philsefo · Sep 19, 2017

So, took my wings off this weekend to do some work and noticed the heater was full of rain water.

Not 100% how this happened, but the heater was on my list to replace anyway.

So do i go with a second hand land rover heater (direct replacement) or are there better after market ones out there?

Also, if i go second hand, what parts are worth replacing? rubber seals etc?

Thanks

Litch · Sep 19, 2017

Probably full of water because the drain bulb was blocked, do you ever give it a squeeze?

Original heater can be rebuilt and is perfectly efficient if set up correctly but you are correct in thinking that you will need new rubber seals when re-fitting.
Regardless of whether you rebuild yours a buy a SH one it is worth checking the matrix and re-sealing internally, then use new seals between the heater & intake-duct (the one that contains the drain valve) and also between the heater & bulkhead.

nobber · Sep 19, 2017

Its perfectly crap at the best of times, I rebuilt mine, set it up properly and it was still crap, my guess is it depends on what engine you run, my old TD on a winter stat still wont run hot so the heater can only run as hot as the engine. Have a Google, there are options for retrofit alternatives.

gazman · Sep 19, 2017

my heater was crap too. in the end I fitted a boat bilge blower on the inlet to the fan so I could get a decent flow rate of air into the cab.
The next problem was actually getting it hot enough, and once hot keeping it their! sit stationary with the heater on and it cools the motor down if not on the motorway. Now I have a wading blanket on the front and in really bad weather I sometimes drop it before setting off but keep a close eye one the coolant temp!

lynall · Sep 20, 2017

I tried the bilge blower mod on mine, it made no difference at all.
Then tried a brand new fan motor that certainly blew the cobwebs out!
Most important thing is to adjust the top flap cable, adjust it so when its shut to hot air flow the cable is actually under pressure, ie adjust it so it stops travelling, then remove the clip and force the cable another 1/4 of n inch this ensures when its set to hot the flap is actually held shut, instead of letting incoming air bypass the heater matrix, made a huge difference to my crap heater.

discomania · Sep 20, 2017

philsefo said:
So, took my wings off this weekend to do some work and noticed the heater was full of rain water.

Not 100% how this happened, but the heater was on my list to replace anyway.

So do i go with a second hand land rover heater (direct replacement) or are there better after market ones out there?

Also, if i go second hand, what parts are worth replacing? rubber seals etc?

Thanks

Does your old one still work, or is it badly rusted or something? If not then I would just rebuild it - nothing to it, drill the rivets, clean it all up paint it, new seals re-assemble.

Scooby22 · Sep 20, 2017

You can get upgraded heater matrix for a landy. Look on ebay or google.

philsefo · Sep 22, 2017

discomania said:
Does your old one still work, or is it badly rusted or something? If not then I would just rebuild it - nothing to it, drill the rivets, clean it all up paint it, new seals re-assemble.

Yeah i don't think the fan can move, the water was orange when i started removing it.

I'll take it off and apart, hopefully get it refurbed. Although a second hand one is typically less than £50.

lynall said:
I tried the bilge blower mod on mine, it made no difference at all.
Then tried a brand new fan motor that certainly blew the cobwebs out!
Most important thing is to adjust the top flap cable, adjust it so when its shut to hot air flow the cable is actually under pressure, ie adjust it so it stops travelling, then remove the clip and force the cable another 1/4 of n inch this ensures when its set to hot the flap is actually held shut, instead of letting incoming air bypass the heater matrix, made a huge difference to my crap heater.

Worth noting. Doing some repairs to my bulkhead over the next few weekends. So i'll adjust them and replace my seals.

Thanks everyone

nobber · Sep 22, 2017

Seal your dash up as well, that will help.

nobber · Sep 22, 2017

In fact I am going to do a complete heater refurb this side of winter, dash off, box apart , new fan, possible upgrade to matrix etc etc, I'll do a photo write up if I can, it might be of interest to people with crap heaters.

discomania · Sep 22, 2017

philsefo said:
Yeah i don't think the fan can move, the water was orange when i started removing it.

I'll take it off and apart, hopefully get it refurbed. Although a second hand one is typically less than £50.

Worth noting. Doing some repairs to my bulkhead over the next few weekends. So i'll adjust them and replace my seals.

Thanks everyone

Yes, I would go the second hand route probably too at this point, I didn't realise the fan was seized. I would still take it apart and check it over just in case I could get it going again.

discomania · Sep 22, 2017

nobber said:
In fact I am going to do a complete heater refurb this side of winter, dash off, box apart , new fan, possible upgrade to matrix etc etc, I'll do a photo write up if I can, it might be of interest to people with crap heaters.

Please do. Every spring I threaten to remove the heater, put a bypass link into the heater pipes so I can still use the Landy and build a new hybrid heater from the old casing.

I had a 300tdi Disco, and I have a 300tdi 90 - so same engine, Disco had an amazing heater, OK took a bit to warm up but they all do, but the Defender heater is just pathetic, it just does not harness the available heat properly - loads of room for improvement.

philsefo

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Litch

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nobber

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gazman

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lynall

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discomania

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Scooby22

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philsefo

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nobber

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nobber

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discomania

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discomania

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