how do I get my car to have heat?

[dougie30]

Ok so I bought my car a while back and it had no blower motor, no resistor and pretty much every button on my hvac panel that control my heat dosnt work.

In a week or so I'm gonna be pulling my dash to replace with a nicer one and I just need to know what the heating system consists of and what are the first steps to making it work.

[SmokeE30]

Look over real OEM diagrams and make sure you have all the pieces first

[dougie30]

Good idea I will give it a look. I was hoping i could keep it simple and hook the blower up to a toggle switch to have the heat either be full blast or off.

has anyone tried this?

[dwight]

Move to Texas 24/7

[LJ851]

Good idea I will give it a look. I was hoping i could keep it simple and hook the blower up to a toggle switch to have the heat either be full blast or off.

has anyone tried this?

This would certainly work.

[oliver.r]

1. remove passanger seat
2 insert trash can
3. insert newspaper in trash can
4 start trash can fire

[jalopi]

The problem with full blast all the time is that it'll kill the blower quicker than normal... all the other fan speeds go through a resistor pack, high goes through a relay (at least this is how most cars are set up... can't say for sure with the e30) which can burn out the motor with excessive amperage (heat) over time.

Granted though, if all your HVAC switches are trashed your toggle switch idea isn't that bad. It'll be a lot easier to wire (just the two for the relay) and it's not like you're only going to get a week or something out of the blower on full blast - just not as much life. Can't say exactly how long for sure.

[LJ851]

1. remove passanger seat
2 insert trash can
3. insert newspaper in trash can
4 start trash can fire

5 crack pop outs and sunroof open for full chimney effect.

[dougie30]

1. remove passanger seat
2 insert trash can
3. insert newspaper in trash can
4 start trash can fire

Damn I didn't even think of doing this! You need a patent for this.

[dougie30]

The problem with full blast all the time is that it'll kill the blower quicker than normal... all the other fan speeds go through a resistor pack, high goes through a relay (at least this is how most cars are set up... can't say for sure with the e30) which can burn out the motor with excessive amperage (heat) over time.

Granted though, if all your HVAC switches are trashed your toggle switch idea isn't that bad. It'll be a lot easier to wire (just the two for the relay) and it's not like you're only going to get a week or something out of the blower on full blast - just not as much life. Can't say exactly how long for sure.

Well is there a way to have it be either off or half way? To preserve the blower?

All of my hvac stuff is pretty trashed so I am definitely aiming for the toggle idea. I'm just not sure how the wiring would have to be.

[dnguyen1963]

A portable heater from HF for $10.00.

[jalopi]

Well is there a way to have it be either off or half way? To preserve the blower?

All of my hvac stuff is pretty trashed so I am definitely aiming for the toggle idea. I'm just not sure how the wiring would have to be.

Yes there is - it's pretty much what you originally wanted to do, except instead of wiring the toggle switch into the relay/HI-speed wires you would wire the toggle switch into say... the speed two or speed three wires. If you want to get really fancy, you can get a three position toggle switch and wire up two different speeds. However, if you want to do this you need to do one of two things:

A. Replace your resistor pack (if it's even bad) - just looked it up on rockauto.com, it's $30

B. Find out the ohm rating for the resistor for the speed you want, then wire that inline with your toggle switch. This is the much more difficult way though, not really worth the time/effort to figure out.... besides, the resistor (it's listed as resistor module or something) is too cheap to even consider option B.

By the way, do you have pics of all this? Don't really hear of HVAC systems being trashed very often... the only exceptions being when people have done terrible jobs of stripping their cars, or only doing so halfway. In any case, pics might give us insight on a better idea than a toggle switch. Not to say that they're bad... I personally like toggle switches, and will need a few for my car (starter, fan, ect) -BUT- something out there might work better. Just sayin.

[dougie30]

Yes there is - it's pretty much what you originally wanted to do, except instead of wiring the toggle switch into the relay/HI-speed wires you would wire the toggle switch into say... the speed two or speed three wires. If you want to get really fancy, you can get a three position toggle switch and wire up two different speeds. However, if you want to do this you need to do one of two things:

A. Replace your resistor pack (if it's even bad) - just looked it up on rockauto.com, it's $30

B. Find out the ohm rating for the resistor for the speed you want, then wire that inline with your toggle switch. This is the much more difficult way though, not really worth the time/effort to figure out.... besides, the resistor (it's listed as resistor module or something) is too cheap to even consider option B.

By the way, do you have pics of all this? Don't really hear of HVAC systems being trashed very often... the only exceptions being when people have done terrible jobs of stripping their cars, or only doing so halfway. In any case, pics might give us insight on a better idea than a toggle switch. Not to say that they're bad... I personally like toggle switches, and will need a few for my car (starter, fan, ect) -BUT- something out there might work better. Just sayin.

Thanks a lot for the ideas and info. I think I will try the first one you where talking about because as of right now I don't even have a resistor so I have to buy a new one anyway.

Also, I will get some picks of my hvac panel and switches and stuff. Its pretty beat. I don't know what the po was trying to do but he pretty much ripped it out of the dash and cut a bunch of wires.

When I push the ac button a little motor in my dash gets stuck and makes a loud ass noise so I have to litterally reach In and un jam it. Like I said its just a mess I have a new dash and I just want heat.