Why T Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Well seams my engine doesn't get hot enough to power my heating. Just had a very cold drive and even after doing 30 mins at 110-120 mph my temp was still ........... I'm guessing my heater matrix ist kaput. Any thoughts guys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_jza80 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Have you changed the coolant recently? Could be an airlock. Or Could be a duff 'stat. If it were the heater matrix, the passenger footwell carpet would most likely be damp, and the windscreen would eventually start misting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Why T Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 I did change it the other day but I raised the front with the cap off and let it run for a fair amount of time to clear the air? So could be that. Not the 'stat as I only replaced it a few months back with a Trd one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsia Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Have you changed the coolant recently? Could be an airlock. Or Could be a duff 'stat. If it were the heater matrix, the passenger footwell carpet would most likely be damp, and the windscreen would eventually start misting. Interesting tidbit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_jza80 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I'd guess that you have an airlock then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pulley Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 You changed your thermostat to a trd one? Doesn't that open at an earlier temp to aid engine cooling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Massey Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 If you had an airlock it would rapidly heat up and get too hot. Mine did. And this wouldn't be a problem in the heater matrix as that wouldn't affect engine oil temp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Why T Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 You changed your thermostat to a trd one? Doesn't that open at an earlier temp to aid engine cooling? Yea I did as I had cooling issues befor and decided to change everything that it could be. So literally chaned everything to do with cooling Yes it does. 72degrees I believe. If you had an airlock it would rapidly heat up and get too hot. Mine did. And this wouldn't be a problem in the heater matrix as that wouldn't affect engine oil temp. So now I got different people telling me different things. Don't like complicated stuff lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Massey Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Yea I did as I had cooling issues befor and decided to change everything that it could be. So literally chaned everything to do with cooling Yes it does. 72degrees I believe. So now I got different people telling me different things. Don't like complicated stuff lol I think it's most likely down to the trd thermostat then. I'm pretty positive if you have an airlock in the system, the engine temp will go through the roof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pulley Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Your temperature needle tells You the engine temp, so provided its not faulty, it's showing the car isn't reaching operating temperature That wouldn't be anything to do with the interior heater matrix For example if the thermostat was fully open all the time the engine wouldn't reach normal operating temp I'd try bleeding the system again, then maybe swap the thermostat for a stock one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Why T Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 Ok. It's only since I did the coolant change did my heating stop working. I changed the stat a while back now. I did shorten a pipe but I'm sure this won't make a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pulley Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Lol I posted same time as al Massey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havard Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 It's an airlock in the matrix then. They are a bastard to shift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dnk Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) Stock stat is 82 degrees, i'd fit one of those first. How old is the rad cap, is it stock ? If the rest of the cooling system is working correctly then it should self bleed, no need for jacking the front end up or parking on hills. Has the control arm fell off, you'll find it in the passenger foot well, also does the expansion tank have any coolant in it Edited February 9, 2014 by Dnk (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampy442 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 How fast for how long?! Check and see if the heater matrix pipes are hot, but Id go with Dunk and say get a stock stat in, then a damn good bleed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra steveo Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Run it up to temp again, raise the front again, and give all the coolant pipes a wee squeeze to see if you can move the air lock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraLEDrears Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Ok this is a very common problem and can stop the heating from working suddenly for no reason. You'll need to do this when the car is cold otherwise you'll just burn yourself or cause problems pumping cold water into the hot system. Disconnect the hoses from the aluminium h connection. If you follow the pipes to the right, they should go into the cab towards the passenger side. These are the pipes you want to be working with. stick a hosepipe into one end and stick a cut off into the other to avoid the water going all over the engine bay. I normally stick the inlet as far as i can into the aluminium one and then the outlet into the rubber one. You'll need someone to control the tap as you will need to block the open aluminium ends. I normally cut some wine corks to plug them with but you'll still need to hold them in. You will also want to pull the pipes away from the engine to avoid any water spraying into the spark plug section. I also suggest getting a bucket as the water coming out will be a rust colour and manky. Turn the ignition, (not the engine) on and stick the heater on full blast on 30. Now let someone open the tap slowly as you don't want to damage the matrix. Flush it for about 20 minutes and then connect all the hoses back up. Now drive to somewhere with a slope and park with the front higher than the back. Let the car cool down and take the rad cap off. Start the car, stick the heating on full whack and keep the rpm at 3000 for a few minutes to let any air out of the system. Replace the rad cap and you should be good to go. The heater will already have been blowing hot after you've flushed the matrix but there's still the chance of air in the system so just do it as a precaution. Let me know how you get on and if this doesn't work for you, I'll eat my hat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Why T Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 Stock stat is 82 degrees, i'd fit one of those first. How old is the rad cap, is it stock ? If the rest of the cooling system is working correctly then it should self bleed, no need for jacking the front end up or parking on hills. Has the control arm fell off, you'll find it in the passenger foot well, also does the expansion tank have any coolant in it The rad cap is new. Got it with my new alu radiator. It's a 1.3 bar. I'll look at the control arm today and let you know. Hope it's this. How fast for how long?!. I'm in Germany Ok this is a very common problem and can stop the heating from working suddenly for no reason. You'll need to do this when the car is cold otherwise you'll just burn yourself or cause problems pumping cold water into the hot system. Disconnect the hoses from the aluminium h connection. If you follow the pipes to the right, they should go into the cab towards the passenger side. These are the pipes you want to be working with. stick a hosepipe into one end and stick a cut off into the other to avoid the water going all over the engine bay. I normally stick the inlet as far as i can into the aluminium one and then the outlet into the rubber one. You'll need someone to control the tap as you will need to block the open aluminium ends. I normally cut some wine corks to plug them with but you'll still need to hold them in. You will also want to pull the pipes away from the engine to avoid any water spraying into the spark plug section. I also suggest getting a bucket as the water coming out will be a rust colour and manky. Turn the ignition, (not the engine) on and stick the heater on full blast on 30. Now let someone open the tap slowly as you don't want to damage the matrix. Flush it for about 20 minutes and then connect all the hoses back up. Now drive to somewhere with a slope and park with the front higher than the back. Let the car cool down and take the rad cap off. Start the car, stick the heating on full whack and keep the rpm at 3000 for a few minutes to let any air out of the system. Replace the rad cap and you should be good to go. The heater will already have been blowing hot after you've flushed the matrix but there's still the chance of air in the system so just do it as a precaution. Let me know how you get on and if this doesn't work for you, I'll eat my hat Wow. Good write up. Gonna have to find a hose pipe but I'll re read this a couple times so I'm happy then I'll give it a go. Thanks guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Why T Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 (edited) Double post Edited February 10, 2014 by Why T (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dnk Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Well you have a stat that's lowering the operating temp and a rad cap that's trying to raise it, i'd be going stock on both of those, upping the pressure on an old cooling system in my opinion isn't a great idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_b Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I did change it the other day but I raised the front with the cap off and let it run for a fair amount of time to clear the air? So could be that. Not the 'stat as I only replaced it a few months back with a Trd one. I've skim-read the thread a couple of times. Apologies if this repeats what's already been said, but there's a fair bit of confusion here. The OP is talking about 2 different problems: the coolant temperature gauge not reaching operating temperature (although it's not far off: remember the bottom of the gauge isn't 0 deg C, it's more like 70 deg C). To be clear, this gauge measures the coolant tempature in the engine or rad (I can't remember which), and as such doesn't measure the temperature of the air coming into the cabin. The position of that temperature needle should be sufficient for the matrix to give fairly hot air into the cabin, *if* the matrix is working properly. That's his other potential problem: matrix issues. That needle is exactly where I'd expect it to be if I were running a thermostat that opens at a lower temperature. My usual advice is unless you know why you should fit a TRD stat, rad cap or oil filter, then don't. Ok this is a very common problem and can stop the heating from working suddenly for no reason. You'll need to do this when the car is cold otherwise you'll just burn yourself or cause problems pumping cold water into the hot system. Disconnect the hoses from the aluminium h connection. If you follow the pipes to the right, they should go into the cab towards the passenger side. These are the pipes you want to be working with. stick a hosepipe into one end and stick a cut off into the other to avoid the water going all over the engine bay. I normally stick the inlet as far as i can into the aluminium one and then the outlet into the rubber one. You'll need someone to control the tap as you will need to block the open aluminium ends. I normally cut some wine corks to plug them with but you'll still need to hold them in. You will also want to pull the pipes away from the engine to avoid any water spraying into the spark plug section. I also suggest getting a bucket as the water coming out will be a rust colour and manky. Turn the ignition, (not the engine) on and stick the heater on full blast on 30. Now let someone open the tap slowly as you don't want to damage the matrix. Flush it for about 20 minutes and then connect all the hoses back up. Now drive to somewhere with a slope and park with the front higher than the back. Let the car cool down and take the rad cap off. Start the car, stick the heating on full whack and keep the rpm at 3000 for a few minutes to let any air out of the system. Replace the rad cap and you should be good to go. The heater will already have been blowing hot after you've flushed the matrix but there's still the chance of air in the system so just do it as a precaution. Let me know how you get on and if this doesn't work for you, I'll eat my hat Why do you turn the ignition on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Why T Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 I changed all my cooling to better brands as I'm running a single. Not masses amount of power. I'm happy that my engine is keeping to a lower temp although I don't know if it's a good thing or not. Makes seance to me though. I just wanna get some heating into my car. It's bloody freezing in Germany atm haha Again guys thanks for all your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraLEDrears Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Why do you turn the ignition on? To make sure that all the valves are open and the heater wont blow if it's off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_b Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 To make sure that all the valves are open and the heater wont blow if it's off The blower isn't needed when flushing the matrix. IIRC, it's only a fan that blows whatever air is around the matrix into the cabin. The valves is a good point. Does anyone know if the ignition needs to be on to provide a path through the matrix? I've done a matrix flush in the past, but didn't turn the ignition on. The flush was inconclusive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dnk Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 The temp change needs power to move the servo motor so unless the ignition is on it won't move, you can set it to hot then turn the ignition off and it'll stay set at hot but with out the fan on full you wont know if the heater is pushing out max hot air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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