Heater system

[osian]

Hi all!

I've decided to look into a problem I have with my heater system. At the moment it only blows out boiling hot air (there must be some nuclear reaction going on in there or something!!!), even at the lowest temperature setting...

It's really not that much of a problem as I can de-mist very easily and if its cold I can turn it on. Hot temperatures can be controlled by the thoroughly modern invention of winding down the windows!! :D :D

Does anyone have any experience of such a problem? Is it worth fixing or should I just leave it be?

[shaun pond]

Hello Osian,

I haven't experienced this problem with my Fulvia, but it's an interestin' problem. I'm not aware that Fulvias often make the list of best-heated cars.

Some questions:

1. Is the problem that you cannot shut the heating system off at all, or that when you do turn the system on, you get much hotter than normal air? If the former, it may just be that the cables that control the heater tap and the vents may need adjustment.

The heater cable and control arrangement is different on the Series 1 from the later cars; I don't know which you have...

2. Are there any indications that the engine is overheating (e.g. the water temp reading is high; the radiator needs constant top-offs)? One symptom of an overheating motor can be a hotter than normal heating system.

I think you'll want to investigate the cause, at least as far as ruling out any engine overheating issues. Those could potentially be serious.

And, with Global Warming kicking in, a heated interior may be a bother during the summer, yes?

Regards

[ncundy]

By the sounds of it the good news is that the heater matrix is working. This is possibly the worst job known to man - you start by removing the spare wheel (joking - but only just !). I am assuming it is not a S1 1.3 ??. Almost certainly it is either the control wire from the temperature lever is not connected / broken, or the rubber diaphram in the water direction tap (that the control wire is fixed to) is perished. This is located in the engine bay. It may be that the tap has seized so you may have to remove it, fit a new diaphram etc - but that is not such a big job.

As an aside if the heater is getting warm very quickly is your thermostat working ??

I agree that you should investigate.
Neil

[osian]

So I suppose the problem lay with the diaphragm. The heat control lever seems to connect to something (I had another where there was obviously nothing connected). Where can I find this part? (Sorry to be a bit of a numpty.. but I'm new to this!!)

I'll check the thermostat, but the car tends to run nicely at the vertical position on the dial (around 80°(C?)) and doesn't overheat at all.

Thanks shaun pond and ncundy for all your help

[ncundy]

If you look under the bonnet where the air collector box is (at the back) you will see two pipes, one running out to the left and one running out to the right - these are the water feed and return to the heater. IIRC the right hand one is the feed from the back of the top water rail (ali casting between the carbs and the head) and if you trace this back towards the water rail you will (or should) find a rotary valve. It is usually bolted to the top of the inner wing. See link below.

http://geocities.com/neil.cundy@btinternet.com/00_General_Web/target2.html

You cannot see it here because it is black but it is next to the blue elctronic ignition module on the top right of the picture. There are three pipes coming from the top of the engine in the picture, the top two are for the oil cooler (this is a fanalone), the one at the bottom is the water feed. You will find it connected in series with this pipe.

Nice picture of Tom Pryce by the way - got his autograph somewhere from I think the BGP in '75.

[osian]

Thanks, my grandparents are friends of the family and used to follow him around some of the European races.

He got pole at the British Grand Prix '75 but spun out in the rain i think?

I will check that out... thanks