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Old Jan 21st, 2016, 21:54   #1
Fridazadilak
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Last Online: Jan 31st, 2024 19:15
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Torbay
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***Reposted with updated links to photos **


Hi guys,

My heater has been permanently blowing hot air ever since I bought it, regardless of the heat settings. I also noticed that my passenger footwell was a bit wet every now and again. After doing a bit of research I found that it was a dodgy heater control valve that was at fault. Apparently it's a very common issue and fixed with a direct replacement, which I found available for about £40 The problem is that the replacement valve often leaks after a short period of time.

I found an alternative is available from a 1982 VW Golf Mk1. This is a simple plastic bodied valve that costs £6 from a local motor factors. Part number on the box:


I chose to fit mine whilst my coolant system was drained due to an engine swap so this guide is preceded by draining the coolant system, which can be done by removing one end of the lower radiator hoses.

Once the system is drained, remove the glove box, lower panel and carpet flap in the passenger footwell. This leaves you with this:


Remove the heater vent 'Y' pipe to give yourself more room to work. This leaves you with this:


You can just see the heater valve. Closer up it looks like:


It's held in place by the pipe itself. Undo the jubilee clips and it should just slide out. Wiggle the control wire out of the arm and remove. Note: There will no doubt be coolant still left in the pipes...be prepared with a bowl and a towel!

The two valves look noticeably different:


You'll notice that the original valve operates at 90 degrees to the VW one. It doesn't matter. Fit the new one, paying attention to the direction of flow markings on the case. Feed the cable through the arm and check that it activates the valve:


Secure the cable in place with a cable tie onto the cable support:


Put the 'Y' pipe back on and refit all your parts of trim/glovebox. I've not tested the valve as yet because the engine isn't running yet, but I'll report back when I do. The only issue that I can see would be that the throw on the arm isn't long enough to through the valve completely, but that's easily fixed by drilling another hole further down the arm.

I hope this helps people find a cheap and simple solution to their heater giving them the options of 'hot' and 'surface of the sun'.

Dan

**UPDATE**
This worked fairly well, it needs a bit more tweaking to turn the heat off completely, however, it never bothered me so I learned to live with a bit of heat always blowing on the windscreen.
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