Heater

[1973/126]

 I don`t think the later models have the leaver at the back. I mean the ELX. There is one next to the choke as you said.

[Darrell]

Do you know if they moved the flap to where the handle is as it would explain the nice warm handbrake but no warmth further down the system.

[Rusty's Uncle]

Had a bit of a rummage today so here is a bit of air cooled heater control evolution. I could not find the spare 500 / early 126 choke & starter lever that I know I have so took a picture inside my car with the levers in the centre. On the nearside seat is a single lever for the choke on a car that would have had a solenoid starter and the manual heater lever at the back of the tunnel. On the far seat is a twin lever , choke on left and heater flap control right. Heater flap control connected to a cable to open and close the flap. Just in case you have never seen one , a picture of the flap duct & mechanism. I was always surprised that the flap is open with the lever pushed back toward the rear seat and closed so heater is off with the lever pointing forward along the tunnel 

[Pasko II]

Hi, Fiat 126 lovers,
I am 55, a new/old owner of the cutest (and my very first, long time ago) car.
After 25 years of marriage we got a Polish Fiat 126P made in 1994 as a fun presen,t cause we had one when we got married. Great people our friends! The day after, my Opel Vectra (that would be Vauxhall) was damaged on a parking lot and is still is repair. I am enjoying my daily ride and nostalgic looks from bypassing drivers in their fancy cars.
I also have problem with heating.
Yes, the lever between front seats is up, yes the thing in the tunnel does open, yes I can feel the warmth starts going into the tunnel from air cooled engine placed in the rear part of the car, yes, I fondled with knob,s but the windshield gets foggy if not frozen from inside and the interior is cold. I cant remember how it was with my first 126 back in the eighties. I do remember that me and my wife were traveling in all weathers, going to skiing and all, but I don't remember that we were freezing all the time.
What surprises me is that under the front hatch there is another tunnel, NOT connected with interior tunnel and a fan installed sideways that blows cold air into the cabin when button on a dashboard with fan icon is pressed.
I've red all that all of the people wrote but still can't get any warmth to windshield or cabin.
Somehow I believe that there MUST be a fan that helps warm air from the engine to get through the tunnel and through openings on the dashboard.
All I could get is an owners manual in Polish which I do not speak. Is there a FREE manual in English?
Sorry if I made grammatical mistakes, English is not my mother language, but we here in Croatia do not have 126 club. Also, I apologize for being so long - as there may be some rules for posts which I do not know - I repeat, I am 55 and this is the very first Forum I ever joined.

[edsaysyes]

Hi Pasko . Could not have expressed my problem my better then you did  Describes everything perfectly so when one of us finds the problem we are both sorted

[dajwid]

Welcome Pasko, a small donation to this club gets you into the free manuals section.

[Pasko II]

Hi Edsaysyes.
I saw you're logged in and I was hoping you of all will understand and reply. Thank you very much - now I feel as a part of a big family.
Somehow I feel that we will solve our problem sometime in May  ! I will definitely only than be able to get deeper into it since I do not owe a garage and find it quite freezing to be outside and dismantle our toy these days.
I am consulting some old friends that I know have had a 126 and also some heating engineers I work with but, honestly, do not expect solution soon.
If resolve the problem will advise immediately!

To the other nice person: What is small donation and how? Still do not believe using credit card on the internet is safe...

[Darrell]

Just a thought.
Mine is a 1984 aircooled, I do about 2 miles before the windscreen is nicely de-frosted.
It seems only the newer aircooled seems to have this problem.
Maybe there is no flap or the flap is broken to stop the air from the fan.
The fan in the front it to blow cool air no?

Maybe try tapie-ing the inlet to this fan closed for a while to see if it is any better?

[Pete126]

Hi Guys, This may seem like a stupid question but have you opened the Tunnel lever No 4 in the picture

[Rusty's Uncle]

Hi Pasko , welcome to the forum . Enjoyed reading your posts . If you can follow this thread OK then checkout the items mentioned. It is a case of following the heat from the engine along the ducts  [-/

[Darrell]

Pete, as we have learned the newer air cooled does not have the switch as item 4 it is a lever where the starter lever is on the older ones.

[1973/126]

 I`m not 100% sure if none of them have it, or if it was just a mod on the one I had, but the flap was operated by the leaver next to the choke. Maybe we should get it confirmed by someone who has a 126EL. Bath126? I can imagine if it is operated by that leaver it could have come easily undone, or un clipped, as I remember it was a bit fiddly to put it back. Hope I`m not giving some incorrect information here. Don`t wanna be like Rusty

[Pasko II]

Hi,
Lever 4 is turned properly, thanks. That lever differs in newer and older 126s but it is always somewhere on the tunnel in the middle of the car. Sometime it is behind the front seats and in newer ones, beside the chock lever (where the ingenious starter was in older ones). As mentioned since English is not my first language I am still going through all the messages in the thread with dictionary in my hands - some professional words are too much. Again, due to freezing problem (of my hands and ears, not the car) I will most probably continue to use my toy-car having frost outside and inside, and get into the problem in warmer times.
Will keep following passionately this topic hoping that global warmth reaches my town before I die from hypothermia.

[Pete126]

http://translate.google.com/#   

[Pasko II]

Thanks. Know about the site. Wish you could speak Croatian so you could laugh together with me on the results of translated text. If I would follow the translation I should probably build a submarine or juicemaker