OK so back on topic here. I was under the hood this weekend and I think I have conceptualized a solution to the hot air when using normal vent only. Basically, the firewall all the way from the wiper motor to the brake master cylinder has 2 zones: the area level with and below the heater water hoses are (mildly) insulated, while every bit of firewall above it all the way to the cowl is 100% uninsulated. So unless someone beats me to this (I won't cry foul if so) I will be making a metal heat shield that can be attached at the cowl and hang down to cover this area. Between the firewall and heat shield, I will probably insert some type of high-heat loose-fill insulation, adhearing it to the shield so that it will stay in place. We'll see how that does. But yeah, the heat from the engine bay could very well be part of the problem we have in my car with excessive temps inside and insufficient AC cooling. So depending on when I can fabricate something, I'll report back.
Dashboard Vent blowing warm air?
- Thread starter WHY
- Start date
Well, maybe I had a false assumption in that I expect that Mazda would have the same amount of heat separation between the heating elements and the outside world as do every other car brand I have been in, which is a lot. This is the only car I have ever been in, including 1960s bucket-o-bolts and 1970s full size vans where the engine is right next to you burning your calf, where the vent produces noticably hot air when the fan, AC, heater et al, are off.
Same here.
I think the simple answer is that the air inlet is in the middle of firewall close to the exhaust. Even though the inlet is under the cowl panel there is still heat build-up in the area. Most vehicles have the inlet on the passenger side of the cowl farther away from engine heat. I have heard that the reason the blower motors were located in the middle of the 3/5 instead of the passenger side is for crash related safety for the passenger. I don't know that I believe that. It does give us excellent glove compartment space though. I just drove around in 85 degree weather while logging for my tune the other day with the windows up (raining) and the blower set to dash outlets and I would call the air temp tepid warm. I was still getting a cooling effect from it. Here is the set up for the center HVAC unit.
