Hi guys, just wondering if any one has had an issue with the heater. I have a 2012 ampera with 79k on the clock, and it has recently started to just blow cool air when running on electric. When on ice it is ok, and sometimes will blow warm air on electric but after being run on ice. I have checked all fuses and can't find a fault there. I have disconnected 12v battery for reboot, but still only works properly now and then. Anybody had similar?
Cabin heater
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Sounds like the electric water heater unit or the electric coolant pump. Not unknown in either case. Fuse 13 in the engine compartment fuse box is the pump. The heater runs of the HV side I think so wouldn't have a fuse (not one that you can change). May need dealer diagnostics to work out which is the problem though.
Couple of vids here and here
Couple of vids here and here
I had similar problems and spent a while fault finding, eventually finding nothing - but I've realised that is does work if I turn it up high enough - I think it kicks in at a displayed 22.5 degrees, which then chucks out some pretty warm air. So while it's not ideal, I am not in the car long enough for it to be an issue that I can't live with.
There is a pump in the heating circuit that is known to fail. It's easier to spot if it is this or the actual heating element as on the later Ampera you could check the instant electrical power being used and if that was high for a very short time it usually pointed to the pump as the water had been heated up but because it was not being circulated the thermostat shut the element off. If you have an OBD dongle and the free app MyGreenVolt you should be able to see the power being used there. There a re youtube videos on how to change the pump and it seems fairly straightforward.
Keep us updated. If you can pop on here how it worked out then anyone else searching in the future will find more results.
Just an update on this issue. I checked the coolant level in the Ice and found it to be quite low, so topping up and running the engine caused quite a lot of air to vent. On restarting the car and running on electric, some gurgling was heard inside the car, but now the heater works better than before. The two systems must be incorporated. So it turned out to be a free fix thank goodness 👍🏻
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