Q&A

You say the heating/air conditioning wants to work and the fan blower works. When you move the heating controls from "hot" to "cold" do you feel resistance in the heater control knob/lever? You should feel resistance if the lever and cable is operating correctly. With the engine on (stereo off) can you hear things move behind the dash board (again looking to see if heater and ventilation controls are hooked up and functioning). There is a heater valve to allow hot coolant from the engine into a small radiator behind the dashboard to supply heat to the inside of the car and a flap that allows air from the outside to enter the car or block off air and recirculate only air in the car, each of these functions are operated off the heater control panel levers, so you should here things moving behind the dash as the levers are operated). Note the temperature gauge reading on your car's instrument panel (if equipped), a failed engine thermostat will make the engine run cool and diminish the heater output (I see by the weather forecast in NY you can do with all the heat your Escort can generate at the moment). If your air conditioning system is operating correctly when you turn on the engine, turn the heater to max cold and turn on the blower switch you should hear the air conditioning compressor in the engine compartment cycle on and off. The exception here is that if the air condition system does not have a sufficient charge the compressor is prevented from operating to save it from damage.

If you hear nothing at all, it could be that the wires are not connected, or broken. See if all of the connectors are attached. Also-----------check your fuse(s). Make sure that there are no loose hanging wires. You might need to do a circuit (wire) trace from the heating unit. YOu have to see if the wire cuts off somewhere, and that the connector contacts are touching. You will also need an Ohm/Volt/Amp meter.