Z3 No Heat

Hi, new to this forum. I just bought my wife a 2001 Z3. Everything good except no heat. Ac works good,does anybody have any experience with this?

Hold your hand around the uppermost radiator hose, if it is not hot to the touch it could be your thermostat, which would be unusual because it is controlled by your ECU and designed to run your engine at a high temperature so it should have thrown a CEL. So, the next likely culpret is air in your colling system. Put the Z on ramps with nose in the air, turn your heat to max and fan to max then turn your bleed screw on top of your coolant reserve tank till you cease to see bubles comming out. Last likely suspect is the waterpump, check for leaking fluid from the front of the W/P and listen for noise (grinding, ratteling, squeaking) keep us posted.

Any chance that the cooling system was recently worked on? Usually, no heat at idle indicates air trapped in the head (not good, as steam pockets do nothing to remove combustion heat from the head).

There's a procedure for bleeding the air trapped in the system, but in a nutshell, you open the bleed screw located near the radiator cap and allow the bubbles to escape, then close the screw when only coolant flows out.

I can feel the heater hoses in the back of motor, They are hot. The other problem along with this is the mode switch does not work either. It stays on the vents out the center of dash. No defrost or floor no matter where I put the switch. Are these cable operated or electronic with motors to move the doors?

Originally Posted by spyder13

I can feel the heater hoses in the back of motor, They are hot. The other problem along with this is the mode switch does not work either. It stays on the vents out the center of dash. No defrost or floor no matter where I put the switch. Are these cable operated or electronic with motors to move the doors?

They use tension cables. The plastic pieces on the back of the vent and temperature knobs can break easily. Sounds like one or both of them might be broken.

To inspect:

Remove the radio:
- Use an alan wrench to unscrew clamps behind tabs on face of radio

Remove screws at top of HVAC controls; bottom of where radio was

Pop the HVAC controls back into the dash, then twist it upside down.

Originally Posted by spyder13

I can feel the heater hoses in the back of motor, They are hot. The other problem along with this is the mode switch does not work either. It stays on the vents out the center of dash. No defrost or floor no matter where I put the switch. Are these cable operated or electronic with motors to move the doors?

I had the same thing. The Bowden cable on the temperature knob became disconnected. They are problematical, either they break or disconnect.

Mine was on the temp control, not the airflow control. Yours might have problems with both cables. They're a pain in the a$$.

I am trying to work on this problem but my wife won't let it sit idle long enough for me to work on it.

Ok fixed the no porblem tonight. Pulled radio to access ac panel. Flipped panel inside to see back of panel the levers were loose. Snapped back into place and gained my vent defrost operation. The lever for heat had the little tit broken off. I removed the lever drilled a small hole where the tit used to be. Geound off a screw and screwed it into the drilled hole. Cut off the excess and reinstalled. Tested my and whala. I now have all vents and heat working.

I am experiencing the same problem on my 2001. This past spring, after a really warm day (turned the heat off), we could only get the heat to warm slightly. Definitely took the fun out of running with the top down on a cool morning or evening. It will not return to high heat again. I just followed wildag's instructions (Thanks, wildag!), and the temp control end of the cable appears to be fine, so the problem must be at the other end. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to approach inspection and repair of the temperature door end of the cable? It's always best to ask before jumping in head first.

Any help will be appreciated!

Thanks,
RK

Originally Posted by R&KsToy

I am experiencing the same problem on my 2001. This past spring, after a really warm day (turned the heat off), we could only get the heat to warm slightly. Definitely took the fun out of running with the top down on a cool morning or evening. It will not return to high heat again. I just followed wildag's instructions (Thanks, wildag!), and the temp control end of the cable appears to be fine, so the problem must be at the other end. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to approach inspection and repair of the temperature door end of the cable? It's always best to ask before jumping in head first.

Any help will be appreciated!

Thanks,
RK

This explains how to get to the other end of the cable:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...5&postcount=11

I finally stopped driving it long enough to fix it! Thanks, Wildag! The link did the trick. I now have full motion, no binding in the motion, and heat when I need it! I really appreciate the help!

Thanks!

I've had the same problem on my 2000 Z3 for the last couple of years. My issue is just with the heat which there is only a small amount. The control knob started hanging when moving from air to heat, didn't force it but, found that if you wait long enough it would finally move all the way to Full heat. Only problem was on Full there was not much there. Temp gauge says there should be plenty and based on the nature of the cables it sounds like the place to start. Finally, I have time to tackle it (one of the benefits of getting laid-off) and will try the great advice posted here and let you know how I make out. Thanks.

Have original 1996 Z3 having heat problems great to have the help here !
Thanks C