Punto heater matrix :S

Afternoon all,
I have a 1997 Punto on an R registration which ive been told by Fiat needs a new HEater Matrix. The quote to fix this problem was about £300 or so , so i'm looking to fix it myself.
I have noticed this item on eBay:
Ebay Heater Matrix

I don't have a Haynes manual, and i've never seen the matrix itself [partly as it's my girlfriends car] so i was hoping someone here could tell me if it's worth buying the above item.
Many thanks!
Scott

£300 is about right its a very hard job and the whole dashboard needs to come out. try some radweld first get it from motor factors it stops small leaks.
i dont know if that heater matrix is ok.

not sure which matrix is right, as have never seen mine (you have to remove all the dash and electrics to get at it as it is passenger side of front bulkhead).


Its a bugger to do, and the dash will never go together again right, not without many days of fiddling, and driving, then it rattling loose or worse, squeking !! grrr, I hate dashboards.

Radweld or some such firstin coolant should see to it. But if its pouring then its defo a new one required.

When I had my matrix go on my old Uno, I was told that you can sort of skip out the heater matrix by linking 2 pipes together, so basically the heater matrix becomes redundant. This is really a temporary thing, but being xmas and stuff, people dont tend to have a lot of spare cash hanging about, so its ok if you can go without a heater!

I'm very sorry for my non technical know how, perhaps someone will know what I mean and could explain it a bit better!

yeah try some barsleak as that is really good stuff. You can either get it in liquid or sold(which you crumble into rad) form. I was qoted £160 to have mine change d but i settled for two bottles of barsleak instead which cost me less than £10. So far its held up and thats was nearly 2yrs ago. Oh i bypassed mine as mentioned above and it is really easy to do but you will lose your heating so it is really only short term

I dont think the Rad is leaking though. Whenever the hot air is switched on the air really smells, not of burning, but something similar.
Also, the fan is dead noisy - sounds like a jar of bees are stuck in the dashboard!

The heater matrix is a rad. The smell you are getting is coolant. Are your windows always steaming up too?? The heater matrix has gone on my GT too, have found a matrix on http://www.shop4parts.co.uk/ which i think will fit yours too. I would only do the job yourself if you are handy with a spanner and have a lot of patience as this is a nightmare of a job especially in these cold conditions!

the box of bee's noise that the fan makes, is because there is loads of dust and crap on the cylinderthing, over time it gets into the bearing, and destroys it, allowing it to vibrate at a very very annoying pitch.

Action, take it apart and put a new bush thing in it, should be able to get from most hardware/motorfactor places, failing that a whole unit (I was lucky found a V reg 60S, with only 13,??? miles on it, so took it, £5 job and works a treat!! Although finding all the screws that hold the effing thing in took over an hour!!

Cheers lads

Do they do Haynes manuals for Punto's?
Im not a Fiat owner, having a Fiesta myself. The car is my girlfriends and I dont know my way around it too well!

The windows take forever to de-steam, yes, as the power of the blower is a bit weak. The heat from the unit is also a bit poor too.

yep they do haynes manuals, check ebay before getting a new one

Cheers! I'll have a look there soon.
Much appreciate all the advide youve given guys - nice to know a community like this exists on the Net
Scott

does it smell like curry mate? thats how mine went check the floors for water i didnt have any 1st then yest both was wet im thinking of missing the matrix out for a few days i know how you feel about xmas im the same just spent over 300 fixing after cambelt snapping few weeks ago and now this right before the xmas good luck mate hope you get it sorted soon

Cheers for the heads up mate It doesnt quite smell like curry, but of a burning instead. Like - if you put an electric heater fire on full whack for ages, you get a small smell of 'burning' in the air.
Its like that

where do you live? i have a haynes manual for a punto spare

Im in Oxford, though the girlfriend is in East Sussex. Would it be a free Haynes?