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Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning

PTC Heater (Gasoline Engine) Description and Operation

In this manual: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
General Information — 15Maintenance — 7Engine Mechanical System — 84Engine Electrical System — 49Emission Control System — 22Fuel System — 95Clutch System — 28Manual Transmission — 21Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) System — 47Drive Shaft and Axle — 20Suspension System — 36Steering — 23Restraints — 39Brake System — 54Body (Interior and Exterior) — 209Body Electrical System — 254Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning — 56
~1min read

Description

The PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) heater is installed at the outlet or back side of the heater core. The PTC heater is an electric heater that uses a PTC element as an auxiliary heating device to compensate for the shortage of internal heat source in a high-efficiency gasoline engine. The electric heater heats the cabin by directly heating the air passing through the heater. The name itself implies that the element has a proportional change in resistance that is sensitive to temperature.
Operation: The heater control outputs the PTC ON signal and activates PTC relay 1. Then the heater control unit operates PTC relay 2 and PTC relay 3 at 15-second intervals. However, PTC relay 3 can operate when battery voltage is above 12.4 V. Operating conditions: The PTC heater operates under the following conditions:
  • Battery voltage: 13.0 V or higher
  • Engine: 900 rpm or higher
  • Ambient Temperature and Coolant Temperature
Ambient
Temperature		 Coolant
Temperature		 PTC
Operation
Below -20°C
(-4°F)		 Below 75 °C ON
5°C (41°F) Below 65 °C ON
7 °C or higher - OFF
- 80 °C or higher OFF

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