heater - again

[paulr]

hi all - still trying to solve the mystery of no heat from heater which given current weather is increasingly important,

have now bled system - have dismantled heater and connected heater matrix to heater pipes separate from heater assembly and eureka - heater matrix does warm up

have been examining heater assembly (pre 94 type) and think I may have found the problem - there are 4 moveable flaps in the heater assembly - one solid one directs the air either to feet/screen or turns off air - seems fine,

second solid one is behind the 2 vents in the middle of the heater (fresh air vents) and simply either opens or closes the airflow to those vents - fine ,

the other 2 flaps are operated by the temperature control lever and one flap is above and one flap is below the heater matrix - both these flaps have 2 large rectangular holes in them and are edged with adhesive foam (like door draught excluder foam ) - to me it seems that with the large holes in each flap - inevitably air goes through the holes as easier to do that than be directed through the heater matrix - my wife's theory is that the holes were originally covered in some kind of mesh so that some air can always pass through the flaps to the fresh air vents which otherwise would be blanked off when these 2 linked heat flaps are forcing air to go through the heater matrix ,

question - please see photos attached -do any of you know if there should be some sort of mesh or screen over these flaps rectangular holes or better still have any photos of yours ?

have searched web and can find no diagrams or photos and currently am tempted to block both flaps rectangular holes so air forced through heater matrix but given the hassle of taking it apart would prefer to do it right once - rather than experiment ,

hope one of you can help

Paul

[mikeeskriett]

Hi Paul,

Off the top of my head there should be a foam rubber pad blocking those holes. That baffle should lift up and force air through the matrix when set to cold it passes over the top of the matrix without warming the air.

Cheers,

Mike

[paulr]

thanks Mike - seems logical - would also explain why nothing there as over 26 years suspect foam has long gone and previous owner who rebuilt Ruby had replaced matrix and put adhesive foam - like draught proof door strips - around edge of flaps I guess to help them seal and avoid rattles/direct metal to metal contact,

have now fitted metal blanking plates to each flap and reassembled heater and one evening this week will try and refit it to car and test it ! can't see any reason why with this repair heater won't work but will be much happier when it is back together - no leaks - and working

then it is dash back in and on the road !

thanks

Paul

[Geoff Butcher]

Surely if you permanently block these holes something is not going to work as originally intended?

[midasjaap]

hmmmm,

I found the remains of this foam lying ontop of the heatermatrix when I opened it. It is foam on one side and thin black plastic (the thickness of sandwich bags or even less) on the other. Not shure if it lets air though. I think it is intended to reduce vibration of the plate when air passes over or underneath it. If that is true one would think that replacing it with some tape would do the trick.

Interested to see if your solution works.... I left the holes open and there is obviously no hot air coming out of the unit.

Jaap

[paulr]

it works - not uncomfortably hot when on full heat but more importantly not uncomfortably cold - eureka !

out of interest do others run at mid gauge temp when warmed up - ours runs cold so have blocked off part of rad during current colder weather and seems to make a difference

[manifold]

...yes I put cardboard across the front in winter. looks rough but did the job. just halfway.

[paulr]

snap - exactly what we have done - glad to hear it is not just us

[manifold]

yes, Blue Peter style. A bit of cardboard and a pair of scissors. No sticky back plastic though.

[Victorc]

David, what, no titanium?
Victor