Club 80-90 Forums

Hi bmouthboyo,

Did mine over the weekend. Don't fanny about trying to get the seized screws out anymore. If they are rusted the probably wont budge and as your already broken two go for the method I used. Not pretty but gets things done...

Take a sharp chisel to heater box mounting slots and break them. *Remove heater box. Now you have room to really attack them nasty seized screws with mole grips if needed. Keep all broken parts and use special plastic solvent (plumbers) to glue them back together. Then run a heated knife to weld them. Don't overtighten when refitting. I also ran few spots of bathroom sealant along edge that sits on metalwork when refitting. So screws are just nipped up with a bit of loctite.

*Also mine had two extra retaining brackets lower front of box by wiring loom. Removing these completely helps box come out easier.

Good luck

Call me after 2pm if you need over the phone advice 07961 423324. Cables are important issue too. Two need removing from box. I can explain if you wish to call

Stuart

Ghost,

It's not that bad a job to do really. Take photos along the way to aid rebuild. Honestly the worst part is get the bloody screws on the heater box to turn.

Don't bother trying to salvage old one. It WILL seize again. You can get new for £30.00 on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VW-TRANSPORTER-T2 ... 7C294%3A50" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I fed the bearing light weight oil for a week before fitting. Then tested it again and again during dash refit. All is good

Blimey you really got medevil on your heater didnt you lol

I think i will just use my ratchet with a philips head again on the opposite 2 bolts and if they snap so be it.

I have some new HTS drill bits so will drill the old bits out, least then i dont have to break the heater housing at all.

Just a quick question, when you took your heater switch out the dash (after the knob is removed) did it break into 2 parts?

To be honest it wasn't that brutal. And it's not the actual housing getting damaged. Just the four oblong mounting tabs. Only had to break two out of four.

I just got fed up wasting time on the screws. I had the dash apart and everything disconnected in about 90 minutes. Then spent nearly the same time trying to budge nasty bloomin' screws. Naturally they had to be the ones next to the steering column...ie the most difficult one to access


Yes it pulls apart to reveal connector pins. Use a thin bladed screw driver as leverage to prise apart and slowly work around switch. Note it can only be pushed back together in one position.

I used a fine wheeled dremel to split the tabs for separating blower box. Then used bathroom sealant on tabs only to connect both halves back together. Left it to set overnight and good as gold

Disagree on switch being the culprit. I agree theres a chance but nine times out of ten the motor has seized which blows the fuse and makes wipers redundant. You don't actually need to split the case, but you do need to lift it away from bulkhead to get in there with the WD40 from behind. The screws do rust in (mine did) and I had to use meaty tools to get a firm grip as well as heaps of WD.

If after testing it, its still not playing ball, then a motor will be required but as many like myself have said in the past, stripping the dash out allows you to do many other jobs under there like cleaning up contacts on connections, replacing washer pipes (silicon stuff from pet shops is great). Splitting that casing probably isn't required as I say, but you do need to lift the unit away to gain access to the motor and liberal use of WD40. If bolts snapped off, you could always drill these out and fit other bolts?

Stripping the dash isn't such a big deal but it can be if you're under pressure, so give yourself ample time, don't rush it and do each job one at a time. You could also swap the bulb that lights up the heater controls with an LED while you're at it. All my running lights, ie those that can get left on if you park up and walk away leaving your lights on, should all be LEDs in my view. That way if you come back six hours later or even the next morning, it'll still start! That includes tail lights, sidelights and dash lights.

Bit the bullet. It is a big intimidating job but if you switch off that part of your brain and just concentrate on plodding through it the job becomes quite do-able. I did it and was well pleased with getting into that no mans land and coming out unscathed. I did think about running a lube tube into the heater bearings but as I had fitted a new motor I decided it will probably outlast me now.
Cheers
Wolfie

My sentiments entirely Wolfie

I did see some pictures a while back of someone who had secured a lubricating pipe from top of dash to bearing.
My opinion is if you've been courageous enough to to delves this deep, do yourself a favour & put a new motor in. In many cases it' ll outlive the vehicle. eBay for £30.00 gets a new one.