Air from Fresh Air Vents Too Hot

I have a 1994 Honda Accord Lx Wagon. The air that comes in the fresh air vents
into the interior has gotten progressively warmer. It feels like the heat is
on, even when the air outside the car is very cool. I suspect there must be a
leak somewhere where the heat off the engine is coming in? I have looked but
cannot find how the air is piped into the interior of the car. Can someone
please tell me where to look? Any other input is greatly appreciated also.
Thanks,
Kathy

 

Do you have the temp control set to hot? Sometimes the knob breaks and
won't actually do anything when you turn it. The hot water valve could also
be out of adjustment.

 

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Kathy,

Hot water gets pumped from the engine, thru the heater 'core', and back
into the engine. The sliding control on your dash pushes a cable which
opens and closes a 'water tap' under the hood (as well as a couple of
doors that divert air). Have someone look under the hood and see that
the tap is not closing as tight as it should. Our Odyssey is like that,
and so the effective length of the cable must be lengthened by
unscrewing it at the point where it is anchored and sliding it along a
bit. I've thought of mounting a spring to the 'tap' to help it shut
tighter.

'Curly'
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I owned a 1994 Accord EX sedan for nine years, 145,000 miles. When I
first got it, the heat never got very hot compared to other cars. Years
after thinking the heat was poor, I found the heater control knob locked
up one day. I spent more than $100 to fix it at the dealer and then,
suddenly, I had very hot heat! On the other hand, I noticed that the
heat never quite fully shut off. I complained at the dealer and they
seemed to hint I was nuts until I proved it to them. They said they did
something but the problem continued -- the heat was slightly on even
when the temperature control knob was fully to the cold position.

A couple of years ago I came across a TSB (technical service bulletin)
aka Honda Service Bulletin 93-037 (Issue Date Nov. 14, 1994)
"Unsatisfactory Air Conditioner Performance". It seems the heater
control cable can be out of adjustment and/or the air mix cable is
binding and/or the temperature control knob gears are out or
synchronization. The air mix control cable may need replacement.

The problem seemed to slowly get worse over the years and got bad enough
that the air conditioner was ineffective when it got even slightly hot.
I went to a dealer who estimated around $120 to fix it.

While on the phone with Honda for a recall about something else, I
complained about this problem and was told by a rep. from California
that Honda would not help pay to fix it as the car was too old for them
to support. ( But the recall was support wasn't it?) I got rid of the
car without fixing it. I was not convinced that it would stay fixed.

In my opinion, the 1994 Accord's heater and air conditioner systems are
trouble prone. Consumer Reports data seems to support this for the air
conditioner. (The air conditioner condenser was replaced after a recall
by Honda.) The air conditioner may have been the first year of CFC free
design and is not as powerful as it could be. I suspect that the heater
control may either rob you of full heat on or full heat off.

If you want it "fixed", you can bring your car to a Honda dealer. They
should know the problem and be more than happy to charge you to take
apart your dashboard and perform the repairs as listed in the service
bulletin.

If you want to do it yourself, you might need the TSB from
www.alldata.com. (But you will have to buy a bound volume of 1994 Honda
TSB's just to get the several pages you want.)

Good Luck.

 

Hi Kathy,

I have a 97 Wagon (94-97 model) and I'm willing to bet the
problem on yours is identical to the one I had on mine. When
you turn the heater dial down, does it "click" into place at the
bottom of the dial? If it doesn't, then you just need your heater
control cable adjusting. Unfortunately this requires the dash
to come off as can only be adjusted at the "dial end".

I have a temporary fix at the moment, but mine is a UK
wagon so some of the following may be the wrong way round
for your US wagon due to left-hand drive:

In my passenger footwell, to the left of the central console
and under the dashboard, there is a black vent. It is the one
which blows down onto your feet when you have the heater
on the "feet" setting, so if you can't find it just turn the heater
fan on full and feel for where the air is coming from. This vent
is only held in place by one plastic "pop-rivet" which you can
pry out (you're supposed to use a special Honda tool!).

Once you have removed the vent, you should be able to see
the other end of the heater control cable assembly. It is
directly behind where the vent was. You won't immediately
know which bit it is, so get down there with a torch and use
your other hand to twiddle the heater dial. You should see
a mostly circular metal part with a pin sticking down moving
around - the end of the heater control cable should be attached
to the pin.

To get cool air again, I had to look and see which way the
pin moved when I turned the dial towards cold, and once I had
pushed the dial as far as it could go, I then had to push the pin
in the same direction. One satisfying "click" later, and the hot
air stopped. I haven't bothered replacing the vent.

Hope this helps - let us know how you get on,
Al Reynolds