Heater Matrix

[turnerjr]

Hi all,

I’m pretty sure my heater matrix has finally given up so I’m wondering what my options are for replacing it. I’ve spoken to Chris Wilson as his contact in germany who do the intercoolers can reproduce them. He said they aren’t keen unless they can get 30 orders in due to making the tooling etc so thats a no go. I’m not overly keen on the ebay ones as the heat output isn’t great from the research Ive done. Theres a company in leeds called northern radiators who say they can reproduce aluminium matrix’s but I’m guessing they’d want one to copy and I don’t fancy removing mine until I get a replacement. 

Does anyone have an old knackered one (or a good one) that I can buy to send away? My supras a uk spec but I’m guessing the uk’s and Jap’s use the same heater matrix’s?

Or is there another option? 

Many thanks, John

[evinX]

The celica cores are available. They look really similar to the supra ones apart from the upper and lower tanks. Maybe someone can use those and make some supra tanks to fit them.

 

Keron mentioned ages ago he knew someone who could do them. Worth giving him a try and seeing if he has a blown core

[turnerjr]

Thanks buddy I spoke to Keron earlier, hes pretty convinced that I’ll be able to flush it with compressed air, so I’ll give that a go when I get the car back. I have tried it already with a hosepipe attached to the pipes on the bulkhead in both directions but didnt see an improvement heat wise. I’m sure he said the only ones he has are the ebay type ones which are smaller and don’t produce the same amount of heat as oem ones. 

[Big Supes]

Now that's a job I really don't fancy doing anytime soon.

[raddys]

Pita job, mine went, leaked into the passenger footwell, I took it to a garage, they did the job, dash out, fitted a new one, dash back in, turned the car on, let it sit and 10 mins later the footwell was soaking again, turns out they couldn't get the correct seals in time so just fitted the old ones, poorly, and one had not seated properly. They had to do the whole job again for free

So whatever you do make sure you get the joining seals with it as some kits just supply the unit itself.

[evinX]

We really need a UK based supplier on the club who can make a blueprint for these and do them at a reasonable price. No reason this cant be done. Only thing that may be hard doing the jobs are getting the correct tank outlets to weld onto the tanks.

Edited September 6, 2022 by evinX (see edit history)

[Bender]

They are on ebay

 

[Dnk]

Anything in here any use 

https://www.denso-am.eu/uk/catalog/pv/ac-engine-cooling/heater-cores?224%3A1=001

http://vehicleheaters.co.uk/Heater Matrix Make/Heater Matrix - Toyota.html

Edited September 7, 2022 by Dnk (see edit history)

[Scooter]

17 hours ago, turnerjr said:

Thanks buddy I spoke to Keron earlier, hes pretty convinced that I’ll be able to flush it with compressed air, so I’ll give that a go when I get the car back. I have tried it already with a hosepipe attached to the pipes on the bulkhead in both directions but didnt see an improvement heat wise. I’m sure he said the only ones he has are the ebay type ones which are smaller and don’t produce the same amount of heat as oem ones. 

 

[turnerjr]

Thanks scooter I used your write up when I flushed my matrix during lockdown but I still couldnt get any hot air. I phoned keron for a matrix and he suggested filling with water and blowing through with an air compressor. I’ll give that a go as a last ditch attempt. I emailed a company in leeds and they think they’ll be able to recore them. If anyone has dimensions of a supra core or a scrap one that would be amazing!

[rider]

I had a bit of a nightmare with an old English sports car I bought when I found out that the coolant had gone to a translucent blue solid jelly in the heater matrix and plumbing past the opening heater tap, even though it looked and was fine in the radiator. Clearly a sign that the glycol had not been changed regularly. Now, without fail I replace coolant every 2 to 3 years on all my cars which is what you are supposed to do but no one ever does. If you have gel formed in your matrix there is no way you will ever be able to recover the situation. Nothing dissolves it and no amount of air or water pressure will move it.

At least the heater box on the old English sports car is in the engine bay and cost £35 for an upgraded output replacement. Cars were simple things once.

[turnerjr]

Thanks for the heads up rider Ive only ever used the genuine red toyota coolant in my 16 years of ownership. I change all the fluids in the car every 3 years (apart from engine which is yearly) Ive often thought that its not the matrix for this reason.

Ive repaired a fair few windscreen washer systems on various cars that have suffered with the blue jelly substance you mentioned which clogs the pump filter. I only ever use clean water in my cars now which I also change quite often.

[Iky]

On 9/6/2022 at 1:50 PM, turnerjr said:

Hi all,

I’m pretty sure my heater matrix has finally given up so I’m wondering what my options are for replacing it. I’ve spoken to Chris Wilson as his contact in germany who do the intercoolers can reproduce them. He said they aren’t keen unless they can get 30 orders in due to making the tooling etc so thats a no go. I’m not overly keen on the ebay ones as the heat output isn’t great from the research Ive done. Theres a company in leeds called northern radiators who say they can reproduce aluminium matrix’s but I’m guessing they’d want one to copy and I don’t fancy removing mine until I get a replacement. 

Does anyone have an old knackered one (or a good one) that I can buy to send away? My supras a uk spec but I’m guessing the uk’s and Jap’s use the same heater matrix’s?

Or is there another option? 

Many thanks, John

I've changed a few of these now and my opinion is that the heat output is fine. What seems to cause the issue is that there is a small difference in size of the core. The factory one is a very tight fit using the foam pieces. The ebay ones are very slack, you've got to use very thick foam to seal it so none of the air can leak around it. The foam it comes with is no good. The stock one is great as it fits perfect with quality foam that creates a tight seal around it and wont unstick itself when it gets warm.

[evinX]

6 hours ago, Iky said:

I've changed a few of these now and my opinion is that the heat output is fine. What seems to cause the issue is that there is a small difference in size of the core. The factory one is a very tight fit using the foam pieces. The ebay ones are very slack, you've got to use very thick foam to seal it so none of the air can leak around it. The foam it comes with is no good. The stock one is great as it fits perfect with quality foam that creates a tight seal around it and wont unstick itself when it gets warm.

Probably worth posting a link to the type of foam you use to seal it as this will be more of an issue in years to come. I also think premature core failure is down to poor coolant maintainence, as weve seen a few go many years ago in not that old Supras

[Iky]

On 9/22/2022 at 9:50 PM, evinX said:

Probably worth posting a link to the type of foam you use to seal it as this will be more of an issue in years to come. I also think premature core failure is down to poor coolant maintainence, as weve seen a few go many years ago in not that old Supras

I used standard foam tape thats roughly 1cm thick. Think from Amazon that had a high tack adhesive backing.