Heater water valve leak / replacement

[edmfinch]

T25 Early'85 1900 watercooled manual Devon type camper conversion.

Following the info in the Wiki regarding front end leaks, I have traced the cause of the small puddle under my bus to a leaking heater valve unit. When the engine is running it drips at a fair rate so I need to fix or replace the valve before I would dare use it for a journey.

I guess the fix or replace is really REPLACE so I was wondering if anyone has any experience of the task and could walk me through the process? Haynes has no info I could find...

Can I clamp off the pipes or does it require the full drain / refill palavar?

Will the system drain from above the valve or is the flow only from the engine towards the valve?

Is the only access from below - to answer my own question - it certainly looks like it, without removing the whole radiator...

How does the heater cable connect? Would it need to be disconnected at the control panel too?

Having asked all that, I suppose the most important question is - are new valves still available?!

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks
Ed.

[stuckin88]

You should still be able to order from your nearest VW van centre---I always found when replaceing pipes--leave coolant cap on & place a bucket under bit you are removing--not much water comes out just a few pints--replace the bit & reconect pipes--then open coolant cap & pour coolant back in after filtering thru nylon stocking to get rid of dirt it could have picked up runnig out over bodywork--unscrew bleed screw on rad to expell any air--

[andysimpson]

I think its no longer available from vw