[Stirling1314]

I have just bought a 2003 360M F1 and love it, however I am having a problem with the heater/AC. The system has a mind of its own, the car only has 7k on it and the AC was recharged at the service in January. I can turn the temp all the way up and sometimes it increases the heat sometimes not. On manual the fan increases as you turn up the knob. The Auto buttons don't do anything to help. As I don't have a warranty I keen to try and find the problem myself, any help would be appreciated.


Graeme

 

[Pete04222]

Just a wild guess here because I don't know the 360. But on the 308 the cooling system requires bleeding, you turn the heat on high and bleed the cooling system. If there is ann air pocket in the heater core it could cause poor heating or no heating. The other option would be whatever controls the heating damper could be not working properly. If is electric controlled it could have a loose wire or if it is vacuum controlled then a hose could be pinched or knocked off. Again, this is just a wild guess because I don't know the 360, just a few ideas to give a starting point.

 

[Sandy1903]

Welcome Stirling 1314

afarid i cant help with the heater problem
but , just love your Login Name

Superb

 

[Magnum6464]

The system has a mind of its own, the car only has 7k on it and the AC was recharged at the service in January. I can turn the temp all the way up and sometimes it increases the heat sometimes not. On manual the fan increases as you turn up the knob. The Auto buttons don't do anything to help.

Graeme

Graeme,

I have a Sierra SLT with dual zone electrical heating and mine has a mind of its own as well. Although mine does give good heat, I was setting it on auto in the winter time (-40F outside) and I had inquired about the same problem and this is what I was told how they work for all makes and model. The problem is when you put it on auto, if there is no heat in the heater core, the sensor sends a signal to the auto unit not to turn on and wait until it gets warm to prevent having the motor blow at max speed with nothing coming out for 15 minutes (assuming there is no problem with your heating system). Now on manual, yes the fan will go on because you’re overriding the unit saying to wait until the heater core gets hot.

Second, if you’re not getting constant hot air (when your engine temp is up to normal obviously) you have an air pocket in the system like Pete said. A heating system is a heating system no matter what car, make or model. So I would recommend you bring it to a shop to get this fixed. It’s not a hard thing to fix, anyone can do it, but if you’ve never done it before, you could make it worst because you have to read what the radiator is telling you (that’s for another conversation). My advice to you is once it's fixed, don’t use the auto setting again...they suck.


~

 

[kimpearsonusa]

360 Heater blows cool air

I turned the heater on tonight for the first time since I bought my 2004 360 Spider in the spring. Only got cool air.

I serviced the freon this summer as it was a little low. What do I bleed out to get rid of any air pocket or blockage so my wife can have some warm knees when I still want the top down?

Thanks,

Kim

 

[markjayw]

I turned the heater on tonight for the first time since I bought my 2004 360 Spider in the spring. Only got cool air.

I serviced the freon this summer as it was a little low. What do I bleed out to get rid of any air pocket or blockage so my wife can have some warm knees when I still want the top down?

Thanks,

Kim

One thing to understand is that the "Stop" button is not an AC button. It must be in the out position for you to get heat or A/C. If you have it pushed in, you will turn off all heat and A/C. Try this first and make sure it is not pushed in, and turn up the heat.

I also had to replace my coolant overflow tank cap, as they fail, leak over time. Last resort, you have air in your coolant system, but I bet money you have the stop button pressed in.

 

[kimpearsonusa]

Thanks markjayw,

By golly you were right! I cycled the stop switch several times but I guess I did not leave it out long enough for the system to start working.

Thanks for the good advice. Wish all my fixes were this easy

Kim

 

[up4speed]

Same thing happened to me the day I got my car delivered. I went into a small panick, thankfully I figured it out in a few minutes. It's strange how there is no seperate compressor button. I wonder if the compressor is always used whether you are using heat or a/c? If not, what is the logic that it uses?

 

[tazandjan]

Affirmative, it is always used unless the temperature is less that ~58 F at start up. If you go to ferraridatabase.com, you can download a 360 workshop manual for free and it has a good description of climate control logic.