Hi all. For many years, my interior gets very hot while the car is running. When I touched the heater, boy is like an oven! I renewed the heater tap and still doesn't help. Therefore I am going to check with the professional on ausmini, is it ok to change the bottom radiator hose without the heater tap connection? Why does the heater needs hot coolant run through it?

the heater works by pumping coolant through a small radiator-type thing (the heather core), and blowing air through it into the cabin with a fan.

you can bypass the heater, but you may experience cooling problems, and you won't be able to use it if you get cold

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78 Leyland Mini - Prince

Sounds like your heater tap wasn't working, I'd say get a new one and connect it up correctly.
With the heater tap turned off your engine may run hotter and your cab wont be heated.
With it turned on your engine should cool a little bit but your cabin will heat up.

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Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

Yeah... what ^^^ he said

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

not being silly, but have you confirmed that the heater tap closes when you move the lever to the 'off' position?

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

In my car I removed the heater tap entirely and it was badly corroded and full of gunk. I just plumbed "NEW" heater hoses into it. After giving the heater core a thorough clean and flush though.

Then I replaced the heater outlet pipe, on the head, with a heater tap that came off an another mini - the type that bolts onto the head. It works fine. I have all the stuff to put the cable inside so it can be operated from inside the car but being a mini and with the fact that all minis need to have their bonnets lifted often, I just open or close the tap from under the bonnet.

But given that it is a and the tap was corroded and blocked - you can almost guarrantee that so is your radiator. Minis don't have a lot of excess cooling capacity so make sure your radiator is in good condition and not half full of muck.

Mike