2006 Sonata GL heater

Anyone else have a GL Sonata (manual heater controls)? I just got mine
this week and am finding that the heater leaves much to be desired. On
the floor airflow setting, it doesn't keep my feet warm at temps below
35F and it still blows air out the defroster vents and the side "face"
vents. I thought something was wrong, but upon reading the manual
again, this is the way it was designed. The only way to keep my feet
warm is to keep the car at 80F or above at face level, which puts me to
sleep.

So far, I've found little to not like about this car, but this is the
most significant. This is the dumbest heater design I've seen in a car
in 30 years (since the 1975 Beetle I owned). Doesn't Hyundai know that
heated air rises?

Does anyone know if there is a way to reprogram the heater controls to
blow only out the floor vents when on the floor setting?

Also, the rear seats don't get heat well at all. I thought I read that
the Sonata had rear heat vents, but apparently that was the Accent
brochure I was reading as I can't find any vents for the rear seat area.
I know one of the brochures mentioned this explicitly, and I was
looking at both models and don't remember for sure which one said it,
but I'm guessing it was the Accent. Seems odd that a smaller, less
expensive car would have this feature and the Sonata wouldn't.


Matt

 

Well, at least I'm not the only one who's not happy
with floor/lower level heating.

I've got an LX, and its my knees that are constantly
cold. My feet are kept above freezing (never getting
hot), while the only way to keep my knees from freezing
is to set the controls on bi-level and direct the dash
vent down into my lap.

The wife & kids haven't complained about back seat
heat, but with them in the car the windows fog up much
quicker than I've experienced in other cars.

/
L.J.


In <Szztf.4663$>, on 12/31/2005

at 05:52 PM, Matt Whiting <> said:

 

Yes, I've noticed the fogging as well. I'm going to crawl under the
dash and see if I can design a deflector to force the that comes out at
mid-calf to be redirected forward towards my feet. I find that if my
feet are warm, the rest of me is warm. And the warm air rises after
warming my feet so my upper body gets plenty warm as well.

I guess I have just been spoiled by my two Chrysler minivans and my
Chevy pickup, all of which have excellent HVAC systems. Both of the
minivans also have the read heat/AC. I think the vans that lack this
aren't all that great.


Matt

 

It's interesting to hear of the heater problems with the Sonata. Is
this primarily a problem with directional/distribution control of the
heat, or is the heater not putting out sufficient temp levels? Just
wondering, as we're considering the purchase of a Sonata later in 2006.

We owned a Honda Civic which never put out much heat, and it seemed it
was due to the aluminum block. Of course, the Sonata has an aluminum
block as well. Normally, this shouldn't matter, but it certainly did
with the Civic.

We have a 2006 Elantra - which uses the older Beta engine with a cast
iron block - and, the heater will run you out of the car, and its
distribution works very well.

Don

 

[original post is likely clipped to save bandwidth]

Don,

I read these posts and wonder myself. I have a 2006 Sonata GLS, test drove
one when under 20F out and driven ours several times at 15F or lower.,

Neither my wife or I find the heating anything but excellent! I can't say
if this is personal preferences or ours has some recent change.

Yes, we had to change the outlet controls, my wife and I differ in
preferences yet both find comfortable settings.

Ours has the conventional heater, not the full automatic system offered
one option level up.

gerry

 

I'm not sure who you are replying to (it helps if you quote a few lines
of the message to which you are responding), but with my Sonata, I
believe it is poor distribution rather than lack of heat output. I can
get warm enough to sweat, but still have cold feet.

I had an 84 Accord that had a lousy heater also. I think it is more of
a Honda problem than an aluminum block issue. Even with an aluminum
block, much of the heat still has to go through the water passages on
its way out.


Matt

 

Do you mean closing off the vents on the dash? Or are their other
controls that I haven't found yet? I've closed off the dash vents
trying to get more air to my feet, but even that hasn't helped. The
floor vents exit mid-calf, rather than near the floor pedals on my other
vehicles.

Same here. I have the base GL with the manual HVAC.


Matt