Heat exchangers?

[ambibus]

Will my 1990 G reg 1.9 petrol Devon ambulance/bus have heat exchangers? I've not owned it long enough to recognise whats what in the engine
'cupboard' at the back yet, It had been stood for 4 years when I bought it so I put redex in the tank,after a hill climb the other day I could smell burning coming from dash heater vents. A friend told me it could be engine/carb contaminents being burned off by the redex and the resulting fumes finding there way through to the front. would any one agree? Ta Paul

ps I've owned old petrol land rovers in the past which were capable of spontaneus combustion hoping those days were over!

[VWCamperfan]

Unless it's been changed then you shouldn't have heat exchangers because your engine is water cooled.
The burning smell could be coming from the blower fan. It's possible the bearings are dry and not allowing the motor to spin freely. Have you got plenty of air coming through the vents when the blower is on?

[ambibus]

Hi again Mark,

Thanks for solving my last problem with wobbley door mirrors thats now sorted, I think you may have solved this one as I had the blower on the 3, as it
was raining, it smelt electrical to me at the time so I have not used the blower since.

I've dropped very lucky with my van,41.000 from new, 1 owner, full service history,and a twin slider, it was owned by a chinese housing trust and has been kept dry
stored in an underground car park in China town Manchester since new.

I'll stick my head or a mirror under the dash tomorrow to see if I can squirt some WD40 in the direction of the fan spindle, thanks again, Paul

ps will upload some picks when I've sussed how to

[VWCamperfan]

You're not going to like this...!
The fan isn't accessable from under the dash... The whole dash has to come out, then the air distribution box, then the box has to be opened and inside is the fan!
Not the easiest job in the world but a good one if you have a weekend available!

Ps. If you do this job I would recommend using a drop or two of thin engine oil on the fan bearings at either end. Lasts longer than WD40 etc.

[toomanytoys]

You're not going to like this...!
The fan isn't accessable from under the dash... The whole dash has to come out, then the air distribution box, then the box has to be opened and inside is the fan!
Not the easiest job in the world but a good one if you have a weekend available!

Ps. If you do this job I would recommend using a drop or two of thin engine oil on the fan bearings at either end. Lasts longer than WD40 etc.

Id say replace the fan with a new one.. £50.. well spent = never have to to the pain in the backside job again... My doka one sqeals like a stuck pig... tried the WD 40 blasted through the front intake... didnt do anything.. tried the "hole int he front panel and lube" trick.. didnt work... 2 bearings, only 1 accessable via the hole method..

BUT.. seeming as its low miles and low use lots of storage.. it may be that the heater has a film of dust etc on it and the hot engine was "cleaning" some stuff off with the fan on full.... it may not be a fault at all... I fitted a new heater matrix to my Audi 100.. it had a flim of protecive oil on it.. when it got hot it stank.. took ages to "burn" it off.....

[ambibus]

Hi again,
Thanks for the post's, bought a Haynes manual on the way home from work tonight, burst into a sweat when I read, ' Refer to fascia removal' in the
heater removal section! . Theres me saying "I'll just squirt some WD40 underneath", well it is bank holiday weekend so at least I know what I'll be doing.
dare'nt risk letting my wife drive it as she's 'Nesh' and might put the heater on.
Thanks again, this forum's awsome.

[VWCamperfan]

If you are going ahead with this, there's two shear bolts that hold the steering column onto the dashboard. You can undo them with a pair of long handled grips. Not much to grab hold of though but can be done!

[Plasticman]

Whats 'nesh'?
mike

[VWCamperfan]

Whats 'nesh'?
mike

A bit sensitive to the cold!

[Plasticman]

ta, never heard that one before, where is it mainly used
M

[VWCamperfan]

Sort of Yorkshire & East Midlands way.
Sometimes Dorset if it means 'tender'!

[ambibus]

Re Nesh'

We live in Hollingworth on the A628 wooodhead pass, near Glossop Derbyshire, my wifes from Crowden, Nesh is a local saying for feeling the cold easily.
We live half a mile from Royston Vasey ( Hadfield) made famous in the League of gentleman so some of our sayings are gonna be a bit strange, incidentley we get loads of dutch & German T25's here as the programmes are being shown over there.... do I really have to take the dash out

[VWCamperfan]

do I really have to take the dash out

If you suspect the fan is the cause then... Yep!
It's not as bad as it seems, honest!
A few screws just inside the bottom of the windscreen, remove dash clocks (4 screws, speedo cable and electrical connector), 4 screws at sides of dash (open drivers and passanger doors to access these), the two bolts on steering column and pipes leading to vents.
Any other stuff such as stereo will have to be disconnected and theres a couple of screws holding the air control levers onto the front of the dash but thats about it I think!
Then you have full access to the heater box itself which is held in place by 4 screws, two either side of the box. Bit of a pain to get to sometimes but not impossible! Undo these and the box will lift out. Seperate the two halves of the box and the motor is inside.
As Haynes would say... Refitting is the reverse of removal!

[ambibus]

Hi again Mark & co

Went out in the van this morning, first time I have driven it since the night I had the burning smell. Not an ideal thing to do without a fire extinguisher to hand but I tried to reproduce the events of the other night. I had the side lights on, wipers as it was raining, and the heater blower on full. The heater blows as much air from the vents as my Ford Ranger pick up I use for work. More importantly there was no burning smell . Not chickening out of removing the dash but will monitor it for a few days. Want to make sure its right though as were supposed to be going to Anglesey in it next weekend.

Ta Paul

[VWCamperfan]

No need to fix something that isn't broken!
Hopefully it will be fine but just have a quick nose in the fusebox. Sometimes a heavy load using a lot of electrical equipment can cause a fuse to get hot and start melting around the connections.