Hi All,

Have been pulling out the interior for new carpet so took the opportunity to take the heater out and clean it all up as it has never worked since I bought the car.

There have been a lot of mods by previous owners done so I find some interesting things each time I go investigating and this time I cant actually find a heater tap attached. The actual hot, warm, cold switch wasnt hooked up to anything and there was no heater tap attached to the heater unit at all.

Am i missing something? Does anyone have any pics to show what it should look like?

Dont worry, finally found a pic through the search.

Looks like I am missing the tap and control cables for the demister switch and heater switch.

As my cars heater hoses were plumbed without a tap, would this mean my car is pumping through the heater at all times? It was pretty dirty water in the heater core after I pulled it all out

The tap on a clubby heater is prone to blocking, particularly if you don't run proper coolant.
One popular workaround was to just bin the tap, and run the water all the time.
Only downside is you can't get fresh cool air through the heater in summer. But hey you still have the quarter vents, they give more air anyway.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I don't understand people replacing a trouble prone, hard to get at tap with another one the same.
It would be easier in the long run to fit the Cooper S type straight onto the cylinder head and run a longer cable to open and close it.

Well that makes sense, looks like the PO went with the no tap mod. I never actually found the air to be hot when the fan was switched on, why would this be?

No hot water. Put the kettle on.

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1967 Cooper S - new front bearings to do.
1965 Cooper S shell - Slow progress. No time or money!
1966 Deluxe- next rustoration!
Mk 2 & XJ6 Jags. Less said the better.

Heater cores tend to fill up with crud and there is probably very little hot water frow through the core. The heater is actually quite effective when its working properly so if its not giving heat then its severly blocked.

The clubby heater is easy to take to pieces and put back together again. You can try to flush the core but a good radiator place will do much better job.

I am with m1100, the clubby heater tap is an accountants design and prone to problems, the Cooper tap is a better idea and failing that alloy inline taps abound and do the job well. Pay attention to the airflow though. The fan only assists the air through the heater core. You really do need corrugated plastic tube that feeds through the inner guard wall and hence into the cabin for it to be effective.

In our region we commonly have winter frosts of -8 to -10 C and the heater does both demist and warm the car. Its attention to detail.

Mike

I binned the switch and just ran the hose in/out method. Yes it did get hot in the car but opening the passenger side rear window made it comfy. Downside is it ruined my Navy patent leather shoes(both white and black!!!). Upside is the engine never gets hot...

Hooroo

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Rob Forsyth
Miniot!!

Thanks for the help guys, that makes perfect sense.

I will try a few things to unblock it and see how it goes, else Ill either take it to a radiator joint or find another one.

Sounds like I should stick with the no tap method if it assists in keeping the car cool. Im happy to run with window cooling power, I just wanted some heat for the cooler nights.

Just watch ebay for a cooper type heater tap or get a inline metal tap from an auto place or plumbing supplies. That way you get the best of both worlds.

Mike

Had a crack at flushing the heater core tonight. Ran CLR through it, shook the hell out of it and then ran hot water through it and repeated.

After about 10 repeats I am still getting a lot of 'chocolate' water coming out.

Have left it for the night filled with CLR and will try a couple of other techniques I have googled tomorrow night and see how I go.

It is about 100% better already and with hot water in it you can actually feel the thing is hot which is better than it was before so Im glad I am getting somewhere

are you running both ways seems to clean up quicker.

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65 panel van Sprog
73 panel van Iggy

Yeah running it through both ways.

Saw a couple of vids on youtube recommending compessed air, bleach and even over cleaner for the really brave. Dont think I will attempt that one though.