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Post by BikeTuna on Dec 19, 2018 15:04:52 GMT
Not having heating seriously sucks now. it sucks so much at 7am when I leave and it also sucks at 7pm when I get home. It's only going to suck more come jan/feb.
So I have a small amount of variance on the lever. Set it to cold and it is cold, set it to hot and it's barely above ambient. It can take a good 10 miles to get anything higher than ambient temps out of it. The hot/cold lever feels like it has physical resistance so not a snapped cable.
Both pipes going from the engine bay into the firewall are proper hot straight away.
The engine is running at a good temp on the dash so I don't think it's overcooling.
The blowers seem a little slow and noisy but I think that's unrelated.
Any ideas before my fingers drop off? |
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Post by wannabe on Dec 19, 2018 17:17:59 GMT
Could be a blocked heater matrix - I recall they are a common point of failure on Clios, and if it's the original item on an NA, it must be at least two decades old now!
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Post by Zed. on Dec 19, 2018 18:05:18 GMT
stupid question maybe, what car? (guessing mk1 '5??) The blowers seem a little slow and noisy but I think that's unrelated. on mk1 & 2 cars, is the link-pipe (or aircon unit if fitted?) connected to the heaterbox &/or fan-blower unit as can loose un-heated airflow into the passanger footwell  Could be a blocked heater matrix see Both pipes going from the engine bay into the firewall are proper hot straight away. chances are that if both heaterpipes @ the bulkhead get hot at the same time (not staggered) before the radiator top hose then it would indicate that theres coolant flow through the matrix it's possible that the airflow side of the matrix can be blocked (by the foam from the 'flaps' in the heaterbox or the recirc flap in the blower-box) OR leaves etc blocking the blower-fan's air intake below the windscreen / under the bonnet hidden by a plastic cover / by the wiper linkage.... Sorta  Rich. |
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Post by dadbif on Dec 19, 2018 22:15:02 GMT
I concur, if both pipes are hot then you have water flow, it then needs air being heated by being drawn/blown across the matrix to heat the car. Check intakes, Flap positions/operation etc
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Post by BikeTuna on Dec 20, 2018 7:59:17 GMT
Thanks all, the heater matrix is the next point of call I think, I'll be having a go at flushing it out at lunchtime and seeing if it improves.
From fitting a replacement boost gauge in the centre vent holes, I know the previous owner had stuffed these holes with rags to stop the wideband from heating up, and last night I removed one of the rags to see if it was that, instantly the power of the fans is much, much better. Are people usually blocking off the pipes to keep the gauges cool or are they ok from the temps? There must be a better way of blanking them off than rags, whats everyone else doing here?
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Post by dadbif on Dec 20, 2018 8:31:53 GMT
Before you start taking pipes off and flushing, I would, based on what you have discovered so far, investigate blockages in the air intake and ducting to and from the matrix. Did you say there is restricted movement on the controls? this would indicate something stuffed in there..
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Post by Zed. on Dec 20, 2018 10:36:37 GMT
Always beware of these, there’s many a surprise care of a previous owner or two to be found ESPECIALLY on modified cars 🙄 If the car has no aircon, (from the passenger footwell, / maybe removing the glovebox?) remove the link-pipe from the blower assembly to the heaterbox & ‘fish’ out any ‘spare’ rags from the vent-blocking attempt 👍 The heater system is really easy to work on, although if the dashboard is removed the access is vastly improved (sorry to state the obvious...) Rich. |
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Post by BikeTuna on Dec 20, 2018 17:48:23 GMT
The previous owner of my car was a weapons grade idiot. Every single job I have had to do on this car was because he had done it badly - Sometimes to the point of just being a rubbish job, a lot of it to the point of being dangerous. It's the worst car I have ever owned and it's because of the mess he made it.
The rags out the back of the centre vents behind the dials have freed up the airflow very well. The AC had been removed but I removed the underdash unit and fitted the delete pipe so I know it's good in there. it's blowing great now, though I think I'll move the dials to below the headunit and get those vents back.
The fault is very definitely a matrix issue. I've found a leak from one of the pipes going into the unit so it implies it's a giant air bubble so I'll replace the jubbly clip tomorrow and burp it all and see where I get.
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Post by BikeTuna on Jan 31, 2019 13:11:56 GMT
It's now the end of Jan and I still don't have heating, and I can assure you the 'old skool charm' of it has worn off long ago.
Since the last post about it ive taken off the pipes to the matrix, filled it with TFR and blasted a jetwash through it, and it's definitely not blocked now.Ive found a coolant leak form the thermostat housing so that's changed along with the thermostat. Ive found a mis-shapen jubilee on one of the pipes so Ive changed all of them. Ive changed the coolant, and bled it 3 times now and I get heat for the drive home and them its cold again the next day so I'm still thinking its a leak and the air bubble is in the matrix as the highest point of the system.
Ive got hold of a coolant pressure tester today so I'll try that later. Any other ideas in the meantime? Whats the easiest way to check the flaps operation? Can you get to it all from behind the tombstone or does more need to come out?
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Post by Zed. on Jan 31, 2019 17:11:55 GMT
It's now the end of Jan and I still don't have heating, and I can assure you the 'old skool charm' of it has worn off long ago. know that feeling, my 1991 Landrover Discovery has been without a working heater-fan motor for ~3 winters  just replaced the motor & that was a full interior strip & rebuild (Landrover assembled the early Discovery by placing the heatermotor on the workshop floor then building the rest around it!) also, I've just had the heaterbox out of my newly aquired 1992 B3 Passat to fix the 'blend' door / flaps that direct air around the heater-matrix, another days work  anyway... with your '5 I'd suggest removing the dashboard to access the heaterbox, its a half-hour to an hours work to remove  Rich. |
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Post by dadbif on Feb 2, 2019 8:38:19 GMT
Running out of options now, so I tend to agree with your diagnosis of an airlock.
Used to suffer similar on 60’s vintage Vauxhall’s viva’s, (if they didn’t disintegrate into a pile of rust before winter).
We used to clear the airlock by jacking/ramping up the front of the car, filling the system up whilst cold, ensuring the heater was turned to full heat, then run the engine with the radiator pressure cap off. Leave it for as long as it takes for air to stop “burping” out of the filler neck on the rad.
Stop the engine, let it cool down, and then top the system up, there will be space as the coolant cools down.
Hope it works for you.
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Post by dadbif on Feb 2, 2019 8:44:57 GMT
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Post by BikeTuna on Feb 5, 2019 8:18:37 GMT
Ive made an interesting discovery last night, I was stuck in traffic on the way home and the car was pumping out roasty toasty, and as soon as the traffic cleared and the speeds went up the car got cold again, so this is an over-cooling issue.
Ive already replaced the thermostat last week so Im ruling that out for the mo. I know the temp sensor isn't working as the connection is broken but I was guessing that only controls the fans.
The plot thickens!
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Post by wannabe on Feb 5, 2019 11:08:18 GMT
That is weird...
The thermostat should only really be closed when you start up, so should be open all the time (AIUI) so I don't get how it's overcooling!
Do you have an enormous rad? lol
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Post by BikeTuna on Feb 5, 2019 11:15:54 GMT
Funnily enough I do have an enormous rad. it's an aftermatket one, I cant remember the brand but its the same size as a mishimoto one, and to make things more annoying its a mk2 one that's been bodged in there, so it doesn't have the raised cap and I have to fill it with a funnel that locks to the filler cap.
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le sigh