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Thu Apr 10, 2014 5:50 am

Since I've acquired my '91 Vanagon GL, the heater fans have never worked properly. The main front heat vents don't work at all, however, I do feel forced heat come out of the vents when I'm at speed. Oddly enough, the front defrost vents work, but only on the highest fan setting. This leads me to believe that the issue is just with the fans or fan switch. Any idea how to resolve this issue?

Thu Apr 10, 2014 6:46 am

If your heater fan has 2 or more speeds the issue is with the venting,hoses and most likely the control cables that open & direct air to dash,feet. Do a search for venting troubles. Removing the dash is about a 2 day job the first time.The second time 2 hours :)

Thu Apr 10, 2014 7:17 am

deleted post...nevermind...

Thu Apr 10, 2014 7:37 am

First make sure you fully understand the enigma that is the vanagon heating and ventilation system. Read through (and understand) this:
http://www.gowesty.com/library_article.php?id=311
And this recent thread can be helpful too.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=589520&highlight=heater

Just as a general test of things all levers to the right is full defrost and should see good air movement out the dash vents on 1 or 2 fan setting. If not it's either the controls, louvers inside or disconnected hoses.

You can confirm that your ven hoses are hooked up by:
-popping the glovebox out and looking up there. You can reach the hose to the defrost on the right side of the dash and I think reach the other end where it joins the heater box, as well as the fresh air vent hose from there
-popping the ash tray out you can see the hoses for the frond defrost, and you might see more if you pop the stereo (haven't done it for a while)
-pop the instrument cluster cover and you can see the hose for the left defrost.
-I think you can get at or at least see the left side fresh air vent from the fuse pannel area.

Frequently people pull these hoses off acidentally while running stereo wire, replacing antennas, etc. Make sure you have them all connected up good. Then check the action of the vent lever cables to see if the cables are ok,and do they feel like they're moving anything?