Hi from across the Tasman.
You don't have to have climate control to have the air pump. It is in all models. It sucks cabin air past the sensor in the light switch panel in the roof and the sensor measures the temp and compares it to the settings on heater dials and the heater and A/C adjust output to maintain even temps in the cabin. I have heard that you can place a small piece of tissue paper to the small grill in the roof light switch to test the suction of the pump, but its just as easy to listen to the hum from the glove box.

Agreed on the tissue test, but won't positively tell you if the little motor is noisy.
I've just worked on the automatic climate cars, I wouldn't have thought a non-automatic climate car would need the temp sensor, if it's using that, then a non-automatic climate car must be somewhat automatic? You are describing what the automatic system does. One would think a non-automatic car would be say like an old pickup, the dial on the dash (or lever) just opens and closes the valve and the driver decides when to open or close it and how far open.
Gilly

Cant get any suction with the tissue-test.

Worth checking the small electric motor; noisy, probably not working really effectively either.
Gilly

Thanks Gilly will let you know. Jim

Oh my .... I bet that could get very annoying. Hopefully you have it in proper working order by now?

Good evening.

W124 models without automatic climate control still had a form of climate control that provided true temperature control by way of a closed loop feedback system utilising a temperature sensor near the interior light with a small suction fan near the glove box (at the left-hand end of the dashboard in the case of the right-hand steering cars we have in Oz). In fact, the "manual" climate system appears superior to the auto climate system in that it offers separate left and right temperature zones (controlling two heater cores via a duo-valve) and affording the user complete control of air direction and volume (fan speed). Apart from occasional issues such as discussed in this thread, the manual climate system also appears to be more reliable than the push-button auto climate system. The attached image shows the air direction and air volume rotary dials as well as the two temperature thumbwheels (calibrated in degrees C in the case of Oz delivered cars).

Greg

So the only thing it is "missing" really is automatic/stepless control of the blower, BUT has dual zones, weird.
Gilly

Problem Solved
 

:) Removed the underdash trim from under the passanger side air vent and with a little probing found the electric motor - remember we are RHD in Oz.

The motor lies on it's side in a frame but I was able to feel it revolve manually - I started the engine and the thing, as usual, screamed like a stuck pig but as soon as I flicked the rotor with my finger it started spinning without any noise.

I found a bit of the local insulation material had dropped and was lying over the fan rotor, very lightly, enough to stop rotation which produced the noise.

Hope this helps other long term sufferers.

Great stuff Starship, perseverance is a wonderful thing. You should notice better temp control now.

:) Hi Mike, Actually a manual temperature control system but I understand it still samples air against the manual setting.

Hi Starship

Looks like you are getting somewhere. If you have the heater system layout as shown in the pic by 'Greg from OZ' and the button in the centre marked "EC" them you have and auto temp controlled aircon system. It is not the climate control they have in the US or in the more expensive options. The sensor in the light switch does indeed control the heating or cooling in the cabin by sensing air temp above the windscreen. You will notice, if all is working Ok, that if you adjust the thumbwheels to heat, hot air will come from the selected vents and gradually get less hot as cabin temp rises to meet the setting, and then maintains it without further adjustment. I find that my controls are very sensitive and an adjustment of a degree or so is all that is needed to achieve the desired degree of heating or cooling. Good luck

Thanks, you may be interested in my todays post in tech forum as to the latest situation.:)

Mike - save you searching :)

Starship
Starship Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Queensland, Australia
Posts: 20

W124 Sampler Blower Motor 000 830 96 08

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Pulled the motor at the weekend due to constant screeching and was suprised to find that it was not connected to the draw tube which runs from the interior grill (in roof light assy), to the sampler motor.

It appears it has never been connected, although the electrics were, thus the screeching when ignition on (the motor wore out).

Unlike models with ACC fitted, mine has the individual climate control for each front seat passenger - this is manually set and adjusted to suit both driver and passenger individually - one side can be hot and the other ice cold for example.

I'm thinking that there is a likelyhood that the sampler purposely wasn't connected in my version as logic tells us that it would recieve a mixed reading of cabin temperatures if the driver and passenger had differant settings - if you follow my drift.

On the otherhand, with ACC the sampler would be drawing a single temp out of the cabin and be adjusting automatically.

I've run without it connected to the electrics or draw tube today and my aircon is not effected in any way.

Anyone had a similar experience?

I would maintain that if there isn't a button marked "auto" anywhere that this is not a truely automatic system. Maybe for temp, but not for blower speed. Even the 190's in the US that had the 3 speed fan switch were not called Automatic Climate Control, they were called "Tempmatic". I suspect that's what they call this system too, automatic in temp only.
Gilly