Club 80-90 Forums

Hi Guys,

I'm thinking about removing the rear heater from my 1990 Caravelle to make room for some other stuff I want to fit under the rock n roll bed.

As far as I can see, If the heater is removed, it will leave two hoses sticking out of the engine bulkhead. If I block the ends of these hoses, or just link them together, will it cause any problems with the heating system?

Any advice much appreciated

just join them together, it wont know the difference!

Had the same issue some weeks ago and was advised not to link them together, as this would mean that there is constant circulation, resulting in (albeit small) longer time for the engine to heat up. Plus you'd always have those hoses running hot under your seat, heating whatever it is you store there.

So I blocked them off. A 3/4 inch bung from your friendly plumber will do the job nicely.

The cleanest option is to remove the T-joint in the coolant loop where these hoses branch off and take the hoses out altogether.

mine have been joined for 5 years now, never had a problem and even had forgotten there was a heater there, joined them on exterior side, and plugs the holes where they entered under seat, then carpetted over before the intereior went in.

mine was removed before i got it, to make room for the LPG tank, each hose is capped off with a plastic plug and jubilee clip individualy, and never had any probs with the main heater working or air locks anywhere.

There will be a bypass loop in the engine anyway surely so the pump can circulate properly around the block when the thermostat is still closed, so haveing another won't make too much difference as it won't offer much cooling. Infact things will warm up quicker than with a heater asuming, like my dad, you set the hard to reach tap on the rear heater to ON and left it like that for near 2 decades - probubly still like that. Those things can really belt some heat out when the fan is running!

Wether you block it, loop it or whatever is a matter of packageing, I'd favour the simplest aproch - less pipes and thus points of failure.