On my 98 OBW & my in-laws '93 there is a cold air draft that comes in on the passenger side. It is up underneath the right side of the dash. What is causing this. The driver sweats while the passenger freezes! It is cold right now in Idaho & this sucks. Any solutions?

Interesting!! My wife complains about the same thing when she's a passenger in the front of my '98 OBW. Unfortunately, though, I haven't investigated enough to come up with a solution (though I suspect it could be related to the weather stripping that wraps around the sides and underside of the door and is secured by small yellow plastic tabs that can pop out or break off).

have them drive and take your glove off and feel till you find the draft. then plug it.

This is not brain surgery. Many common problems like vent flaps not closed, bad weather stripping, sometimes even the gasket between the heater body and the firewall.

It might even be loose duct work, or a leak there of.

Rob

No drafts anywhere, just cold. If we close all vents and put the heat only on, it passable, but never really warm. Only complaint about the whole car, but when it's -20 F outside IT MATTERS!

Hmm, I noticed the same thing too mtsmiths, on my '02 no draft just seems to be the footwells are cold, maybe the heat duct just isn't aim'ed as well as it should be? I'll have to take a look this afternoon..

It may not be an issue for you, but I’ve noticed problems getting comfortable in my 99 OBW just because the side dashboard vents are on all the time. This is normal by design, but it is unlike most cars where the side vents and the center vent work together. (This is actually the way all Japanese cars were back in the 70’s). I mention it only because it may be different than you are used to, and it is easy to check.

We have the same problem with our 96 Legacy. I've been told it's leaking ductwork, but it often means that my wife and I have to seriously customize the heat settings. Anyone else have the problem?

We took an old rag and plugged the hole for a recent road trip. But it eventually starts to get cold again. And I don't get any drafts from it either. It is not around the door. It is up under the right front dash. Weather stripping doesn't seem to be the prob. So what duct work is there up in that portion of the dash? It doesn't matter if the vent is open or closed. Any suggestions??? It seems a few of us are experiencing this annoying & cold phenomenom.

thermostats you can get?

After that I would block off the ducting that flows outside air in for the winter and just pick up interior air to reheat.

If it is really frigid you may wish to block off part of the radiator as you have seen big trucks do to get heat. The problem there is that if you forget and go on a trip, or the weather warms up you can overheat the car. If you are a temp guage watcher no problem.

SAABS and Volvos used to come with a little window blind to pull up in front of the radiator. Again the problem could be forgetting to pull it back down.

I solved this problem myself by moving from Maine to CA.

Just to let you know that at least it's not a design flaw. It's nice and warm in my 96 Brighton even on -30C_° mornings. I even have to turn the fan and the heat down 10-15 minutes after starting.

I just hope nothing will happen resembling what is happening to you. I'll keep reading this thread just in case...

Good luck!