No heat in Mk4 Astra

[Bas]

Hi All,

My 1998 Mk4 Astra (S-reg) recently had a blown head gasket, it kept drinking coolant and had to fill up nearly 1/2 litre per day in the end. Everything is fixed now (ouch) apart from the fact that I've got no heating in the interior. By searching in this newsgroup I found that one of the most likely causes is air in the heater matrix, which can be resolved by bleeding the coolant circuit or the heater matrix.

The question is: Where can I find the heater matrix (it's not behind the glove compartment ) and how do I bleed the system. Do I get myself a Haynes manual, go back to the repair shop or is it easy enough to explain in a newsgroup post?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Bas

 

[me140]

It is inside the heater box so you cant get to the matrix itself - the 2 pipes go through the bulkhead next to each other. These are usually quite good at bleeding - try holding the revs about 3000rpm with the expansion bottle cap off.

 

[Bas]

Thanks for the tip, will try in my lunch hour (though my car hasn't got a rev gauge... but I'll figure something out).

 

[Bas]

Found the problem. A dodgy connector on the heater control panel!! The three buttons (aircon, recirc and rear window heating) didn't work. Apparently there's a bypass valve that stops air flowing through the heater matrix (or hot coolant, not sure) in case the aircon is on. Once the connector was fixed, I switched the aircon on and off, and the problem was gone. I'm now lovely and warm inside my car.... thank goodness, 'cause they're forcasting a horrible winter

Cheers