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Hi everyone, this is my first post since joining the site, which I must say I have found great for finding out info for our Autotrail Sioux that we bought a couple of months ago., hubby and I are new to motorhoming and she has kept us really busy putting things right that the previous owners neglected or cowboyed. We think we are now nearing the time when we can actually get away and use her except for one last problem that neither of us have ever tackled before and thats the dashboard heater not working. It hasn't just stopped, it hasn't worked since we've had her, and I've read a couple of posts about the same problem and that we have to remove the full dash to get at the matrix and the motor. Well we've got so far with it but what has stumped us getting any further for full removal is the switch that controls all the exterior lights ( i.e. side lights, headlights and parking lights)., so my question is can anyone tell me how to remove this switch from the dashboard, does it just pull off to release the casing behind it or what? This is really frustrating as we were going great guns up until then, someone please help as we are so looking forward to have some r and r in her but without heating and a demister it will only be days out and that's not what we planned at all. Thanks for any help.,
Before stripping out the dash, I would try a couple of other things first.
1. Drain the radiator system and flush it out. You can buy additives to put in the fresh water to help with this. You may need to do it several times to clean the heater matrix. If it is an older van and has been neglected, you should do this anyway.
2. Remove just enough of the dash to find out if the heater controls are actually operating correctly. The matrix could be fine, just the heat is not being directed mechanically because the linkage is faulty.
Good luck.
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Hi Radar, thanks for your reply, our Autotrail Sioux is based on the Mercedes 207D chassis. We've checked the matrix and that seems fine, the heater pipes are getting warm so there doesn't seem to be a blockage of any kind. We tested the fan switch for power etc and that all proved ok., so its purely the motor that isn't operating.
Sorry I haven't replied before now, but we decided as we have worked so hard sorting everything else out, we deserved a few days away, had a fantastic time in her down on the south coast at a few places, she didn't miss a beat mechanically-wise, and camping in her was great, nothing stopped working or gave us any shocks or surprises, so now its just the heater to sort out so we don't just have to be fair-weather campers.....
Hope this gives you more of an idea of what might be wrong,
Regards, diane56
Hi,sorry for the delay getting back to you, have also been away. Any news on the heater? I have looked at the dash in our Hymer and I think your van must have a different light switch to ours, we have a small rocker switch next to the ashtray and I assume yours is a rotary switch near the end of the dash? However this switch should gently pull out to get to the plug behind it. We have a round hazard switch at the end of the dash and it just pulls out. Assuming the heater fan on your van has more than one speed there is a resister pack somewhere in the system which is more likely to fail than the switch or motor but this is probably also in the heater box with the fan so the dash still needs to be removed to get inside the box.
Hi Radar, thanks so much for your reply. The light switch is a rotating one on the end of the dash and we've tried pulling it out but it doesn't want to budge, although it may just be that we were a little tentative with it. The fan is a two speed so as you said it could be a resistor problem, and I must admit thats not something we had thought of, so thanks for that. At the moment we are just enjoying the fruits of all our labours, so to speak, and as the heater has not been needed yet, and its the last thing to sort out, it'll get done in the near future when the weather dictates that its time to do it. I would like to get a manual for her, but they seem few and far between, so keeping an eye on Ebay and will get one when its available. Our nearest Mercedes Commercial dealer is not very local to us, and not been very helpful over the phone, thats why we've tackled everything ourselves up to this point, but the heater may be a case of cutting our losses and taking it to them to sort out, have to save up first tho.,. Anyway, thanks again for all your help, what a brilliant site this is, so much info available if you know where to look., best regards, diane
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Autotrail Sioux 207D dashboard heater not working
