I have very little heat to my feet from my heating system. I can get a little if I turn the temp right up to 30c and press the recirculation button and select feet only. Whatever buttons I select, there appears to always be cool/cold air coming down on my feet.

I have checked all the fuses in the boot fusebox next to the battery and all are ok. The temparature sensor appears to be working as the screen and face vents react to changing the temparature on the control panel. I get heat shortly after starting the car from cold so I believe the auxilairy pump works and indeed I have checked it externally by feeling it vibrate and feeling the temparature of it change. The face vents supply very hot air when asked as do the screen vents.

Yesterday I got copies of the service manuals covering the heating and ventilation system off this forum and so armed with a little more information last night I spent some time checking air flow whilst the car was stationery in the garage. It seems the footwell heat was quite good then, when the temparature was turned up high.

I opened and closed the recirculation flaps and determined there was a healthy flow of air into the car from the scuttle in front of the windscreen and this diminished when the recirculation button was pressed, as you would expect. But it did not stop entirely I think, the pressure into the car just reduced significantly.

It seems to me that when driving, fresh air is getting into the car whatever the demands of the heating system are. So if I turn the temperature up I would expect the cool outside air to diminish somewhat, but it doesn't. When driving this has a ram effect, so any gap in any flaps will still allow a good amount of air in as it is under pressure.

From the diagarams I have seen, there is a fresh air vent or "cool air bypass" as it is called in the diagram, which seems to be directly below the scuttle entrance holes. I think this is the culprit here. I think it is stuck open or not closing properly.

Perhaps it is broken, perhaps the seal around it has come away (especially if it is a foam seal).

So where do I go from here? I would like to access this flap, but suspect someone will tell me that is a major job not for an amateur. Will it involve dashboard out and if so, is there a procedure I can follow?

Or has anyone got any sneaky fixes?

Is there any point removing the outside scuttle and poking around down the entrance vents?

Is it perhaps safe to block the scuttle vents completely to see if that cures the problem, or is this the only way the blowers get their air feed? The diagrams I have seen don't make this clear.

Any help would be appreciated.