This part of my heater is seized solid - is it easy to free off?

[72BLUE]

Having just responded to another thread, I have remembered that my heater is seized, the cable and levers operate but do not rotate/move the thing circled in yellow in the attached photo.

Is it easy to free off, and what actually is it!

Cheers, Keith.

Copy of IMG_3930.jpg

[milothedog]

it's the heater valve which is controlled by the horizontal heater control (Cold - Hot)

Warm the car up before you try to free it if you can the expansion may help. if you undo the screw on the bracket there is a little bit raised that you can sometimes get a spanner on to start it moving.

if you search it you'll find a few threads on how to sort it.

Ian.

[pcoleman]

Hi Keith, this is the heater control valve that can be set to hot or cold.it is common for these to be seized as stag owners generally leave it set to the hot position as an aid to engine cooling when switched on as water will flow through the heater matrix( like a mini radiator) mine is the same and I dont intend to mess with it ! if you search the forum there is a thread to show you how to remove the valve and clean it up if your desperate but even if you do it you will have to keep moving the valve regularly or, overtime, it will seize again.

regards. peter

[72BLUE]

Great stuff, thanks for the quick replies guys! Now I know what it is I will get searching the forum..............

Cheers, Keith.

[jleyton]

Usually not too hard to do, apart from actually getting at it.

As Ian says, lots of posts on here about it. If it doesn't free up then removal and clean up and a bit of vaseline is called for. You'll need to find a longr screw to go in the hole and then either pull that with mole grips or make a sort of puller with a bit of tube and a big washer.

Whatever you do, don't force the hot/cold heater lever as the cable will pop out of a special clip behind the heater panel and that IS a pain of a job

Cheers & good luck.

Julian

[Goldstar]

Hi Keith its the heater control valve and can be a bitch of a job. If you search the forum using those words you will get a few threads you can follow.

In basic terms you need to unscrew the centre screw (looks like you might need some plus gas first) and take the flat metal 'slider' off the valve assembly. You then need to replace the screw and pull (like hell). When I did mine I added some leverage (almost certainly required) by using a gate hinge as a puller (thread screw through last hole in hinge) - other pullers are available. After some grunting and swearing mine came out, clean up with wet and dry, smear of petroleum jelly and back in. When it comes out about a pint of water will escape so be ready to catch it in a shallow container.

you will also need to check the cable as it is common for the cable to be ineffective because it has come out of its clip at the 5 o clock position of the centre console. Bit tricky to fix properly but you can secure the outer using a big washer and self tapper to trap the cable to the console

hope that helps

Paul

ooops too slow

[72BLUE]

and many thanks too to Julian and Paul..............

[martin]

Hi Keith, if you do take it out, replace the O ring. The clip holding the cable is NOT the same as the choke cable clips, though it looks the same, there is a tiny detent in it to grip the cable hard. Martin.

[73stagman]

I did mine whilst I had it in bits..... 6 months ago or so. Guess what with standing in warm dry garage it now needs doing again .

loads of silicone grease this time!

[Guest]

After taking advice here, on mine it was just a case of fitting a new o ring (with some vaseline) to get the valve to turn. The cable clip was also ineffective at the heater control due to damage to the outer sheath and I just anchored it to the nearest screw and it still works. The advice here was it can be done without draining the system and you only get a little bit of water coming out and it can easily be caught in a small recepticle in the footwell - which turned out to be the case.