Gingerbread Man Posted December 21, 2008 Share Posted December 21, 2008 Mines leaking and before I cough up £80 for a new one, I was wondering if anyone had water tight one going spare in their garage? The car's a 1999 VVC. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Is it leaking from the matrix tubes, or the flanged plate with the inlet/outlet tubes on ? Having just bought a new one complete, I understand that you can buy just the plate/tubes, now made in metal, not plastic as before ! Only about £12 apparently. Should be able to tell where it is leaking if you take it out of the car. My plastic tubes had flashing either side, so the hose never sealed properly until I trimmed it off ! Intend to fit the new one over the holiday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gingerbread Man Posted December 22, 2008 Author Share Posted December 22, 2008 I took it out a few weeks back to investigate further. There was no corrosion by the plates but I didn't run it while it was out. I'll have another play this weekend and see what happens. Either way I have soldered together a copper tube bypass that I'll jubilee clip in it's place for now. I always get a drop or two of coolant on my legs on runs. The heater is in the off position currently, If i turn it on, I know about it. As I say, I'll have another look over Xmas but I hoped to find a possible second hand replacement just in case I needed it. I'll post back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Maybe the one I remove will be better than yours - perhaps with a new flange/tubes ? Will have a look when I remove it. Never drips, just get a whiff of coolant whenever I turn the heater tap on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gingerbread Man Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 Update: I took the plastic cover off so the heater matrix was free. I then ran the car stationary for roughly 15 minutes with the blower on full and the heater on full. Even with the heater blowing hot, I couldn't find the damned leak! I then took it out completely. The plastic cover had water marks, could this be coolant runs or rain getting in? There were no obvious leak points from the matrix. I connected it up to a hose pipe and turned it on full wack. This should be well above the pressure that the coolant system has to take. I couldn't find any obvious leaks. The hose pipe I used to test it with was leaking a wee bit at the connectors but nothing obvious. So if it doesn't leak while cold, it could be a heat fracture and thus only leaking when running hot, but not leaking when running the car stationary in my garage? I've noticed that the inlet and outlet connections on mine are metal not plastic. Does this mean that they have been replaced at some point in it's life? The matrix has a sticker stating a leak test was completed in June 1999, so this is original. If anyone else has any idea to why I get the odd drops of coolant into the drivers footwell, other than from the heater, I'm all ears!! I ventured into the drivers footwell head first to see a blue drop forming from the footwell roof after a run. This comfirms that it is coolant. I can't really asy if the problem has become better or worse, I did run some bars through the system a while back to try help things. Since then I've had new coolant flushed through. Driving me mad!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Probably can only be a 'hose connection to heater' thing then ? Have you got 'proper' hose clips .... i.e. screw operated with a nice wide clamp band ? Also check the spigots on the heater that the hoses push on to are smooth. edit - hmmmmm - blue you say ? What colour is your screenwash ?? Edited by - Stationary M25 Traveller on 4 Jan 2009 08:15:07 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gingerbread Man Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 Not leaking from the connections. Two good jubilee clips holding them on. Could it be the screen wash. Feel like a right prannet if it is. I'm sure that I've turned the heater on before and it's got worse so that's why I'm thinking not. Who knows! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Give it a few goodly squirts with the car on the drive. Could be the tubing, or where it connects to the underside of the jet, or the jet loose on the scuttle, and water running back into the cockpit under the jet assy ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 GM You have gone very quiet - do tell ..... did it taste of antifreeze or screenwash ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gingerbread Man Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 As I had tasted so much antifreeze from the 7, I think I left my taste buds alone that time round. I've ordered a new bottom heater hose which will hopefully come this week. I'll fit this, the heater and a coolant bleed tee I've brought all at the same time. Saves mucking around multiple times. I've not found any signs of coolant since I've removed the heater and replaced it with my cooper pipe handy work. I noticed on a thread from way back that when you took your matrix out, you took the opportunity to lube the fan. Where did you direct the lube at? Easy to do? I'll fit it all together next weekend and see how it goes. I think I found some suitable O rings to replace the nearing 10 year old ones that were in there. I'm hoping that this is where it is leaking from. Maybe with the movement of the heater while the car is moving that it may open up the plates slightly and leak!?!?!? Who knows, I'll report back in a weeks time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I don't remember if I simply sprayed something like WD40 at the bearings, or - more likely - just touched the spout of a light cycle oil can on the visible shaft sitting in the bearing each end of the fan. It must have been fairly obvious when I had the fan unit in my hand, so hopefully the same for you ! I'll be whipping mine out ( 😳) soon, to fit new matrix and fit a bleed-tee (at last). 😳 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gingerbread Man Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 Hopefully I'll fit it all this weekend! I didn't get around to it last weekend. I'll have a look at the fan. The fan unit is still attached to the car, I only ever removed the matrix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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