been to 3 garages 1 of them a fiat garage and no1 can diagnose wots wrong. all have said theres nothing wrong .

when i turn the heater / blowers on like dust/smoke pumps out the vents and it stinks , ive spoken to the local garage he said its not the matrix cos the footwell would be wet and its not, a few ppl have said its the matrix but i dont know . it smells like burnt resin - the demister doesnt work so i have to drive with the windows dwn to stop it misting up. its like steam rising up the window but its a sickly smell


any suggestions?

it is your matrix, carpets only get wet when the hole gets bigger, atm the hole is only big enough to let steam out

cheers at last some1 with a sensible answer

Does it smell like rotten eggs? :yuck: if so i'd say definately matrix

Yup sounds very much like your matrix is leaking - some barsleak would probably fix but i wouldnt recomend it as a permanant fix, get it replaced as soon as you can. As its summer and warm you could always bypass the matrix for now until you get it fixed

btw the way i would try and change it your self cos it cost an arm and a leg for a garage to do it as it will take them 5/6 hrs to do. i did mine mite take 8hrs but its much cheaper

yep im bein charged 8hours labour ive got the new matrix he jus needs to fit it . the smell is a sickly sweet smell , taking it tomorrow to get it fixd.

thanks for the advice anyway !

8 hours labour?

it should only take 8 hours if you never done one before, and experienced tech should be able to do it in half that

I have the same problem, when I put heaters on it makes a bubbling sound, it fogs the windows up rather than clear them and my girlfriend complained that something wet landed on her feet the other day while I was driving D we'll have no funny jokes about that thank you)

Havn't noticed a funny smell yet. Another thing that happens is after its been raining and I drive my car it sounds like a lot of water is stuck somewhere and when I go round a corner it leaks all over the road (can see in the mirror) looks about 4/5 pints of water. Could this be linked to the other problem?

i have to say from disconecting the battery to being ready to use againg only took me and my dad 5/6 hrs but my dad had done it be fore and we are both engineers so saying 8hrs for your average person i for twould be good but a garage S**T!!!!!!

If we are talking garage work, and a FAIR labour charge, what are we talking for a new heater matrix and fitting roughly?

fair price by some one who has done loads would be £270 + vat supply n fit on a mk1

Yikes, is it an easy DIY jobbie then if you had a mate who worked for CAT and was one of the best mechanics you know? Also does it have to be a new part or will taking one from a scrappie work?

its blooming lot of work to get one from a scrappy then it might go again or already be gone, your mate should be able to fit it but it takes all day the first time you do one, its not hard just time consuming

Ok cheers for the info Dave, just one last question

Whats a new one cost from fiat?

£70. look in yellow pages or yell.com often local radiator specialists that do them cheaper, or www.shop4parts.co.uk

Dave, cheers bud. Gonna get it sorted asap. I've heard that having a broken heater matrix can cause the car to overheat when idling in traffic for long periods of time, is this true. Also i'm getting soaked driving with the window open so it needs sorting lol.

yep and can lead to hesd gasket going

Just read elsewhere in threads that water can collect under the plastic grill under the windscreen, I had a look and the drainage pipes were blocked.

My window wipers stopped working on intermittant, there was a nasty smell coming into the car, it sounded like there was a swimming pool in the car somewhere that leaked out when I went around a corner and the black round box in the passenger footwell had a few drops of water coming off it. (this did not taste sweet so there was no anti-freeze in it so I don't think its engine coolant, more like stagnant rain water:yuck

I cleared the pipes out, rubber gloves and hosepipe job, and now the heater seems to blow fine and clears the windows. If the heater matrix had gone surely the heater would not work.

In the past threads I read that all of the above problems are cured by cleaning the drainage pipes except for the water drops inside the car. So just wondering if this could be connected to the lack of drainage Also my coolant level is still at the maximum line so this would also suggest the heater matrix wasn't to blame

Would you agree?