Internal heating system - Wobbly fan.

Post by **Jase** » 30 Nov 2006, 08:37

Hello there, first time looking for info on a heater system. Does anyone know where i can get a new fan and resistor for the heating system ('80s 1.9 petrol)? Started the job of 'just' removing the fan - my hands look like i've been tickling a tiger with the amount of dashboard wounds.
Also the 2 lock rivets on steering column - does anyone replace these with standard bolts? or is it a big no-no.
Cheers

Post by **ghost123uk** » 30 Nov 2006, 11:50

No answer from me Jase, just a question

I need to get some grease / lube on the bearings on my standard heater fan.
I am told it is a huge job to get to it.
Would you agree ?

Post by **Bilbo Blue** » 01 Dec 2006, 11:01

Did my heater the other weekend.
Motor wouldn't work on setting 1 and 2.

3 Hours to strip dash out. (Saturday afternoon)
4 Hours to clean every thing and pop back together. (Sunday afternoon)
Am a bit of a perfectionist so took my time and tidied a few things up under the dash at the same time.

The annoying thing was it took only one small squirt of white grease to lubricate fan motor.

I attached a length of rubber fuel line to the motor so I could oil it any time later without any hassle. The pipe is positioned just above the bearing and the other end goes through a hole I drilled inside the heater case to pop out in the left screen de-mist vent. All I will have to do in future is pull off that particular grill and squirt lubricant down the pipe curled up inside. I did the whole job without breaking anything at all. Was well chuffed.

Things that may help you are:

Don't do the job unless you are in the mood to do it. (Calm and relaxed, ha ha)

Do read the wiki on this site. Was brilliant help for me.

Aluminium lock bolts can be undone with good pair of grips and reused. These bolts are apparently designed to snap if any collision occurs. I have heard people use normal bolts, 25mm M8 to replace them.

Don't bother disconnecting the water hoses. I managed easy nuf.

Wax-oil behind heater where the outside air comes in through vehicle.

Vacuum everything behind dash and inside heater unit. One of the previous owners of my van must have had a dog coz there was hairs and dust everywhere, most worrying was around fuse board where a stray spark could have ignited it.

Check the foam seals on the heater flaps and make sure they work ok.

Lift out the heater matrix and clean behind. Mine had 16 years of dead flies behind it, yuck.

Heater casing is stuck together on the tabs around the seam. I cut through them with a knife and used a blob of good old silicone on tabs to stick unit back together. Easy.

I didn't have to change the resistor on mine as motor worked fine after greasing bearing. It also looked ok; it didn't look like it had got hot at any stage.

Take your time. It's your van. You alone will reap all the benefits of any extra work done. If you don't do it right now you will cuss later.

Will try and sent pictures if i can work out how to do it.

Post by **ghost123uk** » 01 Dec 2006, 13:01

Oh flip - so it looks like the info I got was correct, it is a sod of a job then.

I used to have a Hunter GTS and I cheated on that by drilling a lil hole in the heater box and using a thin pipe to get some oil on the bearing.

No chance of doing a similar trick on the van then

Or is there ? ( ever the optimist I am )

Post by **Bilbo Blue** » 01 Dec 2006, 13:08

No easy way.
Motor is roughly tucked under the 2 screen de-mist vent, inside plastic housing which is under metal dash. Cant get at it any other way.
Pictures are coming, have sussed it out now.

Post by **Bilbo Blue** » 01 Dec 2006, 14:11

[img:1pb

zpvl1]http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o196 ... CF0666.jpg[/img]

Post by **sherlock** » 02 Dec 2006, 00:38

Thanks for the photos and info, this will help anyone who is undertaking this hellish job (I did it last month) very helpfull.

Post by **kevtherev** » 02 Dec 2006, 00:49

good grief....and mine has started squeaking

Post by **sherlock** » 02 Dec 2006, 01:03

Just did mine and It sqeaks like a foooooker, think the dash may be out again. O bother.

That fuel pipe thing shounds dandy.

Post by **belgianbill** » 02 Dec 2006, 06:54

Did mine on a 1600D the other weekend and can confirm not the easiest of jobs! The heater box was fitted with pozidrive head machine screws - I replaced them with ordinary bolts in case it has to come out again. And i took the opporutinty to cover the dash with black leathercloth whilst it was out. Not sure which was the worst job but I was high for days with the evostick!

Post by **Sven** » 02 Dec 2006, 13:59

Great reply Mr Blue...top pics too. Thanks for sharing.
Could we wiki them pics and the reply actually.....should be a great help in the future
Cheers Sven

Post by **kevtherev** » 02 Dec 2006, 14:30

I agree thats a very usefull set of images there!

Post by **Bendyknees** » 02 Dec 2006, 17:07

I have just finished fixing my fan in my van. Had been squeeking for a while, and it was on my to do list

(along with about 50 other jobs), however last night it made a nasty graunchy sound and stopped

was gutted when i read that the whole dash an everythin had to come out. However the job was relativly straight forward, getting the dash off that is. I'd advise evry1 to lube the heaterbox screws a few days in advance if u are able. I wasnt as it only packed up last night so i had to struggle, and i mean struggle

got them all out apart from the 1 you can barely see on the drivers side which i ended up snapping(no comments on my strong wrists please

) didnt remove the hoses as in wiki, loads of room to play with. once heater box was loose was easy to take to bits(just remove about 10 little clips, didnt break a single lug either

).
Once motor was on the bench i noticed that not only was it very stiff but the rubber washers at the back of the motor were in a very poor state allowing excessive movement within the motor, unsiezed it with plus gas and replaced rubber washers. Left it running on the bench while i gave it a right good squirtin

. After about 5 mins of this the motor had become really free and totally silent. Good as new. Didnt bother with the lube tube as if it gets noisy again i will just replace the bearing in the motor. Rebuilt it trying to remember what went where, and why am i 3 screws short

All in all including cleaning behind the dash, cleaning the van after(gets well mucky wit all the grime from behind the dash flying about) and putting my tools away the job took me 6 hours, and i was in no hurry to get it done. I suggest you take the same approach. Take your time and keep chilled. would be easy to break loads of stuff if yu went at it like a bull in a china shop.

Post by **Jase** » 04 Dec 2006, 09:32

Cheers for all the info - now all i need is a new fan and resistor- any ideas where i can get my hands on one?
Cheers