Function Overview, Main Components and Brief Description
Climate Control System
The climate control system is designed to provide the occupants with a comfortable indoor climate regardless of external conditions.
Air is drawn in through the grille in the bulkhead, passes through the fresh-air filter and goes through the heating and ventilation unit to the cabin. The air vent is located behind the rear bumper on the right-hand side.
There are three versions of the climate control system:
^ Manual heating and ventilation system.
^ Manual heating and ventilation system with air conditioning (A/C).
^ Automatic climate control system (ACC).
1 - Fresh-air filter
2 - Recirculation damper
3 - Ventilation fan
4 - Evaporator
5 - Upper air-mixing damper
6 - Lower air-mixing damper
7 - Heater box
8 - Air distributor
Climate Control Unit
The climate control unit is located in front of the center console. Air is drawn in through the grille in the bulkhead. It passes through the ventilation filter, the recirculation damper and the ventilation fan before it reaches the evaporator (on cars with A/C). If the A/C system is activated, the air is cooled.
The air then passes through the air-mixing dampers. Depending on the setting which has been selected on the heater controls, the air-mixing dampers direct a certain amount of the incoming air through the heater box. The temperature in the heater box is thus not affected by the setting of the heater controls. If the setting "cold air" has been selected on the control panel, the air-mixing dampers will be closed to prevent the air from reaching the heater box. The air then reaches the air distributor and is directed into the cabin as selected by the knob on the control panel.
All climate control units are fitted with a recirculation damper, which is opened and closed by pressing the switch on the control panel. When the damper is closed, no fresh air is drawn into the climate control unit. The interior air is circulated instead.