watercooled heating not as good

[CovKid]

My watercooled heating system doesn't seem to be as good as it was a month ago. I know temperatures have dropped but its kinda luke warm compared to what it was. Whats the usual culprit? Airlock? Thermostat?

[CycloneMike]

Could it be your LPG system? It must take more heat out of your coolant to vapourise the gas when it is cold. That combined with much colder air comming in to heat its going to have a noticable effect.

[Nicola&Tony]

Thermostat?

I reckon that thermostat will be the culprit.


We run on lpg and have never noticed any drop in winter running temperatures. Propane will vaporise down to -20c, iirc.

Tony

[CovKid]

Running on petrol at mo so don't want to get sidetracked by that

[Cafnod]

Hi Ralph sorry to hear you are having problems and surprised you arent able to sort it immediately. My first usual suspects would be.
Loss of coolant in the system
Air lock in the system. Are there any bleed points to help with this?
If ok then thermostat not closing, although the temp gauge would usually highlight this by staying low.
Heater shut off valve not opening fully.
Partial internally collapsed heater hose.
Blocked heater matrix.
Heater hose squashed by something?
That is about the extent of the possibilities I can think of but knowing motor vehicles there is probably another scenario.
HTH

[CovKid]

Yes indeed and thanks for suggestions. Others not considered are probably something like "Hybernating field mouse in lever control unit" or "try wearing more than a vest and bermuda shorts you twonk"

[Cafnod]

Glad the problem hasnt taking away your sense of humour Ralph. Its like solving the rigid footbrake question, theres a can of beer stopping the pedal going down.
Hope you get it sorted.

[eatcustard]

Is it sludge in your matrix?

I had sludge in my Mini, cleaned it out and had a working heater

[CovKid]

Ay, you're scraring me now Eatcustard - never even crossed my mind I might have sludge in my matrix - worse so they tell me, than thyroid problems and its stuff VW don't tell you about ofcourse. First you know about it is after a service when you go to collect it and all the mechanics stand with their heads bowed holding wreaths - or is that just in the Midlands.

Humour? you need one just to own one of these things. Personally I think its us wedge owners that get the last laugh all round and when the government start trying to make some new emissions law and calculate the carbon footprint of old vehicles, they might consider all those garages and main dealers servicing new cars, day in and day out as part of the warranty stuff and just how much new vehicles, not forgetting the manufacturing costs, really contribute to the environment. When you consider so many of us recycle old parts or adapt whats to hand, we're probably the least damaging of all.

Hey thats not bad for first thing on a Saturday. Right will do some flushing and bleeding. Cheers folk.

[jason k]

i would only use a genuine stat too as gsf ones are proper rubbish

[ghost123uk]

I was driving back from a days flying model aeroplanes on Sunday when this question of yours popped into my head

Now I know the following is probably not the cause, but as it can ( and did for me ) have serious consequences, I thought it worth a mention. It has been seen by 2 more folk recently on here and I am pretty sure in my case (last Winter) and 1 of the others, it resulted in a blown engine

The issue = The very thin (metal on mine) pipe that runs around the engine bay AND the rubber pipe from the rear of the l/h head, the one that starts out fat where it connects to the head and then goes thin where it connects to the afore mentioned metal pipe.

The problem = The thin metal pipe can get blocked up with gunge almost anywhere but in 2 cases I know of it blocks at the "T" piece where the rubber pipe from the l/h head connects, plus the thin bit of the rubber pipe can get blocked. Also the thin pipes around the Stat.

What happens = The l/h head does not get water circulation.
(therefore a lot less heat to go into your heater, which is why I thought of you and this)
The head gets too hot, even boils dry, then damage happens

I am pretty sure this is what caused the demise of my original engine 18 months ago.
(The left hand rear piston failed.)
After fitting a good (ex VW Recon - Thanks Billy739) it burst that rubber hose from the left head. On checking, it and the T piece were blocked plus the dalek cap was not venting pressure so when the water in the l/h head boiled = boom !

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The above is likely nothing to do with your lack of heat, but just in case

Off now to find a pic - Ah here it is, mine looked just the same.

Also more thoughts...........
Cleaned out the bleed pipes from top of engine. This was in one............



While the other was blocked by plastic, the T' junction mold hadn't been cleaned out properly, Had to drill it out. I'm sure the pressure build-up is what eventually caused the seals to go.

Go & check your bleed pipes, Just disconnect from engine & check that coolant can run out. If it can't look further.

[CovKid]

Struth, glad you pointed that one out! Looks like a flush is more like a precautionary descale then. Still, not too difficult to pull them off and run a bottle brush down them I guess. Will check when I replace stat.

[ghost123uk]

Struth, glad you pointed that one out! Looks like a flush is more like a precautionary descale then. Still, not too difficult to pull them off and run a bottle brush down them I guess. Will check when I replace stat.

Yeh, I had to cut a bit off the rubber pipe as it was so solidly jammed up.

I had to poke and wiggle the metal pipe "T" piece it fastens to with a small sharp screwdriver to get the crud out. No water was flowing around that connection (and therefore the head) at all until I did the above !

[happy camper]

Is this the offending article ?

[ghost123uk]

Is this the offending article ?

That's not the one I was referring to. (what one is that ?)

The one in question runs right around the inside rim of the engine bay and is about as thick as a pencil.

Off to find a pic for Ya...

Here we go =



The thin pipe is number, err what number is on it
Well it's the long one on the left anyway
In that diagram I think they are showing the plastic version, but the metal one is same thing other than that ! (oh and the plastic ones don't go rusty )

The thin rubber pipes to check are number defo 3, 28 and 28A, but I would check all the thin pipes for blockages by blowing down them (don't drink anti-freeze, it's not good for you )