for about 4 hours, then put the rest into the cooling system and ran it for a few days before flushing with clean water and refilling with green antifreeze at about 40%. Still no improvement.
I've had a look inside the air duct by removing the cabin air filter (under the glove compartment) and used an endoscope (carefully past the fan) to check for blockages outside the heater matrix, but again, nothing found.
I've posted on a couple of Suzuki Forums and no-one seems to have any real idea, just guesses and general recommendations. I contacted the Main Dealer and they frightened the cr*p out of me. They actually admitted they'd never had the dashboard of the Vitara apart, and wanted the car for 2 days and £150 just to diagnose it. I priced a new Heater Matrix at about £200. I estimated the total cost by them to repair at over £500. I'm not that cold yet!
My next plan is to get some more active/corrosive flushing agent and keep it running through the heater matrix using a pump for a few hours. If that fails, I have the task of dismantling the dashboard to actually get the heater matrix out and clean/break/replace it....
It doesn't matter where the air is directed, screen only, footwells only, dashboard vents only, or any combination; with the heater turned up the air on the left/passenger side is Hot but the air on the right/Drivers side remains Cold.
Does anyone know about the cabin heating arrangements please? I can't find a manual or any documentation anywhere that shows how the cabin heater is put together/operates.
I have disconnected the heater pipes inside the engine bay, (quite easy once you've done it once or twice), and flushed and backflushed with clean water. Got a tiny amount of material out and no improvement in heat. I then bought some Wynns Radiator Flush and put that in. Half the bottle into just the heater matrix for about 4 hours, then put the rest into the cooling system and ran it for a few days before flushing with clean water and refilling with green antifreeze at about 40%. Still no improvement.
I've had a look inside the air duct by removing the cabin air filter (under the glove compartment) and used an endoscope (carefully past the fan) to check for blockages outside the heater matrix, but again, nothing found.
I've posted on a couple of Suzuki Forums and no-one seems to have any real idea, just guesses and general recommendations. I contacted the Main Dealer and they frightened the cr*p out of me. They actually admitted they'd never had the dashboard of the Vitara apart, and wanted the car for 2 days and £150 just to diagnose it. I priced a new Heater Matrix at about £200. I estimated the total cost by them to repair at over £500. I'm not that cold yet!
My next plan is to get some more active/corrosive flushing agent and keep it running through the heater matrix using a pump for a few hours. If that fails, I have the task of dismantling the dashboard to actually get the heater matrix out and clean/break/replace it....
UK 2017 Suzuki Vitara SZ4 Right Hand Drive M16A engine