Poor heating

mjb · Post by **mjb** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:15 pm

Basically when I set the climate control thing to 30c (max) it'll only get "warmish", even with a hot engine. I'm *guessing* that due to something in the coolant system leaking (desperately need to find out where and duct tape it up!) I've got myself a nice air pocket somewhere that'll be stopping circulation to the heater matrix. Would I be close? How would I go about bleeding the air out?

turbolag · Post by **turbolag** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 8:26 pm

Sounds like the heater circuit may need bleeding. There should be 1 or 2 (dependant on engine) bleed nipples in the coolant hoses at the rear of the engine, just where they pipes vanish into the bulkhead.

Ideally, there's a special pug tool that screws on the the expansion tank filler and allows you to fill up well above the bleed nipple height, making bleeding easy. Alternatively, you could find a suitable plastic bottle and chop it up to make a funnel, or get an assistant to undo the nipple whilst you place your lips over the filler and blow (clean the filler neck first!).

mjb · Post by **mjb** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:10 pm

Cheers, just what I need to know there. Not sure about putting my gob anywhere near the tank though, I'm no whale biologist but antifreeze looks fairly toxic to me

Any suggestion on plastic bottles? It occurs to me that a moderately water-tight seal (a.k.a. well-fitting bottle neck) of some sort might be needed to prevent it just spilling out all over the place as opposed to increasing the water pressure...

turbolag · Post by **turbolag** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 9:47 pm

If i recall, the 1 litre bottles of fresh orange juice from tesco have a nice wide neck and are just right for the job. The top half of an old 1 litre oil bottle might do the job too.

mjb · Post by **mjb** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 10:45 pm

OK I've been out to do the job - why not, it's not as if I get to see my car in daylight nowadays - and been pleasantly surprised to discover I didn't need the bottle due to the nature of small roads tending to have quite pronounced curvature meaning the RHS of the car is significantly higher than the LHS (sorry, i can never remember if o/s or n/s are left or right!)

So yeah, next time you guys can just park expansion-tank side on a reasonable kerb to save hassle

Anyhow didn't notice much air (if any) coming out of the bleed valve but definitely pushed a lot of liquid through it and out onto the road as I managed to drop the bloody cap didn't I (and didn't think to just put the expansion cap on till later!). But I did run the engine for a minute or 2 (not longer since it's a bit antisocial in a narrow terraced street at night) and definitely felt a hint of warmness coming from the vents. Lets see how it looks in the morning eh?

Now for the un-heated heated seats...