Has anyone in the UK modified their heaters for our winters ? My heater is lousy in the Transam yet in the Chevy it's roasting. Why ?

 

When I first got the car at the beginning of December I actually drove it with the t-tops off that evening/night with the heater on
full pelt!

And it was actually warm enough so I'm happy with it!

I suspect being GM it's like UK Vauxhalls, super heaters! lol!

 

Have you ever seen our heater matrix? It doesn't have tubes running across it, the water runs in the fins themselves. This makes lots of small passages, rather than two or three larger ones. After a while, some will start to sludge up or get scale in the passages, and they will become partially blocked. I suspect this has happened to your Trans-Am. When my matrix blew, I replaced it and the heaters are now a lot warmer than they were before.

Just a thought...try flushing the water system and refilling.

Si

 

Hi si-camaro.
Haven't seen the matrix on the transam. Where is it located ? May just look at giving it a flush. Next winter I'd seriously consider uprating the matrix.

 

you need to flush the whole unit.

If you look into the engine bay, you will see a large box on the left hand side of the firewall; that is the heater / air con unit.

be carefull not to undo the air con hoses (its just not funny) but you will find two rubber hoses going to the engine, these are the heater hoses.

run the engine to determine the inlet and outlet (the inlet wil be the hotter one, i believe it is the one coming from the water pump.

Disconnect BOTH hoses, and flush water from the OUTLET, so it comes out of the INLET. this is called reverse flushing.

after the water runs clear, re connect the hoses in the correct order, and top up the cooling system. bleed system as normal (take rad cap off, run engine untill stat opens, and bubbles cease, then replace rad cap, and top up expansion tank.

Put asside a saturday morning to do the job, its not difficult, but care is needed to do it right.

all the time, both in flushing and bleeding, dont forget to have the heater set to full hot, although it is not necisary to run the blower.
Hope this helps.

 

Yes, these two rubber heater hoses that Phil mentioned run to the heater matrix. I would seriously advise flushing it, and doing everything in your power to keep it in good condition internally. I speak from experience when I say the matrix is not the easiest thing to get to, especially when it's winter and you NEED to replace it so the heater works.....

 

use a good strong anti freeze solution as well, it will prevent leaks / sludge in the future.

I use the Halfords 5 year protection stuff, it looks and smells very similar to Dexacool but costs a lot less.

 

Thanks guys, I'll give it a go at the weekend. Will report back on how I get on. Cheers.

 

Hi Boydee,

also make sure the fan is working at full pelt. In my IROC sometimes the fan is lazy and struggles to keep the car warm. Other times is is roasting! Haven't really gotten to the bottom of why it is like it is...

Is there an upgrade to our matrixes available? More like a tranny cooler?

Good luck,

Felix

 

don't think so Felix, i think its a case if just having to live with a slightly second rate heater, like in a Capri.

I don't think there is a lot of room for a bigger heater matrix.