Technical Heater blows luke warm

[nsr500rossi]

Hi

After some idiot pulled out in front of my girlfriend and wrote off our red sei sporting we have gone and got a 2001 mpi black abarth, very nice she is to.

Problem is the heater is not working as it should.

We get warm air, but not that warm from the windscreen vents and the dash vents, but the under dash vent is blowing cold, it also takes a long time to heat up ....

The heater control dial does not change the heat setting, stays luke warm.

I have looked over this forum and seems it may be the 'cock'!

Or air in the system..

The only 2 bleed valves i can see are the one next to the expansion tank and the one on the firewall/bulkhead (it is held close to the sound proofing with a little plastic clip.

I have opened both od these, but it did not make a difference.

Also, when the car is up to temperature , the hose from the water pump feels cold near the pump, bit warmer further down though.

ANy advice, photos of where the valves are would be cool.

thanks
Mike

 

[fingers99]

Valves are where you found them. You should be able to get coolant out of them when you top up the expansion tank. Best do it with the heater full on.

Having done that, if nothing improves, suspect the thermostat -- how long does the car take to warm up?

 

[nsr500rossi]

Yes water comes out of both the bleed taps

I get warm air from the windscreen vents after 10 mins of running the engine, air from foot vent never gets warm.

Out previous sei really gave out some heat from the heater ..

The dash heater control does not change temperature, it always stays luke warm

Could this be the cock?

Cheers

Mike

 

[fingers99]

Cock or blockage methinks. But I would be inclined to swap out the thermostat if the car takes a long time to reach normal temperature. (Mind you. this isn't the best time to talk of "normal".)

 

[Red Rocket CINQ]

i get the same problem with mine, ive bled the system a few times just to make sure and ive fitted a new thermostat. the car never reaches close to 90 unless ive stopped for a while and the heaters are as you described heat through the vents and windscreen luke warm but blowing cold to the feet, and the faster you put it on the colder it gets. i suspect heater matrix but dont want to buy one untill im 100% sure thats the problem. any help would be great. thanks

p.s i also have foil covering all my rad and it still doesnt get up to temp. so im lost tbh.

 

[fingers99]

Mind you, my new Cinq (ta da!) barely got up to 90 -- and then only after a little heat soak while getting juiced -- today and I was pretty impressed by the heater.

But then, Cinqs have flaps, rather than cocks.

 

[ycming]

my heater is not very warm either ... and it seems it only gets warm when you on driving ....

Temp stay under 90, new stat. Bleed the system, I'll got no idea lol

Ming

 

[fingers99]

It's the Polish weather.

 

[nsr500rossi]

Hmmm, so am not the only one ..

Agree, the weather at the mo can't be helping ..

Still does not explain the cold air from foot area

Can't see what temp the car is running at as, of course it has no temp gauge ..grrr

To add, looking inside the expansion tank, the water is pretty dirty, looks like rust coloured slime on the inside of the cap.

Maybe it's blocked up with crud.

On another note, our last seicento, spi, i could hear the fan come on and go off, did it all the time, even in winter. The ne mpi seicento seems to have a different setup, the fan is very quiet but seems to be all the time, well, i can hear it spin down when i turn the car off .. did they change the fan/control?

M

 

[fingers99]

Shouldn't be doing that.

Either someone has wired it to be constantly on (which is very suspicious) or someone on here suggested recently that it'll go permanently on (with the engine running) if there's a fault. (With the sensor?)

 

[ALAN4]

Hi , my 2000 sei heater is having same problem , luke warm at the window position , freezing cold on the feet .

I would say stat is working as I can feel the heat through the pipe when it opens . Heater cable operating at the valve so suspect valve , but I would like to know how you get to the actual heater mattrix also .

Drive this car down the M2 every night and I'm sure I'm going to die of frost-bite unless I can fix it pronto .

Alan .

ps: I cannot download forum manuals either .

 

[fingers99]

I would say stat is working as I can feel the heat through the pipe when it opens . Heater cable operating at the valve so suspect valve , but I would like to know how you get to the actual heater mattrix also .

Through the "carpet" on the passenger side of the engine bay -- just follow the heater pipe. Cock controls heat, but there are also flaps to control direction of air.

ps: I cannot download forum manuals either .

Why not? Or, what happens when you try?

 

[Red Rocket CINQ]

if the heater box is the same as the cinq, its behind the carpet in the engine bay on the drivers side, its easier to remove just the one side than all of it. if it is the same as the cinq its held into the heaterbox with 3 screws, i was going to look at mine as ive got the same problem but mine was stuck so left it alone. if you have any luck and it soves the problem let us know. if it works ill replace mine then and hopfuly solve my probem.

 

[fingers99]

Location is the same, but the operation of the heater matrix on Cinq and Sei are very different. Sei has a cock which tends to either seize or silt up.

 

[ALAN4]

Strange , on my sei the cock as you guys call it which I take to being the thing which has the two heater pipes attached to it and which bolts on to the white plastik bit above , which I take to be the side of the mattrix is on the drivers side of engine bay . I have removed battery and box to gain access , still looks like the whole mattrix needs to be removed to replace the cock as one bolt is not accessible without removal .

Still a bit lost as to how the whole thing comes out ? any help again please .

Alan .

 

[fingers99]

Download the manual!

 

[cc1]

Strange ,
Still a bit lost as to how the whole thing comes out ? any help again please .

Alan .

There are nuts holding the whole box onto the bulk head. You can just get away with removing the hose side one only.
Remove and the assembly should come forward enough to get to the screws to slide out the whole matrix. Be careful with the rubber/foam sealing gasket and don't loose the cable retaining clip.

 

[ycming]

Does blowing "not so warm" air really means i need to change the heater matrix?

 

[fingers99]

Or flush it, long and hard. Something is wrong.

 

[ALAN4]

Cheers for the advice again , have downloaded manual but it won't let me open it ? any ideas why .

Alan .