heater!?

[thor]

Everyone please excuse me if this is a VERY silly question: 7.5degrees this morning and the +2 started with no choke, magic engine! I tried the heater for the first time on my way to work, and it works. But, this is my silly question, as I'm here without the handbook: the sliding handles are now both to the left, which is HOT on the top handle, and DEFROST on the bottom one (or vice versa). It's been like that since got the car 6weeks ago. IS the heater then now ON all the time, or is it only on when I flick the switch for the fan on the dash?...

[theelanman]

thor
I thought the water passed through the matrix all the time as its part of the circuit as is the radiator at the front......the fan blows air through the matrix into the car........however as the water goes through the matrix it will leave some residual heat.......I think!!!!
I may be completely wrong but thats how I thought it worked
as for your toggle switches one is for the temperature the other is for its direction......ie screen or interior (the knee warmer!!!)
here's guessing...I'll have a look at the manual when I get home!
cheers
G

[elansprint]

there is a valve on the thermostat housing which diverts water through the heater matrix when on hot & turned off when set to cold. The heater fan blows air through this matrix to fill the cabin with warm air

[chrishewett]

My +2 has no valve on the thermostat housing. The water passes through the matrix all the time. This is standard. This is ok in the colder weather but in the summer it makes the car much to hot.
I am thinking about putting a valve in so that I can turn the flow off under the bonnet in the warmer weather. This won't help the poor heating in the cold weather though!
Chris

[Robbie693]

For some reason the thermostatic valve was only fitted to the baby Elan if I understand correctly. Must be a simple job to fit one though, it does get a bit hot inside in the summer.

The only problem would be making the valve operatable from inside the car. Could the Heat 'Control' lever (the one that shuts off the airflow) be modified to move the valve?

Has anyone done this?

[stuartgb100]

Chris,
Simply adding a valve to shut off the heater matrix? Don't know, but might that not add to summer cooling problems, even slightly?

Way back I 'converted' a MkII Cortina to a Twin-Cam. I faced radiator/heating/cooling problems, as most do.

I had read somewhere that the optimum temperature for any standard or mildy tuned (eg Stage 1 Road) twin-cam engine was 78 degrees.

I ended up with the following setup:

For late autumn, winter and early spring: a 78 degree thermostat. When the engine warms up, hot water can be diverted soonest to the heater matrix, for defrosting etc.

(I used the old trick of cardboard up against a proportion of the rad, when necessary).

In Summer months, a 72 degree stat.

I fitted a 78 degree Otter switch to the radiator header, wired to an electric fan. This was also wired to an independant override switch.

The biggest problem was Summer use. It was just a case of finding a big enough radiator. I did, but can't for the life of me remember what it was.

I'm trying to replicate this setup on my newly-acquired Sprint.

From what's been posted, it seems Sprint/Baby owners have an advantage: namely the way the heater circuit is 'plumbed'.

On my Sprint (as on the Cortina Lotus) there are two take-offs on the bottom half of the thermostat housing: one is simply the feed to the temperature guage, the other is for the heater.

The heater takeoff is actually a Tee.... there is a water feed to the matrix, and a control lever feed back to the dashboard heater on/off control lever.

Don't know the Plus2 in detail, but would it not be possible to drill/tap the thermostat housing and duplicate this tee? You'd obviously need to modify the matrix intake pipework.

Regards,

Stuart.

[Hamish Coutts]

Hi Chris,

My +2 has a tapping in the head below the thermostat housing for the temp transmitter (probably the same as yours). Could a T not be fitted there?

However might it not be an idea to have a look at the existing ducting on the heater. I can get cool air (ambient temp) flowing through mine when the slider on the dash is set to 'cold'. Are the control flaps on yours sealing OK?

I would think that if you can get cool air through the heater vents when you want it, without shutting off the water supply to the heater core would be the way to go. Water flowing through the heater core is extra cooling which is handy in the summer. I once drove a mini back fom Inverness after a rally where a stone had destroyed the rad. I used the heater core as a jury rigged rad hanging in front of the grill. It was fine as long as the car was moving - and it got me home! Just shows how much cooling you can get from a heater core. Mind you it was January and cold at the time.

On the subject of a 'hot' car in Summer.
I have been working on the car interior and have had the centre console out. (I've been running some extra earth wires from the boot like I suggested to you). I've put it all back together but when I went for a run last weekend there was quite a draft coming in under the centre console, in front of the gear lever. This was going forward under the centre of the dash and coming out roughly where the 'knee warmer' vent from the heater is. Turned out that I had forgotten some foam padding to seal the gap round the gear lever and heat from the engine was coming through. It was quite a draft and it heated the car quite a bit. Could you have a similar problem?
In a long winded way I'm asking - are you sure that it's the heater that's the roblem?

Give me a bell if you want to talk it through. I'm on 01312455876 (office) or 07919 101495 (evening mobile).

Hamish.

[Hamish Coutts]

OOOOH!

I'm now in third gear!!



Hamish.

[Hamish Coutts]

Got a hell of a way to catch up on Keith's gears, though. Wonder if there's a 6th Gear that he could aspire to

Same goes for my knowledge.

Hamish.