something leaking

[Moosejaw]

I knew I shouldn't have been so happy about my Amazon passing its MOT yesterday!! Today I have a leak inside the car. It's coolant, and it's coming from the wee rectangular thing in the picture, which I'm assuming must be something to do with the heater. It's a fairly steady drip, only when the engine's running.

What exactly is this device, please, and how can I stop the drip from it?

http://i726.photobucket.com/albums/ww269/primedtogo/S5000841.jpg

[222s]

That is the heater valve. Is the drip from the valve itself, or from a leaking join with the heater hoses on the engine bay side?

New valves are available, and it's not a tricky job. The only issue really is whether to reinstate the capillary tube for the thermostat how it should be (i.e. inside the heater box, which is a lot more work...) or just tuck it out of harms way. I chose the later!

There's been discussions about how to do this before, including how best to bleed the cooling system afterwards - if that's of any use too, let me know & I'll see if I can find the thread :)

[Moosejaw]

That is the heater valve. Is the drip from the valve itself, or from a leaking join with the heater hoses on the engine bay side?



I'm not sure which set of pipes it is from inside the engine bay. Is it 'A' or 'B' in the pic?

http://i726.photobucket.com/albums/ww269/primedtogo/Capture347.jpg

I didn't notice any sign of water from any of the pipes in the engine bay, I only noticed it at all because the clutch pedal was getting wet and it's not raining here today! The drip seems to be coming through the valve, the water actually drips off the brown wire.
I'd have no idea how to tackle this, does the valve simply unscrew from the bulkhead? Do I need to drain the cooling system again? I replaced the coolant over winter and it was a bugger of a job getting the system fully topped up, it took days of adding a wee bit at a time.

I'll have a search for any previous threads about this, thanks.

[agent_strangelove]

In your photo, it's the set of hoses marked 'A'. 'B' is to the heater core.

There is a small rubber diafram in that valve and that is what goes bad in those 99% of the time. Those valves are available new from a number of places but you will not like the cost (~$170 over here at the moment). For a while in the 80's and 90's (when you couldn't get the whole valve) you could get a rebuild kit for those. The success rate with the repair kit left something to be desired but when you didn't have any other choice.... I have attached a scan of the instructions that use to come with them. I don't know if you can still get those kits.

[222s]

It's A, it screws / bolts in, and yes some of the coolant does need draining.

Bleeding the air out of the coolant is easy - with the engine running & warmed up, take the lid off the expansion tank & hold / hang it above the level of the heater (just unclips from its brackets). Then taking great care to keep clear of the fan, press down very hard several times on the top hose with the palm of your hand. This effectively burps the system! Top up as necessary and repeat a few times as required :)

Edited - beaten by Agent S!

Btw, regarding the cost, when I bought one from Brookhouse the other year, it was about £60 / £70 delivered.

[Moosejaw]

Cheers guys.
But £70???? Jeez, I can do without that!
Stupid question....what does this thing actually do, and is it feasible simply to connect the two ends of pipe at 'A' in the engine bay pic together, thus bypassing the valve completely? What wouldn't happen, or work if I did that?
I take it the heater would either be permanently full blast, or off?

[neal122s]

get a "mini" type heater valve and just fit it inplace of the OE one, works a treat and £15 for a nice shiney metal one:thumbs_up:thats what i did
yes would be full blast if you did that

[Derek UK]

Yes the original type are hard to find/expensive. A 240 one can be adapted. Cheap alternatives include Mk 1 Golf/early Scirocco from the scrappie or German &Swedish etc. Another route....
http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/prod/heater_valve.html
http://www.cbsonline.co.uk/heatac-95-c.asp

Congrats on the MOT, car is looking good. The D40 likes it.

[Derek UK]

For Chris/Agent S

Have a look at NAPA kit #660-1000. Supposed to be the washer etc for this valve. Perhaps you could confirm availability and what you actually get for your $10.66. Info from some time back.

http://www.studebaker-info.org/text3/htrvfix.txt

For all.

http://www.studebaker-info.org/tech/Ranco/rancotb/rancotb.html

Full repair instructions at this link.

[Moosejaw]

OK, this is the first time in 20-odd years of driving I've ever encountered this part of a car so bear with me please.
Am I right in thinking all this device actually does is open/close a waterway, thus either allowing or not allowing hot water from the cooling system to pass into the heater matrix?

In which case would any heater valve with the right size pipes do the job, or is there more to it than that?

Finally, what could the brown wire be for?

Thanks.

[222s]

That's not a wire, it's a capillary tube - the heater valve is also thermostatically controlled.

[Moosejaw]

That's not a wire, it's a capillary tube - the heater valve is also thermostatically controlled.

Hmmm, that makes things more complicated for my feeble brain, I'm afraid.
I take it that the capillary tube is like the one on the temperature gauge then? So where does it connect to the cooling system, because I guess it might be possible that that's what's causing the leak, as it looks like the drops of water are coming from this tube.

[222s]

It just runs a thermostat on the heater valve (and is supposed to be wrapped around something inside the heater box) but it won't be causing the leak though as it's entirely sealed, rather than being plumbed into anything.

[Alf ista]

Bleeding the air out of the coolant is easy - with the engine running & warmed up, take the lid off the expansion tank & hold / hang it above the level of the heater (just unclips from its brackets). Then taking great care to keep clear of the fan, press down very hard several times on the top hose with the palm of your hand. This effectively burps the system! Top up as necessary and repeat a few times as required :)


I used this method after the excellent advice from this forum and it worked a treat. To make it a bit easier I made up a simple support out of a piece of 4x2 timber and lashed the expansion bottle to it with some tape. That allowed me to concentrate on "burping" the rad pipe, and oh, not getting my fingers chopped off with the fan....

[neal122s]

OK,
Am I right in thinking all this device actually does is open/close a waterway, thus either allowing or not allowing hot water from the cooling system to pass into the heater matrix?
In which case would any heater valve with the right size pipes do the job, or is there more to it than that?


yes thats correct its only works like a tap to allow more or less hot water through the heater matrix (read as radiator) to control the heating

[Moosejaw]

Cheers for all the help guys, I'll get on the phone through the week and try to find out what's available and how much it'll cost. I'm thinking the two options are either buy a simple on/off valve as in Derek's suggestion and accept (for the time being at least) that I'll have to go under the bonnet to turn the heater on or off, which isn't that much of a hassle in a hobby car. Or..bite the the bullet and get the proper replacement unit and new hoses/clips, which will be hellish expensive but would look and work a lot better.

[neal122s]

if you get a valve off a mini or similar from a kit car or accessory shop then you can get a longer cable (solid wire type) and connect back up to the standard control lever works great takes minuetes to do and costs peanuts

[Moosejaw]

Quick update....a wee brass connector thingy, 78p from B&Q has enabled me to join the pipes together, thus bypassing then valve, so at least I can now drive the car OK while I ponder my next move.....

[agent_strangelove]

Derek et al.

Attached are photos of the 'kit' from Napa.... It's the instructions I had a scan of last week plus a single rubber part (the diaphragm). It's pretty sparce for $10 and several days shipping from the west coast distrib. center. Thus I think it's a pretty rare part to be requested.... This one was ordered several weeks ago by a local 1800 owner that I am working with on the same issue you are having on yours.


Chris

[Derek UK]

Chris, I read this afternoon before reading your post that NAPA wanted $9.99 but as it was rarely in stock so wanted another $9.99 to ship it in from the warehouse. Ads in Hemmings run about $20 for the kit plus P&P so that's about par for the course.

http://napaonline.com/masterpages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=470&LineCode=BK&PartNumber=6601000&Description=Heater+Valve+Repair+Kit