CAR: 2001 Civic EX Coupe
MY LEVEL: Beginner

Yesterday I removed the center panel to replace bulbs on the heater control panel and the A/C / Recirculate / Defrost buttons. Turns out, the bulb is not bad, there is a short somewhere which makes the light go on and off with slight movement. (Cost of new control panel $223!)

PROBLEM:
I put everything back together the same way I took it apart. Now, my heater is blowing cold air!

I've searched the forums and read about:
Heater control valve
Heater control cable
Fuses
I don't know where to find the valve or cable, also don't know which fuse controls the heater so I can inspect it.

Could I have disconnected something that was not plugged into the ceter panel or blown a fuse?

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks

 

In the meantime, manually push the heater valve located on the firewall to full open if you need the heat.

 

Thanks, I just ran the self diagnosis and the light flashed 9 times. Now am trying to locate the heater valve!

 

The valve is in the engine bay on the firewall.

 

This girl must be blind...I can't see what is pictured I'll keep searching.

 

Found it..but can't open it.

 

Ok, once I tried to move the RIGHT thing, it was easy, but still cold air.

Thanks for your help.

 

Do the air mix motor tests.

 

After I got the valve open, I let the car run for a bit and still had cold air coming out. BUT...once I drove the car, the heat started to work! Thank you for your patience and sharing your knowledge!

I am assuming opening the valve is a temporary fix as you said to do this "in the meantime."

I am also assuming something happened to the heater control panel when I took the center panel out, because the heater was working fine before I did this.

As mentioned, I am a beginner (and a girl), so don't know a thing about Air Mix Control Motors. I will do some research and see where that takes me.

 

The air mix control motor moves the cable that opens and closes the heater valve on the firewall. Check the cable and the motor. If those are fine, the heater control panel may be bad.