Heater improvements?

[Guest ntc]

You have your own answer did you seal the bolts?

[Steves_TR6]

I didnt seal the bolts Neil, will do so!

 

But its aslo leaking from the housing bang in the middle !

 

Is the gasket supplied not thick enough perhaps ( to accomodate imperfections ) ?

 

Wish inhadnt touched it now!

 

Steve

[Guest ntc]

Cleaning will not just do you need a flat surface with emery paper to get the housing flat. You also need not drain any water off.

Edited December 14, 2016 by ntc

[Steves_TR6]

Cool, i realised i didnt need to drain any coolant.

 

I'll flat off the housing and purchase some non setting sealant tomorrow.

 

Its never leaked in the 14k ive owned it........apart from when the water pump died :-)

[Nigel A]

I had the same problem and in the end purchased a new housing

 

Cheers

 

Nigel

[BlueTR3A-5EKT]

Any one there using CHA343 thermostat housing from Midget 1500 - It has a filler plug in the top so allowing you to fill the cooling system fully.

It used to be the tricky mod for the racers and as I undertsand has been remade.

Peter W

[Guest ntc]

Peter

Agree but for road use never needed.

[Steves_TR6]

Interesting thought Peter, but as Neil says not really needed on the road even if you do drive 'entusiastically' :-)

And its very nice to be able to change the stat without losing coolant.

 

Up early and down to the garage for me, i hate leaving a problem unfixed!

 

I flattened off the housing with some emery cloth on the bench, cleaned the waterpump housing face, used some gasket jointing on both surfaces, thread sealer in the bolt holes, reassembled, topped up with neat antifreeze.......

 

No leaks now!

 

Marvellous

 

Steve

[TR4'er]

Sorry a it late into this topic.

Fitted a Clayton heater complete to my TR4, with an appropriate three speed switch, but have found virtually no improvement - still negligible blower. Has anyone had a different experience, or amI the only mug.

Yours, severely depressed.

Rob.

[RogerH]

Hi Rob,

the Clayton has the capacity to give out more heat than the standard heater.

However it does require the water to flow through it.

 

What is the state of your engine regarding clogged water ways etc.

 

What is the condition of the heater valve on the cylinder head - if it isn't fully open then no hope.

 

The pipes (either side of the bulk head and the steel pipe going to the pump) can fur up.

 

Roger

[TR4'er]

Hi Roger, new engine - 2 weeks old, new ally rad, new Clayton , new control valve.

Still bl**dy frozen driving to work these mornings.

Is this the price for driving in the winter in aTR4.

 

Mind you I have had this one for 15 yrs, but when expectations step up you would think the hype would be matched with performance.

Or shall I shut up.

 

Thanks for your comments.

Rob.

[RogerH]

Hi Rob,

something is wrong.

 

The expectations do match the hype. My old heater works a dream.

 

I think you need to investigate the water flow through the heater.

Disconnect the heater hose from heater valve on the head, start engine - does the water come out of the heater valve reasonably well.

It will not rush out but have a flow.

 

If yes

 

Disconnect both heater hoses in the engine bay. Connect a garden hose to one end and turn on (not too high) - does water flow reasonably well.

 

Have you got (enough) water in the rad - sounds silly, but!!!

Have you blanked anything off - washer in the bypass hose etc.

 

Have either of the two short pipes rear of the bulkhead been kinked?

 

Don't give up- It's a good heater (so is the standard item) and a good car.

 

Roger

[Lebro]

FWIW Gave my standard TR3 heater a thoughror very good flushing when not fitted to car, It works very well, even in the coldest of UK weather, with the hood & sidescreens on it gets too hot in there.

So my advice, stick with it, but make sure it's working as designed, & not blocked up (water wise, or air wise)

 

Bob.

 

P.S. I run an 88°C bellows shielded type thermostat all year round, temp gauge sits at 183°F, only rising in traffic, when the electric fan cuts in & brings it down again. No Mechanical fan.

Edited January 24, 2017 by Lebro

[Fireman049]

Regarding the Clayton heaters. I fitted one to my 3A but I've never been a fan of 'special' hoses.

The ones supplied with the Clayton are 5/8ths tapering down to 1/2in. If a hose gives up the ghost

on a country road where do you get another 'special' hose?

 

I bought two copper elbows ~ one end 5/8ths and the other 1/2in. so you can carry a short length of 5/8th

hose and a short length of 1/2in.

 

I also fitted a 'restrictor' washer on the thermostat top housing.

 

Tom.

 

 

[aardvark]

I fitted a clayton to my 6 before Christmas. The blower on max is probably equivalent to a breezy day rather than a tornado. That said, there is warmth coming out, probably more than with the old heater. All waterways ticketyboo and clean so no clogging due to crud. I have a everco watervalve to install so that might increase flow to the heater (?). All in all, I think it's an improvement over standard but I never really complained about the old heater until it sprang a leak. The best source of hot appears to be the gearbox haha.

[Andy Moltu]

The Clayton heater isn't significantly better than a standard one in good condition on the 6. Different on the early cars but not really a worthwhile mod on the 4A-6
.

Make sure your heater matrix is clear and the blower motor is working.

Fit a winter thermostat.

[graeme]

The heater won't work without airflow too. Do you have the scuttle flap open for the air to flow through?

 

I have the Clayton heater in my 4A and I drive in cold weather with the top down, it is quite comfortable. With the hood up it can get ridiculously warm in the cabin.

 

Cheers

 

Graeme

Edited January 24, 2017 by graeme

[TR4'er]

Hi Roger et al,

Will go over everything again when I get home, checking the water flow in particular.

 

Will let you all know.

 

Thanks again for all the comments, it puts things into perspective and the sun begins to shine again.

 

Thx, Rob,

[MikeF]

I rebuilt my '4 heater and upgraded to a 2 speed 4A motor. It is now hot enough to use car on even the coldest days.

I did all the below but found The most effective changes were in coolant flow. - making sure of full flow to the heater (bulkhead fitting and hoses) and making sure all the matrix had full flow through it. About half the tubes on mine were blocked.

 

Flush the cooling system and clean out all junk. Put a proper bellows thermostat in.

Remove heater from car, clean the matrix (I used domestic heating products. Connected to hot tap and ran it to drain, found that it was still blocked - only a part of it got warm not hot. Got another matrix and cleaned that, got equally hot all over.

The replacement matrix was from a 4A two speed type so I fitted that motor.

While heater was out replaced the foam and rubber bits and twisted the fan blades so they were all the same angle and fitted motor so it wasn't dragging in heater box....!

Replaced the hoses to heater and cleaned the 2-tube connector thing on the bulkhead, That was really sludged even after flushing system

The heater is now well able to cope with subzero external temps and I keep toasty warm even with hood down [tonneau on] at this time of year.

Incidentally: Running the single speed original motor and 2 speed alternately on a bench I found the higher speed of 2 speed motor is significantly more effective than single speed or I wouldn't have bothered.

 

Mike

[RogerH]

Hi Mike,

I'm sure the 4A has the single speed fan motor - mine does..

 

Could yours be from a TR6 (although I'm not sure what they have).

 

Roger

[peejay4A]

2 speed on the TR6 (from memory), only one speed on the4A.