Need to get my heaters working for winter :L

[Milano_92]

So I have had an ongoing problem with my heaters on my phase 2 Dturbo ever since I bought the blaze yellow beauty . With winter fast approaching its now a race against time.

Recently I have ran a flush through my coolant system, changed the thermostat, bled the system and added coolant etc. However I still cannot get my heaters to produce warm air which is obviously essential in bad conditions. I am struggling to distinguish whether it is an electrical fault i.e the operation of the heater valve (severed cable?), the heater matrix itself, blocked up pipes from not running coolant for a period of time, the fact that I may not have bled it correctly or if my matrix is completely shagged.

Anybody shed some light on this situation???

[Seb_Ryan]

Easiest way to check if its the matrix is to see if theres a temp difference between the 2 pipes that go in ans out of it under the engine bay, if there is then itll be blocked

[miles]

AC or non AC model, the motors for the heat flap are prone to failing from time to time, not a nice job that one as its at the bottom of the heater box

[Milano_92]

Ok thanks seb will check that and it is an AC model. If the heat flaps have failed does that mean replacement of the matrix itself?

[vincent1]

My guess will be matrix blocked. I had this when i first brought my 306 i fitted a new matrix new coolant and all was fine took me about half a day as i had never done one before.The only thing to be carfull of is dont force the matrix pipes out of the connectors enginge/bulkhead area as these break very easily. Theres a little clip in between the two pipe fittings which i didnt notice myself and cracked mine resulted in a trip to the scrap yard.

[Milano_92]

My guess will be matrix blocked. I had this when i first brought my 306 i fitted a new matrix new coolant and all was fine took me about half a day as i had never done one before.The only thing to be carfull of is dont force the matrix pipes out of the connectors enginge/bulkhead area as these break very easily. Theres a little clip in between the two pipe fittings which i didnt notice myself and cracked mine resulted in a trip to the scrap yard.

@Vincent1 do you think it would be worth backwards flushing the matrix with a hose? As this is what my mechanic has suggested we try today, with the intention of unblocking it.

[vincent1]

i tried all this myself even using hot water etc didnt work sure try it you have nothing too loose i guess but when i cut my old matrix open it was the pipes at the bottom of the matrix that were blocked (there very thin).

if yours has aircon you need a behr matrix
non air con you need a valeo

[Milano_92]

Ahaa but we have a secret weapon... the airline lol and yeah fingers crossed. Thank you for the info on which matrix I need as well, very helpful

[Daniel306]

Iv had the hot pressure washer in mine both ways at 100* some dirty water came out but still never fixed it, only thing to do is order a new matrix

[Milano_92]

Well thats p'd on my parade lol not looking forward to changing that :L

[Daniel306]

Its really not that bad

Just remember not to remove this grommet from the fire wall, cut the old flanges off the matrix so it can be removed then cut the red line so the new one can be pushed in

[Milano_92]

Ok thanks lol Is the heater matrix the only part I need for the replacement?

[Daniel306]

Just the matrix, Just dont unscrew those gold/yellow bolts in the picture, chances are it will leak

[Milano_92]

Can anyone please show me what a BEHR matrix looks like? As I have no idea what I'm looking for lol

[vincent1]

if your car has air con fitted it should be a behr matrix if i remember correctly this is the only one i can see on ebay thats looks correct
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CITROEN-XSARA-...1052362008

[Milano_92]

Thanks pal big big big help funnily enough that's the one I was eyeing up hahaha

[vincent1]

have fun fitting it remeber to get some coolant/anti freeze whilst your at it as winters not far away.