190 Car Heater, And Heater Matrix Problems

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190 Car Heater, And Heater Matrix Problems; Step by step possible solution.
Topic Started: Sat Dec 8, 2007 5:50 pm (2,080 Views)
RichardCC	Sun Nov 2, 2008 11:09 am Post #41
Member Posts: 101 Group: Members Member #3,246 Joined: September 15, 2008	Hi Guys, Followed Julians instructions and used caustic soda, been for a couple of mile run this morning and nice hot air, not red hot though so I suspect that there maybe a bit of air in the system, anyway will run it this week and let you all know how we get on, Cheers for now Richard



RichardCC	Fri Nov 7, 2008 4:41 pm Post #42
Member Posts: 101 Group: Members Member #3,246 Joined: September 15, 2008	Hi Guys, Been for a few short runs this week, and then a nice long one today AND the heater is working perfectly okay now thanks to you guys and all your good advice I am extremely grateful and thank you all very much for your help, Best Regards Richard



stevieb999	Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:30 pm Post #43
Newbie Posts: 18 Group: Members Member #2,531 Joined: April 15, 2008	hi guys ...well im in a situation where ive just spent 839 pounds on my g reg 2.0 litre auto on brakes / calipers /abs sensor problems / service ...now the heater isnt working properly . the top windscreen heater is warm in the middle cooler at the sides ....bottom vent is freezing! ive read your comments was thinking it could be the thermostat ....but now im thinking about flushing out the whole water system .....i too love my merc but my mrs is giving me jip on .....scrap the bloody thing! noooooooooo! i cant!!!!!!! am i mad? happy xmas fellow 190 ers! ....and happy new year and trouble free motoring ...yeah right! stevie b



190ian	Sun Jan 18, 2009 8:47 am Post #44
190ian Posts: 766 Group: Members Member #1,851 Joined: October 25, 2007	tryed the soda thing out on saterday there was an improvement,so il wil proberly try in again next weekend



TeZREX	Thu Jan 22, 2009 9:32 pm Post #45
Newbie Posts: 21 Group: Members Member #3,662 Joined: December 27, 2008	I have used commercial vehicle cooling system cleaners in the past on my old Vx cavalier (now that car was well engineered the heater motor and matrix were easily accessible but thats not for this site;?) ). You can buy similar cleaners in Halfords but Im not sure how well they work. One thing to note if you have had a leaky rad and used the sealing products to sort the problem out then you may get the leak back as some products can be quite agressive. THe caustic soda is a cheaper alternative but I suppose its down to each individual. Good post all the same, I think I need to put that on the list to do jobs on my rusty cossie.. TeZ



rick 1	Sat Feb 7, 2009 2:30 pm Post #46
Member Posts: 816 Group: Members Member #573 Joined: October 9, 2006	are the inlet ,outlet pipes the same on a 2.0 auto?



edd91	Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:05 pm Post #47
Member Posts: 60 Group: Members Member #1,112 Joined: March 28, 2007	I'm about to do this but is there any reason you need to detach the inlet pipe? Just pump the water into that inlet pipe and it will come out where you removed it



MadMike	Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:10 pm Post #48
Member Posts: 3,827 Group: Members Member #1,062 Joined: March 15, 2007	Are you doing a simple clean water flush through or the full caustic soda treatment ?



edd91	Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:18 pm Post #49
Member Posts: 60 Group: Members Member #1,112 Joined: March 28, 2007	I will do full caustic soda treatment



MadMike	Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:31 pm Post #50
Member Posts: 3,827 Group: Members Member #1,062 Joined: March 15, 2007	When I did the caustic clean out I isolated the heater, so that the caustic could not get into the engine. I took off both hoses, I sealed the end of one, pushed in a cork fron a wine bottle and put a jubilee clip round it to seal it, I then poured the caustic into the other hose using a funnel, when it was full I again used a cork and jubilee clip to seal the caustic in the heater matrix to do its work. After a time I let it out carefully and gave it a very good flush through. Made a big difference.



edd91	Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:25 am Post #51
Member Posts: 60 Group: Members Member #1,112 Joined: March 28, 2007	Well I did it all minus the compressed air. It is definitely warmer now but only luke warm, none of this 'too hot to touch' stuff, will have to try it again



edd91	Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:36 am Post #52
Member Posts: 60 Group: Members Member #1,112 Joined: March 28, 2007	I just realised something stupid which may have impaired my success. I put a bit of detergent in with the caustic solution for good measure.... now I realise detergent is a base and perhaps I mayaswell just continued using water



RichardCC	Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:20 pm Post #53
Member Posts: 101 Group: Members Member #3,246 Joined: September 15, 2008	Hi, I did the caustic soda routine twice and still got just better than warm results, which was a dam sight better than freezin. The weekend before last I decided to try the citric acid approach. Disconnect both inlet and outlets to the heater matrix, flush out thoroughly for 10-15 minutes, and boil kettle, put two W5 limescale remover tablets (From Lidl's - about �1-50'ish) into 1/2 litre boiling water. Meanwhile having connect two spare hoses to inlet and outlet and held at least 18 to 24 inches higher than the outlet pipe, pour boiling mixture into outlet side of matrix. Block ends of hoses so you can lower them enough to close bonnet and leave overnight. Next morning flush out and remove extra hoses and reconnect inlet and outlet to system. Run engine on idle for 5 to 10 minutes to warm up, then slowly feed antifreeze into car cooling system header tank until correct level is achieved, mine took just over a litre. Then take car for a run, preferrably where you can cruise at about 60'ish for 5 miinutes or so, and then wind your windows down and mop your forehead 'cos you'll need to. I can't remember who recommended citric acid, but it worked for me. Julians' caustic soda route was good (thank you) and got me through from being frozen in the middle of winter, but thanks to the citric acid tip from someone on here (thank you) I now actually have a nice hot working heater, Richard



protearose	Sat Apr 18, 2009 6:09 am Post #54
Member Posts: 75 Group: Members Member #2,058 Joined: December 22, 2007	Hi Richard. Did you use scale remover tablets or citric acid?



RichardCC	Sat Apr 18, 2009 7:10 am Post #55
Member Posts: 101 Group: Members Member #3,246 Joined: September 15, 2008	Hi, W5 tablets are predominately citric acid with a little of something else in, not sure what, but they certainly have worked okay. When I was a little dissapointed with the caustic acid route I did a little bit of research by trawling the net and the threads on here. On here there is the mercedes maintenance manual and on the subject of maintaining the cooling system, the flushing section says to drain out about a litre of coolant, then make a mixture of 750 grams of citric acid in a litre of water and add that to the system, then run for about 15 minutes, flush the system, etc. So if mercedes recommend this I figured that citric acid would not do any harm to the system, but I just couldn't find any citric acid in the stores round here. Adritt citric acid tablets have been quoted on here as being pure citric acid but my local Lidl didn't stock them and I even asked online but they couldn't trace them either so I think this tip might have been from abroad and it was called something else over here. Anyway the nearest thing I could find was the W5 tablets and they've done the trick. I must admit I didn't approach my local mercedes garage for their flushing agent, figuring it would be a lot more expensive, but next time I go past I will pop and ask out of curiosity, Richard



MadMike	Sat Apr 18, 2009 8:25 am Post #56
Member Posts: 3,827 Group: Members Member #1,062 Joined: March 15, 2007	Out of interest I looked for citric acid on Ebay. They have lots of it, and cheap. I might have another go using some of it. I have done my matrix a couple of times now, its much better but not as hot as I would have liked when we had that snow and ice.



edd91	Sat Apr 18, 2009 12:17 pm Post #57
Member Posts: 60 Group: Members Member #1,112 Joined: March 28, 2007	Perhaps vinegar and baking soda could be helpful too?



MadMike	Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:17 pm Post #58
Member Posts: 3,827 Group: Members Member #1,062 Joined: March 15, 2007	At last, I have a fully working roasty-toasty heater, its only taken two years of trying. I did it all, back flushing, Holts Radiator flusher and caustic soda - twice. I only ever got a slight improvement. So I decided to try this citric acid thing. I dont have a Lidl near to me so I went to my local hardware shop Robert Dyas, I got some kettle de-scaler. Drained the coolant out and put it in and left it overnight. Fantastic, I now have a boiling hot heater, its all been said before....cant now keep my hand in front of the vent etc,etc. When I flushed it through you could see lots of big flakes of limescale type stuff coming out. So all you guys with bad heaters.... this stuff really works. The only problem now is .........its spring....wont need the heater for months.



chrisalis	Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:50 pm Post #59
Member Posts: 61 Group: Members Member #2,153 Joined: January 15, 2008	Hi, it was me who recommended the citric acid Lidl route of cleaning the matrix and I was interested to note that Lidl in the UK don't sell Adritt. Over here in Brittany, France it's marketed under this name but all of their other cleaning jollops are 'W5' something or other and I suspect it will be the same product under the guise of W5. A rose by any other name! Glad it worked for you. My heater is still pumping out the BTU's in droves! Chris



MadMike	Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:53 pm Post #60
Member Posts: 3,827 Group: Members Member #1,062 Joined: March 15, 2007	Yeah, its working great. I did look on Ebay, and there is lots for sale on there. But it was much quicker to go to my local hardware shop.



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