Radiator/Heater Problems

[mikey_something]

Basic background:

My car goes through oil, i probly put 500ml in it every 2 weeks (getting this fixed in a week).
Recently discovered a coolant leak, because i could smell boiling coolant wafting up into the cabin. Turns out the Welch plug was corroded through and the coolant was dropping down onto an exhaust pipe and instantly boiling. So i was going through a fair bit of coolant too topping it up almost daily.

emptied the radiator (couldn't find the drain tap so i just took off the bottom hose). collected only just over 2L of water/coolant. thats a worrying figure...
flushed the radiator with water.
put the hose back on and filled it (again only about 2Litres would go into it...)
put a bottle of Chem-i-weld into it and ran it for 20 minutes to circulate it. putting a little more water in whenever the level would drop.
left the car over night. Eureka no more leaks

however i'm finding that my heater in my car isn't working.
the fans work and i can hear the gates opening and closing switching between hot and cold but the air never gets even remotely hot. infact i'd call it cold air.

i know this problem can happen when the radiator doesn't have enough water in it to heat up the heater core?
so is my radiator not as full as i suspect?
does anyone know the actual capacity of the BA radiator? because 2 - 3L doesn't seem right.


and if it's more... how the hell do you FILL it... because it won't take anymore than 2L

I'm currently driving around with 2 x 2L coke bottles filled with water in the event that the worst does happen...

Temp gauge looks completely normal... sits a mm below half way or so.



If i'm completely wrong and the radiator is full... what is the next step in fixing the heater? i've searched a few threads and found cosmo's post where he disected a heater for someone but i thought i'd ask about the radiator first.

Cheers.

[bmgjet]

Could be the Chem-i-weld has blocked up your heater radiator so it no longer works.
Seen it happen a few times aswell with that head gasket stuff.

What I would do is pull the heater radiator out and check its not blocked and also that theres some coolant in the lines.

Also is your car getting up to heat, could just be the thermstat is stuck open so the coolant never gets hot enough to feel any heat.

[mikey_something]

Originally Posted by bmgjet

Could be the Chem-i-weld has blocked up your heater radiator so it no longer works.
Seen it happen a few times aswell with that head gasket stuff.

What I would do is pull the heater radiator out and check its not blocked and also that theres some coolant in the lines.

Also is your car getting up to heat, could just be the thermstat is stuck open so the coolant never gets hot enough to feel any heat.

i have considered that has happened but by its nature it shouldnt get clogged in pipes. but it is a possibility

yeah car gets up to heat. and thermostat works as i let the car get hot and the fan will come on and then turn off again after it cools. tested that in the garage on fast idle etc.

may have to pull out the heater and have a look though...


EDIT:



stuck my finger in the circled hole and it was cold. not even remotely warm which indicates that water is not circulating through the heater core?



where do the hoses for the heater go through the firewall? is anyone able to show me in a photo? i'm trying to trace the blockage or the fault with heat.
i should at some point stop feeling heat in the heater hoses if they are blocked. but i'm assuming the problem is under the dash area and i'm gunna be in a bollocks of a problem...

[mikey_something]

anyone got any ideas for this one or am i on my own?

[70NYD]

how many liters of coolent do you think is in there now? and how many are there supposed to be?? i would assume around 3-4 liters should be in there. perhaps when you filled it up you created a vapor lock somewhere?? perhaps in the heater core?? although i cant see this happening.. the hoses for the heater core have to come out of the engine and go through the fire wall and back so have a look on the firewall for two hozes going in to it.. for the love of god (or whatever deity you worship or dont ) be carefull. for some reason it is customary on every car that i heard a core failing that the whole dash is built around the core and everything has to come out to change it.
pm cosmo, rupe, davo or ryan (either ryan ) to c how many liters should be in the cooling system as im sure they all have changed it at one point or another

[Rupewrecht]

Yeah i have, but i can't remember exactly. I think it's 5-6 litres as i remember having to buy a second 4L bottle as the first one wasn't enough. i think!

[Cosmo Dude]

At the fire wall end of the heater core there is a kinda wierd of diamond/trapezoid shaped plate which goes through.
Looks to me like you're in for a bucket of trouble with this retarded chemiweld krap.

[70NYD]

eeeew if u had to buy a second 4L bottle dan, and he only put in like 3 - 4 liters... not good at all

[Rupewrecht]

I think. It might have been because i had to part-fill it again.

But you should always fill it, let the car warm up and then put more in the system again as the thermostat opens and the engine sucks in the coolant.

[mikey_something]

alright i've been told 6L MAXIMUM as in the entire thing is bone dry and you've poured water in.

so i assume that i wasn't able to drain absolutely everything
and now in total i've got around 5L in there so i'll assume its "full".


heater core i'll assume is clogged. whether it be with chemiweld (likely suspect) or some gunk in the radiator that i moved in the process of flushing it.

if it is chemiweld... by this time next year it should have broken down and i'll have a heater again and a leaking coolant system... :S win/lose....

i really can't be bothered with the whole dash out thing. i have enough trouble with the boot trim!
i'm gunna call this half resolved.

radiator and cooling works brilliantly if not better than before with not a single leak.
heater.... doesn't work.


if anyone comes up with any brilliant ideas i'd love to hear them other than that i'm all good.

[Rupewrecht]

Originally Posted by mikey_something

if anyone comes up with any brilliant ideas i'd love to hear them other than that i'm all good.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Heater-12v-15...item1c134bef65

[mikey_something]

Originally Posted by Rupewrecht

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Heater-12v-15...item1c134bef65

thats pure brilliance... but i'm not that cold !

[mikey_something]

stroke of genius... i think

when i get time i'm going to disconnect the hoses going to the heater core in the dash from the firewall...
swap them over...
and run the engine to warm.

if it is clogged one way... maybe this will flush it out and allow me to just drain it out?

[70NYD]

or push a whole lot of junk back in to the engine. thats a good idea but i would be using some sort of hose thats attached to some sort of faster flowing water to flush it out. i would also try to flush it out from both sides. this is assuming that your heater core wont burst and fill ur car with funny coloured, strange smelling water

[mikey_something]

Originally Posted by 70NYD

or push a whole lot of junk back in to the engine. thats a good idea but i would be using some sort of hose thats attached to some sort of faster flowing water to flush it out. i would also try to flush it out from both sides. this is assuming that your heater core wont burst and fill ur car with funny coloured, strange smelling water

ah yes... garden hose, much better idea than pushing it all into the engine block... silly me! lol

[70NYD]

hehe i thought id leave it a bit open in case u have a water pump of some sort

[mkid]

i do believe you can purchase raditor de-blockers liquid stuff
how well they work and if any damage will occur due to its use such as rust in the core
i dont know
could be something to look at and use if needs be
but maybe its the pipes them selves instead of the heater core
pipes going to the heater core are smaller and potienally more chance of getting clogged i guess

[mikey_something]

Originally Posted by mkid

i do believe you can purchase raditor de-blockers liquid stuff
how well they work and if any damage will occur due to its use such as rust in the core
i dont know
could be something to look at and use if needs be
but maybe its the pipes them selves instead of the heater core
pipes going to the heater core are smaller and potienally more chance of getting clogged i guess

pipes are warm all the way to the firewall and then its fubar.
but i'll check out the deblocker stuff

[70NYD]

wait a minute, are both pipes warm equally to the firewall?? Like same as the radiator inake or outlet pipe? Cus if yes then u have water flowing through the core. Perhaps the flap is fubared then??

[mikey_something]

nope only one warm