is this correct center vent operation

[jsmith]

i don't get any warm air through the center vents until the the climate control setting is reached. warm air always comes through the side vents. this does not affect a/c or when cool air is called for. i discovered this by lowering the temp setting which starts air coming out from the center vents. i.e., i turn it to about 70 to warm the car quickly - i won't get any flow from the center until it hits 70, if i turn it down to 65 then air will start flowing...

your not supposed to get heated air from the center nozzle on a 93 124 ch.
heated air should only emit from side top and footwell and back seat footwell.
consult your owners manual if you have one.
MF

[jsmith]

i guess that's right then because air won't come out if the interior temp is cooler than the setting. the manual is vague about it saying that it will turn on and off as required..

[400E]

I agree. I think the point of warm air coming out of the side vents is to allow them to be pointed at the side windows in winter to defrost them so you can see your side-view mirrors. I usually turn my side vent controls down to half-flow and point the air flow at the side windows when the weather gets cold.

New vehicles (non-MB) of course have separate little vents to defog the side windows, but I guess the engineers at MB wanted to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.