308 heater

I have positioned the heater levers to the off (cold) position, however still get a good amount of heat through the vents when running. Ram air pushed through the core makes the cockpit uncomfortable. Heater levers seem to be operational. I suspect the flow valve on the core is not closing, but wanted a 2nd (3rd, 4th......) opinion before digging into it.
Thanks!
Carl

 

Opinions aren't going to get you very far. There aren't a lot of possibilities & you've touched on most of them.
You're going to have to look under the tire surround to see if the valves are being fully actuated. Cables can slip/come loose, valves can stick partway open, etc.

 

i gave up on relying on the heater control levers in my 308. i have since cut a hole in the tire surround fiberglass just above the heater box control on the drivers side. now i can move the lever to where i want in the cockpit, open the front bonnet, jump out and manualy move the lever with my fingers to get it to go hot or cold position depending if i want heat or not. it works and takes all the guess work out of it.
john
78 308 GTS Euro

 

Thanks Verell and John ! Thought I might get one of those "Ferrari tricks" where certain systemic faults have simple work arounds or at least a most probable cause. Sounds like I need to dig.
Carl

 

QV has two seperate taps and carb cars have only one....which have you got.

If QV, it's unlikely that both valves are exactly the same amount of leakage so it may be a cable adjustment or slipping problem.

If you want to be cool in the car, set the air direction control to O, then the A/C still comes out the central screen vent and below the radio only, without the need to bleed heat through any open airways.

 

I have the QV. With the flap vents closed and the roof off things are ok. The wife is not hair compatible with open cockpit and long rides so I went with the AC last week and found it could not keep up (down?) with the leaking heater. As a work around I will try just using the center feeds under the radio.

How does heater valve system work? On single adjustment systems, the cable typically closes a fluid valve on the core. My guess with this car is that there are flapper valves for air flow out of the core from each side which switches from vent air to heat. Sure could use a schematic diagram of the climate control system to figure what is going on.

 

Carl -- There's some pretty decent technical stuff/illustrations in the 308 QV OM on the cooling & heater system. If you don't have an OM, go to the Owners Site, www.owners.ferrari.com, (and after registering) you can download a .pdf copy.

 

The manual, like Steve points out, is excellent in terms of the heater & A/C USE along with the descriptions. I need to check my heater control valve and cable too as I get that subtle "warmth" in the cabin too with the temp. lever at full "blue." What ferrarifixer mentioned about setting up the controls for good A/C does come right out of the manual...Close the three dashboard vents, set the directors to "0".

I've wondered this though, where does the hot air from the radiator vents behind the headlamps actually flow around the car?...windows up vs. down? Could some of this hot air end up in the cockpit as well, exaserbating (gotta love that word) the situation?