Very weak defrost and floor heat

[ksing44]

I have a 1995 E320. My fans seem to work fine. At least there is plenty of noise that sounds like the fans should be blowing air. I get the best flow from the side vents and I can feel that the air is warm, but there is just very little flow from the defroster and the floor vents. Even on high and with the controls set to all defroster, I don’t get much flow from the defroster at the windshield. I tried every possible setting for auto, max and low speed fan, as well as the different settings for all defrost, half and half defrost and floor, and mostly floor.

Let me see, I also have a rather loud slapping sound from something closing in the dash when I start the motor in the cold. I have had that for quite a while, even before I noticed the loss of the flow of air. I figured that was a fresh air supply vent slapping closed that limited outside air until the car warmed up a bit and maybe some foam padding had deteriorated. I did have decent air-flow in the past, even when I had the loud slapping.

Anyway, please help me understand what might be causing me to have low air flow from defroster and floor vents, even though I have a fan that sounds like it is blowing and the air seems to be warm. This is not a good situation going into a Pennsylvania winter. I just spent $1200.00 to get my front spring perches re-welded onto the car this week, so this is not a welcome surprise.

Thank you everyone,

Ken

[ksing44]

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/35373-w124-climate-control-vacuum-pod-replacement-post197605.html

Unfortunately, I think mine is probably the "pods", as discussed by gsxr at the link above. I sure wish gsxr lived closer to me. I would definitely like to be his friend and get help with my W124. The slapping is probably a damaged diverter flap that may not really be causing the problem. I bet I am going to have to have the dash pulled and all of the pods replaced.

[Arthur Dalton]

First suspect for low blow airflow on 124.032 chassis is cabin air filters are plugged solid.

http://catalog.peachparts.com/ShopByVehicle.epc?q=1995-Mb-E--3--0--Sedan-Climate--Control&yearid=1995%40%401995&makeid=MB%40%40MB%40%40X&modelid=E%2D320%2D001%40%40E+320+Sedan&catid=R%40%40Climate+Control&subcatid=R2060@@ACC+Cabin+Filter&mode=PA

Reason is b/c owners don't even know they are there , so they have never been changed ...also the reason so many Blower Regulators burn up on that same chassis.....

Check them first..under hood, under WWiper arm

[ksing44]

Thank you for the tip. I have read about the filters. They were replaced once in the past at a routine dealer service. At least there was a bill for doing the job as part of the service. That was a while ago, however, and I don't get service at the dealer anymore.

I will certainly be hoping it is the filters, so I can get away without going into the dash.

Thank you

[Arthur Dalton]

Pull them out and then turn on the blower...that will tell you right away if they are the cause of limited airflow.
Commonly overlooked item.

[JimFreeh]

If the fan motor has ever been replaced, and the squirrel cage blower wheels installed backwards, flow will be low.

Jim

[babymog]

Diesels are to me more than just efficiency, good thing since diesel fuel is still too high.
When I pull in with my Mercedes diesels and people think that they're gas engines because they're so quiet (and most people think that they all sound like Dodge/Ford/GM pickup trucks) and don't smoke even at full-throttle. Besides that, my '87 300D is faster than my '94 E 320 (top end), and just loves to run. I've been considering having a hat made that says "Real Mercedes don't have spark plugs", I used to have a similar hat for the Hummer.
We'll have to see what happens with fuel prices regarding the economy of buying one in the US, last stats I saw still put Europe at nearly 70% of new vehicles sold are diesels. We aren't able to buy most of those engines here (such as the E 430 diesel which is amazing).