Marc '91 C2 Coupe

Howdy gang,

On recent long drives I have noticed a great deal of heat coming from the passenger footwell, quite near the tunnel.

Yesterday, I finally put it down to an orange box of some sort (electrical, I assume). The box gets hot to the touch, but not so hot that it will burn skin (thank goodness!).

Anybody know what this box is/does, and whether this amount of heat is normal?



Thanks, as always, for any and all help,

Marc

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

Kevin

Marc;

Are you talking about the small rectangular box behind the center consule. It is located under the lower dash, right. This is your air bag brain. You might have the unit checked, it is for your safety.

MikeA

If the heater hose in the passenger footwell that is behind the panel in front of door (under glove compartment on right side) is dried out, it really heats up that area.

This hose is notorious for drying out and sending hot air into the passenger footwell. Just remove the panel when engine is at operating temp and feel around. This hose brings in hot air from the rear heat exchanger. It is a paper flex hose.

Cheap and easy to replace.

Mike A. - 91 C2 Cab. Tip.

tonytaylor

Same thing happened to me - a lot of heat in the drivers footwell (I`m RHD) and I thought it was the same box emitting the heat. Turned out to be a split in the paper hose. Aparrently if the hose is split the rear valve does not close and hot air is delivered through the hose regardless of dashboard settings.

Eddie911

I had a similar issue. It turns out there is a flapper in the heay ehchanger area that either sends hot air to the front or it dumps it under the car. Either way, the hot air is coing through the heat exchanger. My flap stayed in the position that delivered hot air to the front of the car at all times so even if my air cond was on full blast, and the dash vents were blowing cold air, there was still hot air coming through the hose discussed in the other posts. I just had my guys jam the flap open and the area never gets hot. I live in Canada and yes there is still plenty of heat in te winter.

Try to turn off the heat and see if there is still heat coming off the pipe. If this doesn't fix it, you may want to look at the heat/air controller in the dash ($$$$$$).

USCGMoose

Marc, did you ever figure out what the culprit was? I am having a similar problem and I also have an airbag light on? Coincidence? Possibly since I've heard clock malfunctions can cause the airbag light to come on and I've already determined that I need to replace my rear blower (bearings shot).

My next task is to check the paper hose on the passenger footwell area. Please let me know what yours turned out to be.

Thanks!

Marc '91 C2 Coupe

Hey gang,

Thanks to all who came back with their similar experiences.

No news yet, but I am booked into the local Porsche dealer on Monday morning for a pre-DEW tech inspection, and will ask them to look at this at the same time.

Based on the responses I've read here, and discussions with other owners, I'm 90% convinced that it's a tear in the paper hose.

So, Moose, regrettably it seems like my problem is much simpler than yours. No warning lights, etc. Just a lot of heat, but only when negative pressure is added to the cockpit (ie. window or sunroof is opened). When it's buttoned up, no problem.

Best of luck getting yours sorted out. If I learn anything new on Monday, I'll post it for you.

Bye!

Marc
<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

USCGMoose

Thanks Marc.

My car is a cabriolet so negative pressure is pretty much 100% this time of the year.

I'm still hoping for the coincidense solution! <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

USCGMoose

I just checked my paper hose. It is torn in several places on the passenger side (which gets hot) and not torn at all on the driver's side (not hot). So I'm sure I'll have to replace it.

1. Anyone know the part number or a suitable source for a replacement paper hose? (probably can be generic) Any non-paper improvements out there?
2. The passenger side duct is kicking out heat when the heat is supposedly off. Is this normal? I know I have to replace my rear heater blower but could I also have a flapper box problem or worse (Gulp) $CCU$?

I'm starting to get really ticked off at my climate control system. So far all the common failures have happened to my car... rear heater blower sounds like a cat being chainsawed, ducking problems, AC ballast resister shot, AC leaks, etc. I'm really hoping that the CCU isn't shot as well. <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" />

USCGMoose

Tried to remove the paper hose today to take a close look at it and maybe do a temporary repair. Ended up tearing the sucker pretty bad while trying to get it off... not to mention cutting myself pretty bad.

So, now I really need to get a new one. Again, anyone know where I can get a new one of these paper hot air ducts for the passenger's footwell??? <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

Marc '91 C2 Coupe

Hey Moose,

Sorry to hear about your grief.

I took mine to the dealer today, and it was, as suspected, a leaky paper hose. Of course, they had to order the part as well, but said it should only take 3-5 days. The cost is quite reasonable (CDN $22.00, or USD $14.00).

They temporarily plugged the old one, so no more heat into the footwell!!! HOORAY!!!

The chief mechanic also told me that if the system is properly put together and airtight, the back pressure of the hot air having nowhere to go (ie. not into the cabin) should automatically cause the flapper door to close. So that tells me that yours should not require a whole CCU replacement (I think).

Lemme know how it works out. Good luck.

Marc

<img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

John Boggiano

[quote]Originally posted by USCGMoose:
<strong>Ended up tearing the sucker pretty bad while trying to get it off... not to mention cutting myself pretty bad. </strong><hr></blockquote>

Well you certainly cheered me up



I thought it was only ME that did that sort of thing!

USCGMoose

Thank you all for your words of empathy. The bugger of it all is that my knuckles just got done healing from the "replace the hood strut" project.

Anyone else beside me have to develop a Rennlist difficulty offset for their personal ineptitude?
Mine is:
Simple = Barely doable
Moderately difficult = Don't even think about it
PITA = Suicide is preferable <img src="graemlins/crying.gif" border="0" alt="[crying]" />

This is a project I'd like to tackle myself (and risk more personal injury) so if anyone has a part number (or even the technical name for the thing), I'd appreciate it. <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />