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My heater blower motor packed in the other day so I thought I'd go through the whole system, the fan is knackered so I'll be popping to the scrapyard to find a replacement next week, I'm going to look for a fan that fits but is better than a Land Rover item - will update once I've found something.

The heater box was full of crap and all the seals were crispy / gone.

The matrix looked like this:



I've started cleaning it out as it's fine and I don't think it's worth going down the upgraded route.

More pics to come as things progress - if anyone wants a pic of anything while it's apart let me know!
 
Soak the matrix in a bucket of water to soften the mud, then blast with a hose, repeat until clean, dont use a pressure washer!
 
lynall said:
Soak the matrix in a bucket of water to soften the mud, then blast with a hose, repeat until clean, dont use a pressure washer!
Click to expand...

That's what I've been doing today, it's currently soaking in the back garden for the third time. it's coming up quite good and I can now see through the thing!

I was thinking of putting a secondary fan in there like the boat thing, I'm gonna upgrade the fan it's self first and then I might put one on between the wing vent and the blower motor.

I do have a plan to get a couple of vents to the back for the kids when the rear seats are in, not sure how to route the ducts yet though.
 
Is it a big job to remove the matrix as I was thinking of doing this whilst I am off this week while I am doing a few other jobs inc replacing the heater hoses :)
 
cornish rattler said:
Is it a big job to remove the matrix as I was thinking of doing this whilst I am off this week while I am doing a few other jobs inc replacing the heater hoses :)
Click to expand...

nope, bit faffy though.

stick a bit of copper pipe to link the two hoses together and you can still use the landy when you fart on fixing it :)

oh and clamps on the hoses are useful for taking it off to save coolant.

when finished, turn the fan on full blast and feel for air leaks.. and plug em up.. mine had a massive one around the hoses, but it is an old style box.
 
trax said:
nope, bit faffy though.

stick a bit of copper pipe to link the two hoses together and you can still use the landy when you fart on fixing it :)

oh and clamps on the hoses are useful for taking it off to save coolant.

when finished, turn the fan on full blast and feel for air leaks.. and plug em up.. mine had a massive one around the hoses, but it is an old style box.
Click to expand...

Thanks trax, yeah I am replacing all the coolant hoses as a matter of course inc water pump, thermostat, temp sender, so whilst I am there I mite aswell have a look see if the matrix needs cleaning inside and out as the heater is **** atm then once I have done all that I can crack on and replace the timing belt and everything else that goes with it ;):)
 
Best to remove the heater box complete and strip it on the floor, mainly so you can replace the crappy foam seal between box and bulkhead.
I used camping mat as gaskets as its closed cell foam so doesnt absorb water, but if doing it again would use the self adhesive neoprene strip from ebay
The boat bilge blowers shift some air but are quite noisy, not the end of the world next to a tdi!
As for rear heaters take a look at the rear heater set up in large toyotas and mitsubishis, they only need hot water and some power for the fan
 
cornish rattler said:
Thanks trax, yeah I am replacing all the coolant hoses as a matter of course inc water pump, thermostat, temp sender, so whilst I am there I mite aswell have a look see if the matrix needs cleaning inside and out as the heater is **** atm then once I have done all that I can crack on and replace the timing belt and everything else that goes with it ;):)
Click to expand...

The thermostat was missing when I removed the top off the thermostat housing so hopefully that might be part of the problem :)
 
trax said:
hmm, some people do that to hide an overheating problem.

you had the landy long?
Click to expand...

About a month, the night I picked it up we traveled over 50 miles without any problems and have done two 90 mile round trips to paddocks and back without any problems and son has done a few 60 mile round trips to warrington and back and its mainly motorway work again with no problems and the cooling fan has been removed aswell.

the only problem I have is that the temp gauge sticks around the hot area which I have put down to a faulty or wrong temp sender fitted as its a 2.5 TD with a defender 200TDI fitted but the heater is crap and thought the heater matrix was the problem but now I have seen that there is no thermostat fitted think its that but not sure.

when I drained the coolant today I noticed it was pink / watered down red in colour but was clean so hoping its not had the wrong stuff put in or done any harm as I know its the wrong stuff to have in a tdi and have already bought some bluecol :)
 
cornish rattler said:
About a month, the night I picked it up we traveled over 50 miles without any problems and have done two 90 mile round trips to paddocks and back without any problems and son has done a few 60 mile round trips to warrington and back and its mainly motorway work again with no problems and the cooling fan has been removed aswell.

the only problem I have is that the temp gauge sticks around the hot area which I have put down to a faulty or wrong temp sender fitted as its a 2.5 TD with a defender 200TDI fitted but the heater is crap and thought the heater matrix was the problem but now I have seen that there is no thermostat fitted think its that but not sure.

when I drained the coolant today I noticed it was pink / watered down red in colour but was clean so hoping its not had the wrong stuff put in or done any harm as I know its the wrong stuff to have in a tdi and have already bought some bluecol :)
Click to expand...

keep an extra eye on it after you've fitted the stat.

you can pick up an infra red temp gun for a tenner so you can spot check pipes and parts of the engine.
 
cornish rattler said:
Ok cheers trax where can I buy one of these temp guns from :)
Click to expand...

loads on ebay and amazon. some ship from china for the lowest price if you can wait two weeks :p

just have a search for 'infrared laser thermometer'

mine looks like below and cost about a tenner delivered. it's pretty useful once you get over taking everything in sight's temperature :D

i'd deffo sort out your temp guage at some point though.

iirc, the 2.5td is 82C and the 200tdi 88C, so if you did use the 2.5td sender (if it fitted) then it would read high anyway. Maybe this is why someone removed the stat.

I thought there were only two water temp gauges, early and then it changed on the 300tdi.

good luck :)

$(KGrHqJHJEkFGL!,SqGhBRkz3E!lRg~~60_12.JPG
 
trax said:
loads on ebay and amazon. some ship from china for the lowest price if you can wait two weeks :p

just have a search for 'infrared laser thermometer'

mine looks like below and cost about a tenner delivered. it's pretty useful once you get over taking everything in sight's temperature :D

i'd deffo sort out your temp guage at some point though.

iirc, the 2.5td is 82C and the 200tdi 88C, so if you did use the 2.5td sender (if it fitted) then it would read high anyway. Maybe this is why someone removed the stat.

I thought there were only two water temp gauges, early and then it changed on the 300tdi.

good luck :)

$(KGrHqJHJEkFGL!,SqGhBRkz3E!lRg~~60_12.JPG
Click to expand...

Yeah I was hopeing the original 2.5td sender was used but when I came to replace it the new tdi one looked eggzackly the same as the old one so not sure, I was also told that there was two types of tdi temp senders one has a green seal and the other a blue seal but either of mine don't have a seal could this be a problem as I am thinking could the sender be earthing out on the head where the sender screws in :(
 
Ebay Tim capilliary gauge for a mini, comes with an adaptor and is a straight fit in the dash and temp sender end, I have fitted two very good and very precise
 
First phase is complete, I've fitted a blower motor out of a Peugeot 106 (it was the best match in the scrap yard) and sealed up all the escape routes:





I couldn't believe how bad the air box is as standard, there was air escaping everywhere! liberal use of closed cell foam and duct tape has it sealed well now and the new motor blows a gale through it.

Tomorrow will be cutting the bulk head to open up the inlet and fitting it all back in, should be interesting.

I'm gonna fit an adjustable switch so I have 3 settings, my resistor was dead so might as well upgrade that side of things too!

Thinking of using this:

3 Speed Heater Fan Switch With Rubber Knob - Car Builder Solutions - Kit Car Parts, Tools and Accessories
 
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