Discussion
Well it's a simple system in essence.
Hot water flows from the car's cooling system via pipes to a 'mini radiator' or heater matrix inside, and then air blows through that to heat the interior.
All that can stop this is:
A blockage in the pipework (unlikely unless your cooling system is horrendously full of rust and crap - probably not as you've just drained and re-filled it with new coolant)
An occluded hose - i.e. somehow one of the hoses leading to or from the matrix has been trapped or kinked, stopping the flow
A stuck air direction flap inside - i.e. one or more of the flaps which move to control the flow of air has got stuck shut, stopping the air flowing through the matrix, or
Most likely, despite your protestations to the contrary - an airlock.
It's well-known that on a lot of vehicles it is a complete sod to get airlocks out of the cooling system and especially the heater plumbing. It even has experienced techs banging their heads against the workshop wall at times.
Some cars require a specific method of bleeding the system or you'll get nowhere. This might even include such things as massaging the pipes by hand whilst the engine is running, or unclipping the uppermost hose clip to let some coolant and hence air out whilst the engine is running.
On my Porsche 911 for example you have to make a metal 'jumper' wire and stuff it into the radiator fan's relay socket to get he fans to come on way before they normally would, to blow air through the rads to create a 'convection' effect to help with the bleeding of air. All very complicated and annoying and time-consuming.
Have you done a Google search for any hints, tips and problems specific to your car for just such a thing?
Hot water flows from the car's cooling system via pipes to a 'mini radiator' or heater matrix inside, and then air blows through that to heat the interior.
All that can stop this is:
A blockage in the pipework (unlikely unless your cooling system is horrendously full of rust and crap - probably not as you've just drained and re-filled it with new coolant)
An occluded hose - i.e. somehow one of the hoses leading to or from the matrix has been trapped or kinked, stopping the flow
A stuck air direction flap inside - i.e. one or more of the flaps which move to control the flow of air has got stuck shut, stopping the air flowing through the matrix, or
Most likely, despite your protestations to the contrary - an airlock.
It's well-known that on a lot of vehicles it is a complete sod to get airlocks out of the cooling system and especially the heater plumbing. It even has experienced techs banging their heads against the workshop wall at times.
Some cars require a specific method of bleeding the system or you'll get nowhere. This might even include such things as massaging the pipes by hand whilst the engine is running, or unclipping the uppermost hose clip to let some coolant and hence air out whilst the engine is running.
On my Porsche 911 for example you have to make a metal 'jumper' wire and stuff it into the radiator fan's relay socket to get he fans to come on way before they normally would, to blow air through the rads to create a 'convection' effect to help with the bleeding of air. All very complicated and annoying and time-consuming.
Have you done a Google search for any hints, tips and problems specific to your car for just such a thing?
I'd drain the coolant back out and start again. Make sure you park on a completely level surface and get yourself a 2L bottle of pop.
Dispose of the contents, cut off the bottom and drill a 1-2mm hole in the cap. Insert cap end into the top of the expansion tank, put a litre of water into the bottle and let it slowly fill the system. Repeat until you've put in the approximate right amount of coolant. IME these things need a very slow fill procedure to work properly.
Dispose of the contents, cut off the bottom and drill a 1-2mm hole in the cap. Insert cap end into the top of the expansion tank, put a litre of water into the bottle and let it slowly fill the system. Repeat until you've put in the approximate right amount of coolant. IME these things need a very slow fill procedure to work properly.
Is there and isolation tap on the block that stops coolant going to the heater matrix? If there is, there might have turned it off to stop loosing so much coolant and forgot to turn it back on again.
I had the coolant drained to fix a leak on my company vehicle. It was refilled but had an air lock. The heater was blowing stone cold but the engine was over heating just idling in the yard.
I had the coolant drained to fix a leak on my company vehicle. It was refilled but had an air lock. The heater was blowing stone cold but the engine was over heating just idling in the yard.
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
There you are, thought as much.
What does it entail out of interest?
Get engine up to temperature, leave expansion cap on, clamp the knelt pipe and outlet pipe and run car for 2 mins at 2000rpm, remove clamps and turn engine off, refill expansion tank.What does it entail out of interest?
Will try this tomorrow if I get time, plus filling really slowly.
swansea v6 said:
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
There you are, thought as much.
What does it entail out of interest?
Get engine up to temperature, leave expansion cap on, clamp the knelt pipe and outlet pipe and run car for 2 mins at 2000rpm, remove clamps and turn engine off, refill expansion tank.What does it entail out of interest?
Will try this tomorrow if I get time, plus filling really slowly.
Anyway glad you've found out why and a solution - that's half the battle!
Let us know how you get on
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