No Heating - blocked/locked matrix

Hi all

If I follow the bleed procedure detailed on the sticker behind my front panel, will that take care of potential air lock in the heater matrix or is that a separate procedure.

Want to try and get that sorted then get rid of the manual fan switch and reinstating a thermostat set up before moving on to the head gasket as required.

Thanks

p.s. My front panel is screwed on rather than clipped shut as per the instruction manual? Is that unusual or just bodged or specific to certain models/ages? Just wondered.

Coolant system bleeding is a funny subject round here with some agreement and disagreement.

I have my way of doing it, which I've done to a few vans now, and I feel it works pretty damn well.

I actually have a video, let me dig it out....


But to not piss on your chips too much... if its got a fan switch, and it's been overheating for a while - I would put a pretty strong bet you'll need to do more that a bleed.

Save you pissing around wasting time, effort and money what I would do is:-

Pull the head off,
Take the bumper off and remove the radiator,
Pressure test and clean out the radiator,
Clean out the water jacket in the block,
Replace thermostat,
Inspect metal coolant pipes for holes and rot,
Replace radiator caps,
replace all the pipe clips,
test the thermostatic fan switch,
Rewire you fan system back to how it should be,
get the head skimmed and buy a gasket kit,
put it all back together,
fill with coolant

and enjoy your working van.


That is of course that it's actually worth fixing - rust and general body work condition can make it not worthwhile money wise. Spending £2-300 on parts/machining is ok if you then do the labour yourself. Then spend another £300 on labour if your not doing it yourself. So its a £600 repair realistically. If your van is a nail then its not worth it. If your van is in nice clean, well looked after condition then it'll be worth £1000 afterwards.

I have found the video at last, took some serious digging to find it! Just uploading it to youtube now.....

Yep, what he said. ^^^
Ask yourself why someone would fit a switch for the fan if it WASN'T overheating?

Yeah completely see your point and already concur I guess this was just the first step in that process. Work wise I'm not sure there's much time to be saved going the whole hog from the off so I was gonna try and do it one at a time on the off chance the thermostat was the only thing that was wrong in the first instance.
The only reason I have some hope the head gasket might not be screwed is the fact the previous owner stated in his ad "...it has never overheated and has a manual fan fitted". It drove all the way back from Portsmouth to Wolverhampton fine and then almost overheated on the 4 mile trip from work to home in traffic - but I'd forgotten the fan thing!

All that said, he also stated that "it does lose water sometimes I usually top it up every month or so" so Logi could be right and my straws are well and truly clutched.

If that's the case, I could live with that for short term but with winter approaching I thought, if I could sort the heating out I might get some use before having to shell out on parts. Hence the question on what I know is an often talked about subject - it wasn't a precursor to making you uber patient folk talk me through the whole process of 'solving' the whole overheating issue.

I've never done a head change before but Daisy's thread stoked my male pride and if I can't do it on a tiny 993CC unit I should probably give up on buying fkd cars :-) I'm ok with the theory just never done it in practice!

Do it mate, you'll never look back at the experience one you get past any hurdles. Hey if a GIRL can do it.

Ok, straws...

Check all the hoseclips, the spring ones fitted as standard are shite now the van's old and they're rusty, a wee leak there is usually the first harbinger of doom, replace with proper(not Lidl shite) jubilee clips.

I'm presuming ALL the vents blow cold? Not just the 2 centre vents?

I noticed on mine that the screen blower was roasting but all the other ones were only just warm. What could that be? Plus all the pipes were hot.

Logi wrote:Ok, straws...

Check all the hoseclips, the spring ones fitted as standard are shite now the van's old and they're rusty, a wee leak there is usually the first harbinger of doom, replace with proper(not Lidl shite) jubilee clips.

I'm presuming ALL the vents blow cold? Not just the 2 centre vents?

Correct, will sort jubilee clips out this week they are manky. Then I'll bleed the system and see if I can get them working.

So, the watering can thing HJ does is cos the heater matrix is than the rad cap?

What is the actual point in the top up cap in the engine bay? Seems it's only purpose is to close it when it overflows when following the normal bleed procedure!

Well once you've got the system full of water you can take the cap off no problem.

Also the cap is there to act as an expansion point for the system. When the water gets "too big" for the system it pops the pressure cap open at 0.9 bar to fill into the header tank, and as it cools back down it draws water back in from the header tank via the 1 way valve in the middle of the radiator cap.

Hi all , the ever ongoing question of the cooling system problem has brought to mind a question of replacement hoses . Are they easy to buy or is it a dealer part only and the cost of a mortgage ?.

Cheers

eddie

Has any one ever retro fitted an automatic air bleed on the system?

Has any one ever retro fitted an automatic air bleed on the system?

How would this air bleed work, and describe exactly where you would put it and plumb it in?

Hoses are main dealer or second hand only to my knowledge.

Ideally at the highest point on the system. Plumb it in with a bit of copper and a tee. Maybe? There prob a good reason why it's not been done?

Also.check the prev owner hasn't bypassed the heater matrix.?

HighlyJetted wrote:

Also the cap is there to act as an expansion point for the system. When the water gets "too big" for the system it pops the pressure cap open at 0.9 bar to fill into the header tank, and as it cools back down it draws water back in from the header tank via the 1 way valve in the middle of the radiator cap.

Ahh that's cool. See when you say it, it makes perfect sense but I'd never have worked it out myself.

Jeez Logi, that's a good point. That would be annoying. Who does that! Not even sure what that would accomplish. Gotta get this thing bled and start feeling some hoses.

Wow! loved the video but I have never had to go to those lengths to fill the system.

I've had overheating issues with the Hijet twice and both have been due to rubbish hose clips failing and on both occassions very little coolant was actually lost. The biggest problem I have found is that ony a small loss of coolant results in the in the thermostatic fan failing to cut in. I usually top the system up via the filler under the passenger seat whilst the engine is running and this works fine for me.

Gra

I fill them once properly, they do self purge the little bits of air but doesn't do any harm to do an ace job.

I am not questioning H.Js method of filling the system as he has had a lot more experience of Hijets than me , but the method I used to fill my own is slightly different in as much as I force the water through the system by sealing around the neck of the matrix filling pipe as I fill it at a slow rate , I also start the engine when the water level is above the level of the filler on top of the rocker cover . My van is the 993 version and has a rubber cap next to the filler of the matrix , which I also leave off during the process . The other point that has been raised is the quality of fitting of the filler caps . This is really important and should not be under estimated , as I found out on my own van .

eddie

HJ's method is for the 1.3. You do much the same as me on 993's but I've never felt the deen to force it in. I do tend to park on a slight incline when re-filling or jack the front up slightly.