12 replies to this topic

[lnxgoose]

Hi,

I have a standard 1985 mayfair, 998cc no mods!

I have noticed water dripping from my heater unit and so I have a soaked Footewell!!...... Im pretty sure its the matrix as the two hoses are fine .... But it is loosing a lot of water here... I was wondering if i can bypass the matrix somehow just for the time being??.

Is it easy to do and could i do it to the pipes by the heater or easier in the engine bay ??.....


Thanks

[Guess-Works.com]

Yes you can....

The heater was originally an option on the mini...

Depending upon the pipework on the car, I think on an '85 you should have the heater pipe coming off the head on the LHS ( possibly through a tap ) which then goes to the heater and then another pipe from the heater joins into the bottom hose behind the water pump... take the pipe from the head and join it directly to the bottom hose after removing the pipe from the heater. This then isolates the heater out of the cooling system.

[lnxgoose]

Yes you can....

The heater was originally an option on the mini...

Depending upon the pipework on the car, I think on an '85 you should have the heater pipe coming off the head on the LHS ( possibly through a tap ) which then goes to the heater and then another pipe from the heater joins into the bottom hose behind the water pump... take the pipe from the head and join it directly to the bottom hose after removing the pipe from the heater. This then isolates the heater out of the cooling system.

Thankyou!!... Il go and locate those pipes!

[lnxgoose]

Make sure it is temporary though, as this mod also means the hottest water bypasses the radiator as well.

would I be better off just plugging the pipes and replacing the matrix straight away then ??.. I just want the water to go anywhere but my footwell at the moment!....

[haggz]

i would just replace it whilst no water in system. good time for a flush to clear all the s**t out of the rest of the system. even if you dont you will spend more money on anti freeze which will just be wasted when you get around to doing the job.

[secondopsman]

Take the 2 pipes off the heater matrix and join them together with a short piece of 15mm copper pipe job done!
HTH
Pete

Edited by secondopsman, 06 January 2011 - 03:45 PM.

[Brigbeale]

Take the 2 pies off the heater matrix and join them together with a short piece of 15mm copper pipe job done!
HTH
Pete

Funny place to keep your pies!!!

[mikey72]

You'll lose less coolant just joining the pipes together with a bit of 15mm copper pipe, but otherwise just using the one pipe wil be fine.
You won't bypass the rad if you turn the heater valve off.

[AVV IT]

Make sure it is temporary though, as this mod also means the hottest water bypasses the radiator as well.

would I be better off just plugging the pipes and replacing the matrix straight away then ??.. I just want the water to go anywhere but my footwell at the moment!....

Depends how quickly you can get hold of & fit a new matrix I suppose. Do also bear in mind that your heater unit could need a strip down repaint & rebuild, if the matrix has been leaking for any amount of time. My matrix had been leaking undetected for quite some time, by the time I worked out what the problem was. (See Below)




When I removed it from the heater unit, I discovered that the leak had done a fair bit of damage, so ran the car for a couple of weeks with the heater bypassed, whilst I waited for the new matrix to be delivered, rebuilt & repainted the heater and dried the carpets and underlay stuff out. So it in my case wouldn't really have been practical for me to have replaced the matrix in "one hit".

[lnxgoose]

thanks for all your advice guys! After an hours umming and ahring i decided just to take the heater unit out as im going to have to eventually anyway!! I have a few electrical issues so im not using the car that much at the moment anyway!!....

The matrix itself looks almost new!! The heater unit has been stripped of most of its paint by the antifreeze though .... I ran water into the matrix its definately just pouring out the bottom.... So Im going to order a new one today!!.... I need to run my car to a garage tomorow to get my electrics looked at.... if I use a piece of pipe between the two ive taken from the heater now will that be ok ??....

Amazed at the space inside minus the heater unit ... wonder if it goes any faster hehe!!

[Chris_R]

I need to do this as well - I now know the reason why the floor on my mini was so rusty when i bought it!! Why is it not acceptable to just connect the pipe from the head to where the return pipe from the heater joins the radiator hose? Why should it only be a temporary measure?

[David Reid]

I need to do this as well - I now know the reason why the floor on my mini was so rusty when i bought it!! Why is it not acceptable to just connect the pipe from the head to where the return pipe from the heater joins the radiator hose? Why should it only be a temporary measure?

because the water coming out the heater take off (hottest point), will bypass's the radiator.

From my mini racing days i found that if you blanked off the heater pipes this caused head gasket problems, but with the loop pipe from head to bottom hose I cured the head gasket issues and it didnt run hot.

I would have see no problem running a road car with a looped heater feed and would advise against ever blocking them.

[Chris_R]

Ok, so the best solution is to remove the heater/matrix and connect the two hoses together?