Hi,

Can anyone please advise me on how to unblock a heater matrix on a 1995 Fiat Punto. I am reluctant to have it replaced as i was told the whole dashboard needs to come out to get to it, is this correct? Is there any way i can unblock it?

Thanks,

Steven.

You can flush it out can't you? Just drain the coolant, stick a hose on and turn it on till water comes out the other side, I think that gets the matrix aswell but not 100%

mine is mk2

I have removed the hoses from the heater matrix and flushed it separately using a car pump connected to the heater with a 3 feet hose full of water. Repeatedly.

Cheers

Hi, if the car has been subject to poor coolant changes/lack of antifreeze.. you will not 100% successfully unblock a heater matrix with a hosepipe.. it will flush the dirty water out of it and loose build up but thats about it. Because if it is badly clogged up like this one ive removed was.. the buildup is so tightly packed that it doesnt come loose when flushed.

Ive just pulled 1 out of a fiat punto myself.. currently in the process of putting it back together.

But before doing so, I reverse flushed the engine with a hosepipe several times till the water run clear... and I even used a 2 stage holts chemical flush to cleanse the system thoughly before removing the old heater matrix.. actually done it in my case to ensure I was putting a new heater matrix into a clean system so that it didnt clog straight up again.
However once I had removed the old heater matrix it was still very much clogged up.. despite hosepipe flushing and chemical flushing.

So flushing with a hosepipe will only give a marginal improvement if hardly any.. only way would be to remove it from the system and flush it under high pressure... which isnt easy to do on the car.. and if you physically remove it from the car you might as well put a new 1 in.

Otherwise lol, rule is.. regular coolant changes if your running blue antifreeze.. every 2 years.. or 5 years with red.. or i think its 10 if you use the genuine fiat stuff... and make sure your system has antifreeze in it at all times, thats the only way to avoid getting into that situation.

I've been lucky then as I back flushed the system by removing the thermostat and disconnecting the bottom hose. Water in through the thermostat mounting, and out of the bottom hose. Before, the heater was pathetic, but now it works properly.

Central heating can be chemical cleaned and there products for systems containing aluminium. But the coolant capacity is small so the car will have to be run a lot and the cleaning fluid changed every other day. That will eventually get it clean, but what a messy hassle - and removing gunk might expose a leak. It would be easier to change the heater matrix.

I used a proper chemical cleaner in the system im working on now.. it did clean out quite alot from the engine.

but in regards to the heater matrix.. although it didnt clear it slightly, as a temperature difference was evident.. it just didnt remove the more tightly packed stubborn clogged areas.

So overall, id say seeming as a heater matrix can be brought for £35 if you have the knowledge to change it, id do that.. then just ensure in future proper maintenance is carried out on the cooling system

Hi,

Thanks for your reply, I think i would be better of then changing the heater matrix completely! however my knowledge of cars is very limited and to be honest i would nt be sure where to start!

Not sure where that leaves me really as i dont want to shell out all that money on labour to have it done.

RB 2009 do u work in a garage? I live in Ipswich didnt know if you did this for a living?

smithy882 said:

Hi,

Thanks for your reply, I think i would be better of then changing the heater matrix completely! however my knowledge of cars is very limited and to be honest i would nt be sure where to start!

Not sure where that leaves me really as i dont want to shell out all that money on labour to have it done.

RB 2009 do u work in a garage? I live in Ipswich didnt know if you did this for a living?

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Hi, its not too hard to do, just need to be patient and methodical, if you dont have a haynes manual, go out and get 1.. it will be a great help.

if your unsure on how things to back together.. get some bags and label them, and take plenty of photos

nope, dont wory in a garage or do it for a living.. its just something I do in my spare time to help people I know out.

My main job is being self employed doing computers, websites and stuff.

Hi,

Ok i will see if i can get hold of a manual and give it a go.