Alhambra 98 - Steam From Heater Vents

[normspanners]

I have been thinking about your issue and I think what I would do is to clamp off the top and bottom hose and any bypass hoses to stop any of the coolant passing aimlessly through the main rad, that will then force the coolant through the matrix greatly increasing the chances of success it will ensure that the sealup is only traveling through the engine and heating circuit, actually you may only need half the container!. save the rest for a later day, after all all you require is a lot less than a thimble full to get where it is needed , the engine will get up to temp a LOT quicker and concentrate the sealer where it is needed, in this weather a heater on full will easily keep an engine cool enough at idle, with the heater motor blowing.
But it will also stop any sealup remaining in the rad as this is the main worry it blocking the rads narrow tubes after all you will just be wasting energy letting the water circulate where it is not required.

 

[normspanners]

they do say to clamp off the matrix if it is not leaking so clamping off the main rad is the best way forward IMO another thought is to make sure you reverse flush the matrix several times first to clean any residue out BEFORE trying to seal it. all these things make the difference between it working and not !

 

[zx9]

I have kind of lost the thread reading this on the train, now I am back home I can't remember if we established that the coolant level is falling, just occurred to me that some cars appear to emit steam from the demisters when the AC is used on a humid day. Just trying to save the OP a wild goose chase.

 

[normspanners]

I have kind of lost the thread reading this on the train, now I am back home I can't remember if we established that the coolant level is falling, just occurred to me that some cars appear to emit steam from the demisters when the AC is used on a humid day. Just trying to save the OP a wild goose chase.

There is a hissing from the vents as soon as i start the engine (with blowers on and off) but it stops as soon as i switch the engine off.

The car has some type of auxiliary heater don't know if that makes a difference. No sign of damp but coolant level below min (but i have been battling coolant leeks else where since changing the thermostat)

they have diesel powered heater in the rear . the exhaust for it joins the main exhaust under the car . then they have the separate matrix and blower

 

[zx9]

No prob Norm like I said just catching up on what I read on the phone.

 

[normspanners]

A few years ago A customers sprinter had a blown matrix and was steaming up and he HAD to go the london it was a window van with glass carriers etc etc so couldnt hire one etc he was on a job in feb and no time to get a rad or do job so i had some 15mm copper cooling pipes with like little copper washers on the pipe that was in a u shape so plumbed one U in to run along the top of the dash across the screen vents so that the blower would push the air past the copper pipe and defrost the screen, it worked ok and got him there and back, wasnt toasty but wasnt baltic either! funny thing with this thread, I actually found the set up yesterday looking for some hose to do another sprinter water leak yesterday !!

 

[dazza]

I don't think the rear heater works. The car has been loosing coolant for a while but there have been a few other leaks and not 100% sure they have all stopped now. I think there has been a small leak in the matrix for a long time i have had a dehumidifying bag on my dash for years but the steam out of the vents has only happened recently.

Just occurred to me that some cars appear to emit steam from the demisters when the AC is used on a humid day. Just trying to save the OP a wild goose chase.

Cant recall having steam from the vents when using the AC, not run the ac for about a month.

 

[zx9]

Cant recall having steam from the vents when using the AC, not run the ac for about a month.

My A4 does it sometimes and always has, back in 2000 when I was a project manager for a large company most of the reps had BMs which were very noticeable for it.

 

[puffernutter]

If it was anything like my Discovery (which did exactly the same) where I didn't appreciate the problem and eventually overheated the engine! Also with a Discovery as the water pump is quite high, it very quickly cavitates and you get little warning! Finally they seem to build a Discovery by starting with the heater matrix and assembling everything else around it!

PN

 

[normspanners]

If it was anything like my Discovery (which did exactly the same) where I didn't appreciate the problem and eventually overheated the engine! Also with a Discovery as the water pump is quite high, it very quickly cavitates and you get little warning! Finally they seem to build a Discovery by starting with the heater matrix and assembling everything else around it!

yes and the 300 engine the stat housing is higher than the header tank fill level, it is ridiculous.
I modify the bypass hoses for that very reason to a straight hose to eject directly into the header tank neck with an extra fitting screwed in, minimising the time for cavitation ie water is pumped as soon as the engine starts that seems to stop the head gaskets going too .

 

[puffernutter]

At the time (after replacing the engine) I went a different way and used a RR header cap and a small bit of electronics to flash a light and sound a buzzer if the water level dropped.

PN

 

[dazza]

I moved the car into the garage today and noticed its leaking a lot of coolant from the AC drain.

 

[normspanners]

Well I used the stuff on the nissan at weekend and it cured the cracked head I believe, I got the system hot with the seal up circulating switched of the engine and fed the cooling system with mains regulated mains pressure it held 25psi with the main turned off for ages, but it hasnt cured the head gasket which was the original fault, coz we are still getting micro bubbles in the coolant but at least it is not gushing out when the turbo kicks in and the exhaust pressure builds

 

[Robotstar5]

A few years ago A customers sprinter had a blown matrix and was steaming up and he HAD to go the london it was a window van with glass carriers etc etc so couldnt hire one etc he was on a job in feb and no time to get a rad or do job so i had some 15mm copper cooling pipes with like little copper washers on the pipe that was in a u shape so plumbed one U in to run along the top of the dash across the screen vents so that the blower would push the air past the copper pipe and defrost the screen, it worked ok and got him there and back, wasnt toasty but wasnt baltic either! funny thing with this thread, I actually found the set up yesterday looking for some hose to do another sprinter water leak yesterday !!

Reminds me of a local church minibus, the owner had plumbed in a domestic panel radiator behind the front seats to try and get some heat to the passengers in the back.

 

[dazza]

Thinking about having a go at this leak now. The seal up says that will clog cooling system id any anti freeze is present.

In order to flush the coolant from engine will i need to remove the thermostat? This was a pita last time.

 

[gaz_moose]

run t up till its hot then pull the bottom hose off? although most cooling systems have a path for the coolant to bypass the thermostat.

 

[normspanners]

no just keep filling and rinsing it out filling again etc. but as said I would clamp off the main rad to prevent the seal up going into it, then just run through the heater matrix. that will also try and prevent the heater matrix blocking.

 

[dazza]

no just keep filling and rinsing it out filling again etc. but as said I would clamp off the main rad to prevent the seal up going into it, then just run through the heater matrix. that will also try and prevent the heater matrix blocking.

Fill get hot then drain .. repeat??

 

[gaz_moose]

just fill it to mix with the coolant in the system. repeat until all antifreeze is gone

 

[normspanners]

Fill get hot then drain .. repeat??

that is what I would do yes, But as said when using the seal up I would clamp off the main rad hoses, there is totally no point in it going through there and it lessens the risk of it blocking the main rad core, if I use it on a block/head seal I clamp off the heater matrix to save wasting the seal up and to stop blocking the matrix but that is what you want to fix, at 10 C ambient, a heater on full will be amply able to keep the engine cool, a heater on full blow will easily cope with cooling an engine running at even fast idle, a car heater can easily be in the region of 7/10/12 kw, or around 30k/40k btu's or more, so could heat a small house in fact !
That is just part of what we waste----- driving our cars around, every car on the motorway with 1 person in it or 5, could heat two houses in the winter!