Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:13:28 -0500
Reply-To: Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Front heater core and heater blower replacement
In-Reply-To: <216279AC-D886-45A5-AF52-CBBD2BEF97D0@igc.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Steve,
It is so odd that you post this today because this is the subject of my
latest email newsletter. I will post it below. If you need any parts
let me know
PM and the Vanagon Part 4
Part 4 Heaters.
Of course I am choosing the coldest day of the winter to write about
heaters. The watercooled Vanagon has two awesome heaters that, if
working properly, will fry you out of the van. They are what I want to
discuss today.
Front Heater.
Your front heater is a critical safety device. I know you probably think
of it as a comfort device but think back to a day when the outside
temperature suddenly changes due to a rain storm. The inside of your
windshield starts to fog up and you can't see a thing. You reach to turn
on your windshield defroster and it doesn't work! Now you have to either
pull over (safe) or keep someone wiping the windshield down with a towel
while you drive (not as safe). It would be so much better if you just
adjust the defroster lever, turn the blower fan on and everything works
the way it should.
Front Blower Fan.
One key to the front heater working properly is the front blower fan.
These can seize up over time. In a normal car everything that you would
do, heat or A/C, would involve this fan. In the Vanagon, the A/C is not
in the dash so you only use the blower fan mostly in the winter. This
lets the shaft rust. The best way to prevent this is to use the fan
frequently, even in the summer. Just turn it on, once a week, even if it
is at the lowest speed, to keep it going. If your front fan is stopped
and blowing the fuse it is probably the fan itself that has seized up.
If it isn't blowing the fuse you can try the switch in the dash as they
can go bad and they don't cost very much. You can also check your ground
connections over above the fuse panel. They are a "star" connector that
has multiple grounds coming into it. If the motor isn't getting grounded
then it won't work. Clean the grounds and be sure that the ends of the
spade connectors are making good contact (they can loose their crimp
tension over time). If the fan works but only on the highest speed then
your resistor inside the air box is bad (very rare).
Inside the box.
If you have determined that your blower fan is bad. Then you are going
need a new fan and also a set of 10 blower fan clips. The plastic air
box is actually sealed together by melted plastic tabs. When you open
the box you have to break these tabs. However VW has provided places
around the edge of the box for you to use metal clips to put the box
back together. Be sure to order these whenever you are ordering a new
blower fan as you will need them to get the job done. I always notify
customers about this when they are ordering the fans.
Cleaning and seal repair.
While you could just pull the whole dash apart, change the fan and put
everything back together, it is kind of a shame to not make things happy
while you have everything apart. I always clean the inside of the
plastic air box out and also wipe down the inside of the dash. A damp
rag and some soapy water will work no problem. You can even spray down
the inside of the dash with some scented disinfectant if you want that
"new car" smell. The seals can be replaced easily. I use some air
conditioning filter material (foam) that you can get from Home Depot.
Just cut it to the size and shape of the old one, snap the plastic
fastners apart clean out the old foam, put the new foam in place and
snap it back together. It is that easy.
Front Heater Core.
Front Heater Cores are very robust and will last over 20 years. However
everything has a lifespan and I am sure that most of these cores are
reaching theirs. It would be the best PM to just replace this as well if
you can afford it. If it is bad you will have to replace it. Smell it.
Does it smell like antifreeze? Does it have crusty stuff around the
edge? It is bad and must be replaced.
Rear Heater.
The rear heater core is is much more prone to leaking. Usually you will
smell a coolant smell when you turn it on. The good news is that the
rear heater fans and resistors are usually bulletproof. So it is super
rare to have a rear heater fan or resistor to actually be bad (I have
never sold either of these in ten years).
Rear Heater Cover Removal
On Westies you can just loosen a couple of screws and the wooden cover
comes right off. On 83-85 Vanagons without rear seat/beds are also easy.
If you have an 86-91 Vanagon weekender with a rear bed it can be more
tricky. The frame that goes around the front vent of the blower housing
goes under it. In order to remove the housing cover you can either
remove the rear seat (a real pain) or you can just cut the lower frame
away from the blower housing. I use a blade from a hacksaw. Saw down on
either side of the blower vent. It should only take a little cutting on
each side to cut through the plastic. Once you do this and remove all of
the screws you should be able to pull the cover straight up and off.
Inspect the rear core in the same way you inspected the front one. If it
is suspect replace it.
Rear Heater Valve
Sometimes the core is good but the valve is leaky. You should always
replace the o-ring that seals the valve to the rear core. If the valve
is bad it should be replaced as well. Sometimes the rear bleeder valve
on the core can be leaky but a new one comes with the new rear core.
If you follow these guidelines you should have warm heat, with no smell
and no leaks. Also fixing your seals in the front box it will help
everything to work better as well. As always any parts or advice you
might need feel free to email me.
At Van-Again we're out to prove that we're not only your VW parts source
but also the place to go to get your VW Van questions answered. Go to
the homepage <http://www.vanagain.com/>.
If anyone wants to subscribe to my newsletter please email me and I'll
sign you up.
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com
Stephen Edwards wrote:
> Volks,
>
> I'm working on these items on a 91 Vanagon GL, which happens to have
> a Subie engine. Symptoms are, no blower action, loss of coolant that
> happens only when the front heater is in use (rear heater core is
> never closed) and lately, steam on the windshield when the front
> heater valve is open while the car is running!
>
> I will also be putting some RAAMAudio sound deadening material in the
> places I wouldn't normally be able to get at.
>
> have a video that I found on this list, poor video quality but
> excellent explanations, showing how to remove the dash, however the
> bloke that did it was working on an aircooled 81 Vanagon so it gives
> no information about the watercooled heater system.
>
> Here are my questions:
>
> 1) The chassis has about 178,000 miles on it but is generally in good
> shape. In preparing to remove the dash I can already see that the
> plastic heater box has been opened before, because it is held
> together by metal clips not the original plastic welds. What causes
> these cores to give out?
>
> 2) Since those fan motors always seem to seize up eventually - should
> I lubricate the new fan motor before installing it?
>
> 3) Are there any other helpful hints/pitfalls I should know about?
>
> 4) Finally, Bentley calls for the use of a D1 lubricant to ensure a
> good fit when plugging the box back into the duct system. Does
> anyone know if there's an acceptable substitute to save my going to
> the stealership?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Steve, 91 GL with 95 Subaru 2.2, in Chicago.
>
