Having a problem with no air blowing out of the two center vents on my W126. The driver side and passenger side vents work fine, as does the defroster and floor airways. The slide control for adjusting the airflow seems to be fine. Any ideas?

Also, only COLD air blows out of the vent for the rear seat. Even with the control restricting the flow as much as possible, cold air still gets in. And when I say cold, I mean frigid cold, not just a difference in temperature of maybe 10 or 15 degrees.

Thanks!

__________________
Lance Allison
Lance@LanceAllison.com

Current:
11 MB S550 4Matic, 55k miles, Designo Black/Black
14 Ford F150 XLT Lariat Crew, 73k miles, 5.0
Coyote V8 4x4. Black/tan.
09 GMC Envoy Denali, 5.3 V8, 4x4 SWB. 38k miles,
Jewel Red/Med Gray.

Gone:
87 MB 300SDL, 320k miles, Astral Silver/Blue.
98 VW Jetta TDI, 488k miles, Classic Green/Gray.
85 Olds 98 Brougham FWD, 4.3 DIESEL V6, 80k
miles, 3x Gray.

MBCA Member, Chicago Region

That means the system is working correctly. All 126, 201, and 124 have no heat out of the center vents.

The warm air for the rear comes out from under the front seats. there are vents under the seats.

__________________
Benzmac:
Donnie Drummonds
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
MERCEDES SPECIALIST 11 YRS

Hey Lance,

I guess comfort is relative...on my 126 the rear center vent produces hot air only. During the summer it is a royal pain and I haven't been able to figure out the cure.. I do know however as benzmac mentions, that your discomfort is the one intended by the people who make these cars.

happy Holidays

On my 1990 300SEL W126, I also noticed that very cold air blows out of the rear vent at the bottom of the back of the console even with the vent supposedly closed. Not a good thing during the winters here on the East coast. I was going to try taking it apart, but apparently it does that by design even though we both wish it didn't.

i have always found that interesting about mercedes benz.


the center vents on my 190E never blow hot air and the side vents will blow hot air when the engine is under heavy load (going up a steep hill for extended periods of time)


why were they designed that way?


i could see the side vents blowing hot air being a way to prevent the engine from over heating.

Unless I'm not reading Lance's post correctly, he says that NO air is coming out the center vents. He probably knows that by design no hot air comes out of those vents, but in his case I think he's saying that no air at all is coming out. And that's not by design. There's either a vacuum leak in that circuit or one or more of the vacuum pods is toast. Start with the recirc pods that control the center vents. They're the easiest pods to get to, by going through the glove box opening. The other pods probably require dash removal. Can't help you on the rear seat vents.

__________________
1988 California version 260E (W124)
Anthracite Grey/Palomino
Owned since new and still going strong and smooth
MBCA member

Past Mercedes-Benz:
1986 190E Baby Benz
1967 230 Inherited from mom when she downsized
1959 220S Introduced me to the joys of keepin' 'em goin'

There are only 10 kinds of people in the world--those who understand binary and those who don't

I had no air at all coming out the center vents of my 124 for years until someone on this forum suggested I take a long screwdriver and stick it in the vent and push the doors open...worked like a charm!

Nick