Recirculating Heater???

[Crazy Dazz]

This is listed as a Build Option for the WQ, but what actually is it?

Does it just refer to the ability to recirculate air within the cabin?
(Something cars have had for about 50 years?)
Why list it? Is there a scenario where it would not be fitted?

Now, apart from idle curiosity, the reason I ask is that my XR4 has always had an irritating issue.
The heater can never be completely shut off. So even when the ambient air is relatively cool, it blows warm.
It's annoying when the weather is turning, and I'd be happy with just ambient air on my face (I always like coolish air blowing on my face) but instead it blows warm. Not hot, but noticeably above ambient.

So according to the dealership, this was a "European" feature supposedly designed to stop the heater freezing in Winter and splitting. (Supposedly it might otherwise be possible in sub-zero climates if you inadvertently ran the A/C to defrost without turning the heat up??)

Of course it's entirely possible they were simply lying through their teeth.

Has anyone else come across this?

Either way, does the XR4 use a heater tap that I could easily replace?

[russellw]

The dealer isn't quite right. There was an option for an electric booster heater for diesel engine vehicles only in some markets.

Have a read of the HVAC section of the manual in the tech portal as it's more likely to be a blend issue and you can probably rectify it. There won't be a heater tap (although you could install an in-line one if you wanted) because blending is done in the module itself.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by russellw

Have a read of the HVAC section of the manual in the tech portal

Thanks Russ, I sometimes forget what great resources you have there.

It says

Vehicles without A/C do not feature Recirculation Control

Whilst I don't fully understand their use of the terminology, that would seem to explain the presence of this as a build option.

Originally Posted by russellw

There won't be a heater tap (although you could install an in-line one if you wanted) because blending is done in the module itself.

This is something I don't understand about modern vehicles, where they say there is no heater tap, it's done by blending. Does that mean the heater core is always hot??
Looking at the diagram, I can see that the flow of ambient (or chilled) air, vs heated, is controlled by a door. So it's conceivable that it is not fully closing.

But looking at the diagram, I also wonder at the radiation of heat. If that heater core is running full-time, that whole box is going to get warm.

Perhaps this is what the dealer was trying to explain? That the core runs all the time (to prevent freezing and/or other issues) and so there is no way to turn it off or completely eliminate 100% of the heat?

[russellw]

It effectively means the heater box always has water flow through it but it is also well enough insulated that there is almost no radiant heat from it so it will be the blend door most likely.