dblenk Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 Hi we go again on this 6 of mine i was told the heater was cabled tied shut as the matrix was probably duff, ok probably correct however i was thinking of flushing the matrix with a hose through the in hose and return, this should prove the matrix is not blocked any ideas yes i know fit a new one its just the hassle of removing all that dash etc i bought this car to run guess i dont need a heater in the summer david Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveB66 Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 David I think it would be sensible to check if the heater matrix is blocked, either by undoing the cable tie and letting the heater work or as you suggest with a hose. However I had a heater matrix go on a 2.5pi, it seemed ok when running cold water through it, but when connected up the heat and pressure in the system was enough to cause it to leak and fill the cabin with steam! Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 Yep that works for me. Were both the hoses disconnected from the engine to heater ? If so… Are you sure both the hose inside the car between the bulkhead If the tap only is wired closed you still have water pressure from the engine cooling system in the return hose line, so the matrix is under some pressure. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dblenk Posted January 23 Author Report Share Posted January 23 All hoses seem to be connected fitted the uprated valve and flicked to open and ran it got no apparent leaks but looking to get heat through !!!!!! David Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dblenk Posted January 23 Author Report Share Posted January 23 Sure i seen a connection to the four seasons heater valve fitted to a yellow 6 cant seem to find it on here maybe it was somewhere else i saw it ?? David Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dblenk Posted January 23 Author Report Share Posted January 23 thermocure evaporust seems to flush and sort rust in the coolant system could be worth a try ????? david Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Moltu Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 One word of caution if you use a hose to flush the cooling system. Our water pressure is over 3 bar or 45psi so quite a bit higher than the 13 psi (or 7psi) the coolant system runs at. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dblenk Posted January 24 Author Report Share Posted January 24 cheers andy yes tap pressure is around 7 Bar as i use it for pressure testing valves at the factory i was thinking the flush stuff rust eater i might spring lots of leaks after use and the rust could be holding everything together hahaha Quote Link to post Share on other sites
harlequin Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 One thing that may help de-clog the heater is to swap the hoses to the bulkhead around so that the coolant is running in the opposite direction, run it this way for a couple of days and this may shift the gunge. Then flush the whole system George Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 Provided the heater is not blocked you won't get near the available pressure from your tap, as the water will be flowing through the heater, & out. Turn tap on gently, & watch for free flowing water. if there is none, then you do have a blockage, so stop ! otherwise flush from both directions alternately until the water runs clear. Bob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dblenk Posted January 24 Author Report Share Posted January 24 Hi Bob That's what i was thinking cheers Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BlueTR3A-5EKT Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 On 1/24/2024 at 1:02 PM, harlequin said: One thing that may help de-clog the heater is to swap the hoses to the bulkhead around so that the coolant is running in the opposite direction, run it this way for a couple of days and this may shift the gunge. Then flush the whole system George That was a Vauxhall main dealer trick to get non heating heaters working on used sales vehicles. Their problem stemmed from OAT antifreeze creating and washing crud into the heater matrix. The main radiator suffered similarly and back flushing that would improve cooling. There was a GM/Vauxhall/Opel tech directive on it floating around the internet some years ago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dblenk Posted January 26 Author Report Share Posted January 26 Peter sounds good David Quote Link to post Share on other sites
trchris Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 Flushing using a hose sometimes is ineffective as the water will find the easiest route and not necessarily flow throughout the cores Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dblenk Posted January 26 Author Report Share Posted January 26 4 minutes ago, trchris said: Flushing using a hose sometimes is ineffective as the water will find the easiest route and not necessarily flow throughout the cores Chris i was hoping the rust eater would clear the issue David Quote Link to post Share on other sites
harlequin Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 When I change my antifreeze I flush the system using a solution of washing soda, it works well and is super cheap. George Quote Link to post Share on other sites
keith1948 Posted January 27 Report Share Posted January 27 I once took apart the end 'boxes' of a leaky heater matrix and discovered that over half of each box had solid 'sludge' in it. This was because there were no baffles to make the water flow around the inside of these boxes instead of just straight across. A better design would be to have just one tube running through the fins and no end boxes. This would also remove all the soldered joints in the original design. I think there may be a Jaguar matrix along those lines. So the suggestion of reversing the flow might work. Worth a try but I think the original matrix design is poor. Keith Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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