No Air through dashboard or floor vents

W

WestSussexZ4

Member
Hi All,

I would greatly appreciate any help diagnosing the following problem on my 2011 e89 23i:

1. When I start the car all is OK. All vents (dash, windscreen, floor) work fine. The blower motor is turning over nicely through the speeds and the temperature control works fine including the ac ac...no issues.

2. Then after a short period of time, usually a couple of minutes, the airflow through the dash and floor vents completely shuts off. For the rest of my journey, the only air pumped through the system is from the windscreen vents, and it is hot air only!

3.Whatever settings I try, the only thing I can influence with the controls is the speed of the air through the windscreen vents, which as I say is warm air only, even on the cold setting.

Next time start the car, steps 1,2 and 3 repeats.

Thanks for any help!

Adam
 
Possible battery issue... I know my daily not long after i first bought it would shut down blowers to minimum level from time to time particularly if i had things like heated seats, stereo and wipers on all consuming power, modern cars consume stacks of power these days with daylight running lights and lots of power modules and ecu's etc, when i put a new battery on the daily it never happened again.. time to get the multimeter out or pop down to halfords for a free test:thumbsup:
 
Thanks for your reply. I drive the car infrequently and it is on the original battery by the looks of it. I will investigate further
 
WestSussexZ4 said:
Thanks for your reply. I drive the car infrequently and it is on the original battery by the looks of it. I will investigate further
Click to expand...

Almost certainly a battery issue then, if its more than 7 years old you should think about replacing it regardless as it can cause a myriad of electrical problems including the well documented electronic handbrake fault that needs a trip to the dealer to install an update which would cost more than replacing the battery plus you would still need to replace the battery should you get that fault
 
Sadly a new battery did not solve the issue, guess it must have a specific fault with the system, vacuum leak, resistor, blend doors etc.
 
WestSussexZ4 said:
Sadly a new battery did not solve the issue, guess it must have a specific fault with the system, vacuum leak, resistor, blend doors etc.
Click to expand...

I assume you don't have a code reader?

With these cars its pretty much a requirement with upto 42 micro processors on board managing everything :tumbleweed:
 
Haha, yes so much going on! I have an autel obd2 which I used for my previous w214 merc. I did do a quick scan on it to see if I could locate any faults for this issue but all seemed well but perhaps more in depth checking required?
 
WestSussexZ4 said:
Haha, yes so much going on! I have an autel obd2 which I used for my previous w214 merc. I did do a quick scan on it to see if I could locate any faults for this issue but all seemed well but perhaps more in depth checking required?
Click to expand...

Don’t know the Autel unit but I use the Bimmergeeks Protool which is solely bmw ..it picks up errors with the blower doors etc :thumbsup:
 
Quick Update: took it to my local garage, they were unable to pinpoint the issue, recommending a specialist auto electrician takes a look.

I have got an array of error codes (I took a photo of the garage's computer screen) in case it helps anyone here provide any suggestions:

9C48 IHKA (Integrated Heater and AC System) left blending flap motor
9C49 IHKA (Integrated Heater and AC System) right blending flap motor
9C4A IHKA (Integrated Heater and AC System) fresh air/recirculated air flap motor
9C4B IHKA (Integrated Heater and AC System) defrosting flap motor
9C4C IHKA (Integrated Heater and AC System) footwell flap motor

(there were more error codes after this but I didn't capture these as were on subsequent pages)
 
Sounds like a faulty IHKA module if you have so many faults at once.
You will spend days tryin g to solve this via the forum, I suggest you find a good loacal autoelectrician
Are you getting a 9C59 code at all (IHKA unit signal not present)?
Do the codes re-appear immediately after clearing?
Does it do it in auto & manual modes?
 
Thanks Mark.

I only got a photo of the codes in my message sadly. I will source a proper diagnostics unit myself, as an earlier member said, seems like a useful investment for the future.

The garage technician managed to reset it and it seemed to fix it but then after a few seconds of working all the codes would return, irrespective of auto or manual mode.

When you say the module, do you mean the unit itself with the 4 dials? I might try and source a salvage unit as a final 'punt' before admitting DIY defeat.

Thanks all for your help. Come what may I will report back on this.

Cheers
Adam
 
The head unit contains the ECU which is throwing the errors..

https://www.online-parts.co.uk/bmw-bike-spare-parts/64119321829_Automatic-Air-Conditioning-Control.html

However its possible that the actual mechanical unit is the issue..

https://www.online-parts.co.uk/bmw-spare-parts/64119335270_Empty-Housing-For-Heater/Air-Conditunit.html

Without proper diagnostics and probably someone who knows that specific area I think you are stumbling in the dark..
 
Hi All,
I've finally resolved this issue with the help of my local bmw specialist, I wanted to share my troubleshooting to hopefully help someone else in the future.
1) the garage ran a diagnostics on the system and it said the blower actuators were at fault.
2) one by one the garage tried to change them over, sadly this did not resolve the issue so a entire new blower unit was required.
3) the required part is not currently available from bmw (talking to my bm specialist and my local dealer the suspicion was that there was insufficient demand on the part, so no urgency on Munich to sort out a new supplier).
4) after lots of back and forth, pushing and probing we gave up on getting any tangible info from bmw this side of Christmas.
5) to cut a long story short, I basically sourced the required part second hand from ebay ensuring the chassis of the donor matched the spec of my car.
6) my mechanic fitted the part and luckily I now have air con!
Thanks all for your help and advice, I really appreciate the support.
 
Well firstly I'm pleased you got it fixed.
Secondly, thank you very much indeed for coming back and letting us all know.
Fingers crossed your ownership experience improves from now on. :thumbsup:
 
WestSussexZ4 said:
Sadly a new battery did not solve the issue, guess it must have a specific fault with the system, vacuum leak, resistor, blend doors etc.
Click to expand...
No it wouldnt, the car does not use the battery once the engine is running, all services are powered by the alternator.
 
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