heater problem

[donalw]

if anyone can help with this it would be great, I have a 94 spi, it's my first mini and I was surprised by how bad the heating in the car was, is it meant to be that bad?not only does it never seem to heat up above say...breath temperature , but it's also as if it's been blown out by a couple of straws, so much so that it's unable to stop the windscreen from misting up on a cold night. also the temperature gauge doesnt even hit the marker,its way off , it rises just above the cold mark, its not the thermostat i replaced that, anyone got any idea's what this could be r is there anything wrong at all? the c ar has air con if this makes any difference?
cheers

[keith]

i know you said you replaced the thermostat, but it does sound as if its not allowing the engine to get to normal operating temp. some thermostats open at lower temp - the temp is stamped on 'stat. i went from a 92c to 88c to help an overheating problem. dont suspect the gauge too soon.

mini blowers were never very good, so need the temp to be hot as poss: check that the air hoses to the screen are attached to the blower. ive no experience of air-con minis though, so it may be different

also the heater core can silt up, reducing flow further. flush it out 'tlll the water runs clear.

[clubmankev]

The gauge not reaching 'normal' range could be down to the sender unit. I had this problem myself in the past. The heater not blowing hot could be down to a blockage as Keith posted. The heater hoses can corrode on the inside causing rusty deposits to fall away, thus clogging the system.

[woody]

Very hard to find info on air conditioning in the mini.Is the air con used for heating and cooling or cooling only. Are there WATER pipes from the engine to the air con unit. Its possable that a bad earth behind the dash could give a low temp reading and slow down the fan.

[woody]

Just found the air con wiring diagrams, the blower speed is controled by a resistor pack somewhere.