Hi all
Am new to this forum; we bought our Charade (according to Wikipedia a 6th Generation Mira) new in 2003 and it's been very good & reliable. However, although heater was fine two weeks ago, we are now not getting any heat from it (And it's winter here )

The engine starts & runs normally, and the engine temp gauge shows it heats up to just over 1/2 way. We've have done 125,000 km in her. She does use a little oil now; top up every month or so.

Heater fan works OK, external/internal air selection slider & vent selection knob all work OK

Temperature knob turns and appears to work normally (feeling behind dashboard the cable from it moves just very slightly as I'd expect as knob turns) but there is no heating effect.

Engine radiator heats up, and the two hoses through the bulkhead heat up a fair extent though still quite holdable; one does seem hotter than other as one might expect.

Radiator is full, she uses no water, not visible leaks or damp spots inside. No visible oil in water or water in oil.

Coolant changed Jan 2011 - I will have given radiator a bit of a flush with hose, not necessarily reaching the heater though.

Air con works fine - with no heater I have to use it to demist windscreen.

I suspect that either a heater hose/waterway is partially/fully blocked or hearer valve is sticking or detached from cable. It seemed to come on quickly. Without a Haynes or other workshop manual I'm not sure what else to test and how to dismantle to check valves etc. (Are any manuals available?)

Advice requested & gratefully received!

cheers
Bill

UPDATE
Turned out to be rust in the heater core - I removed one of the heater hoses and flushed it through and that helped a bit, but probably moved rather then removed obstruction; ended up getting local garage to flush it properly. Found heater terrible for airlocks when refilling - had to drive car up/down hills and top up a couple of times before heater full - this made it harder to know when if I'd improved it at all. Is there a bleed screw somewhere I missed? Still puzzled why heater seemed to stop working so suddenly - would have expected a slow drop in heat output, not all or nothing...