feeling the cold in your truck

[Matt Neale]

Don't know if my heater works as in the 2 years I have owned the 110 I have never used it. But the air con works great and is normally on for 10 months of the year

You can go right off some people....

Matt

[innes6320]

hi.

i have a defender 1999 td5 and when i eventually get hot air through the vents when i put the lever to the footwell i get hot air through the drivers side but slightly warm air (if i could call it that) through the passengers side. can anyone help.

[western]

remove the footwell plastic duct, 2 screws, does the flap move with the right hand flap when you move the control lever, if no the rod joining both might be broken or the flap might be adrift of the rod.

best picture I can find of the lower flap arrangement http://lrcat.com/#31/4/52981

[innes6320]

yes both flaps move when i move the lever. i also checked the cables to see if the needed adjusted. i adjusted the top one but was not by alot, don't think that will make any difference

[western]

there's not much else in the lower dash to obstruct the air flow from heater box,

does your Td5 have air conditioning system fitted ? not sure if air con has any affect on the standard heating flow

[innes6320]

no it does not have air con. just the basic heater. could there be a loose connection anywhere that could be causing this

[western]

heater box feeds direct into the lower dash, only a foam seal between the 2 sections, that must be ok as you get hot air on drivers side, wondering if someone has stuffed a rag or something into the lower dash to restrict the air flow.

can't think of anything else that would cause it.

[miketomcat]

Ours is markedly cooler on the driver's side if anything this makes sense as it's further away from the heater. So I would say you have blockage somewhere.

Mike

[innes6320]

I still get the same amount of air coming out as the drivers side but it cooler air

[miketomcat]

Have you checked your heater matrix is not blocked internally and externally, the pipes are connected the right way round (fill from the bottom) and due to the pipes or not bled properly air in the matrix. As I can see no reason for the issues your having because they are the opposite to what I would expect.

Mike

[innes6320]

I had a quick look down through the vent in the wing and all looks clean. I can't see there being anything wrong with the heater matrix since i am getting hot air from everywhere else. I am going to have a look in through the footwell flap tonight and see if i can see anything. Maybe try blocking up the drivers side and see if i get hot air out of the passenger side

[innes6320]

I took my defender for a run tonight and my heater is working alot better. the only thing I did was adjust the cable slightly and it seems to be workin perfect. Heating up alot quicker aswell

[Ex Member]

Make sure the hot/cold flap is tight to the hot side.

[Snagger]

I too cleaned my matrix through with caustic soda - it works very well.

I found plenty of rubbish inside the dash the first time I removed it, including several pencils, biros, nails and, oddly, a snooker ball (cue ball, as it happens). I can only assume the latter was put in through a demister hose connection to wind up the regular driver (ex NRA fleet vehicle) by having it roll around. Clearing all the rubbish and sealing up any screw holes and joints makes the world of difference, and the demisters can be made far more effective and the air nose reduced by fitting foam pads to the foot well vent aperture edges or to the underside of the paddles that close against them to prevent leaks into the foot wells when demist is selected.

My heater is slightly less effective than it used to be because of the plumbing from engine to heater - the hoses are a little kinked at their connection tot he Hotstart, and the Hotstart must also cause a fair restriction in the line itself. I may have to look into some specially made pipes in the distant future, but it's not a big deal.

[Dawidh]

Hello to everyone and thanks for taking the time 

I’m facing a troubling decision, because for some words reason my old Heating Raditaor from my Land Rover Defender ‘97 months as removed, I’m now looking to buy a new one and the dilemma is if had the pipers facing up, or sideways? 
 

how can I understand and see those?!  

[Jocklandjohn]

As far as I know the straight pipe matrix is the later model years (1990 onwards), and the curved pipe matrix is the earlier (up to 1990 approx).  If you have a 1997 vehicle its likely to be a straight pipe type. Best check abasing the VIN number though to be sure.

[Snagger]

Hi Danish, welcome.

There were two generic types of matrix for the Defender, with similar cores.  The difference was the pipes on the top, which point inboard.  One type has aluminium pipes that run in horizontally and then bend down through 90 degrees to points down at the chassis, while the other has plastic pipes that just run horizontally and terminate a little clear of the corner of the unit.  Which you need depends on the hoses you have - if the hoses, when fitted, terminate pointing upwards, you need the matrix with the bent pipes, but if the hoses terminate pointing out sideways towards the wing top, you need the matrix with flat plastic pipes.  There are some good aftermarket alternatives with bigger cores, which may be a good investment in NY winter.  They all tend to have aluminium pipes, but should be available for both hose configurations.  Of course, if you get the wrong matrix, you can swap or cut the hoses to fit.

[Simonsays]

I had to remove the heater panel to do another job and a, struggling to reconnect the cables to the control panel. The metal clips are the issue. I just can’t get them back on. Any ideas would be very much appreciated.

 

[bushwhacker]

It will be one of those jobs unfortunately. 😕 Try to get a diagram it might help. The cables might have small nips where they been tightened on before. Hope you get sorted. Mark

[miketomcat]

They are a pig but sometimes the little lug snaps off and they then won't catch at all.

Mike

[Simonsays]

Thanks so much. As expected. Tough little blighters. Lost one somewhere in the panel pinging off birthday managed the others - with the help of a family member! Thanks so much for the help!

[Jocklandjohn]

On the off chance someone might know....adjusting the heater controls as per Ralph's excellent instructions and discovered that the inner control cable slides about because the tiny grub screw wasn't tight enough. However trying to tighten it revealed the reason - the allen key slot has been slightly rounded and the allen key slips and prevents enough tension being applied to secure the cable.

Any idea what size these little buggers are and where I might find a replacement?  There's two, the upper one seems ok, lower one is the one I need.

And also out of curiosity - where does this cable (for the footwell flaps) actually join onto whatever mechanism makes the flaps operate?

 

[Peaklander]

The two flaps are connected together with a long rod and there’s a short arm connected to it at a right angle. The bowden cable goes to it - so inside the lowest part of the dash. Pull the cable and the rod rotates.

There’s some spring metal in there too, acting as a resistance to movement, that allows the flaps to close when the cable goes slack. 

[Snagger]

I don’t think you specifically need grub screws for the Bowden cable - I think there is enough space for ordinary machine screws which may be easier to find.

The vent flap cable runs down through a hole punched in the top surface of the lower facia (parcel tray, if you like) just within the overhangs of the  inboard end of the instrument binnacle.  As Tim said, it operates the driver’s side flap, and via a torque rod, the passenger side flap.  
 

The flaps close downward against the inside of the dash lower face for demist, closing right up against the foot well vents, so if you feel air leaking through those vents with demist selected, then the flaps need some replacement foam pads on their lower faces.  That can be done pretty easily though the apertures once you unscrew the plastic vents.  When selecting flow to the foot wells, the flaps lift up and sit against the inner lip of the rubber grommets that seal the top of the facia duct to the two corrugated hoses to the demisters.  It isn’t uncommon for those grommets to split with age or have been unseated, so you can get leaks through that side, but it doesn’t make a lot of difference as the easiest airflow is through the foot vents anyways, so the air will generally go that way if the lower vents are open, regardless of a poor seal on the demister side.

The condition of the heater matrix and the coolant pipes feeding it make a huge difference to heater efficacy.  It’s worth removing them to clean them out with some caustic soda and flushing them clean before refitting if running the heater on full hot doesn’t become uncomfortably warm in the cab after a few minutes.  For all the complaints about poor heating, the unit is perfectly capable if in good condition and the Bowden cables are adjusted correctly - it is similar to the reputation for poor brakes or steering on LRs; they’re actually just a lack of maintenance.

[Jocklandjohn]

31 minutes ago, Peaklander said:

The two flaps are connected together with a long rod and there’s a short arm connected to it at a right angle. The bowden cable goes to it - so inside the lowest part of the dash. Pull the cable and the rod rotates.

There’s some spring metal in there too, acting as a resistance to movement, that allows the flaps to close when the cable goes slack. 

Aha thats whats going on. Its not at all obvious.

4 minutes ago, Snagger said:

I don’t think you specifically need grub screws for the Bowden cable - I think there is enough space for ordinary machine screws which may be easier to find.

The vent flap cable runs down through a hole punched in the top surface of the lower facia (parcel tray, if you like) just within the overhangs of the  inboard end of the instrument binnacle.  As Tim said, it operates the driver’s side flap, and via a torque rod, the passenger side flap.  
 

The flaps close downward against the inside of the dash lower face for demist, closing right up against the foot well vents, so if you feel air leaking through those vents with demist selected, then the flaps need some replacement foam pads on their lower faces.  That can be done pretty easily though the apertures once you unscrew the plastic vents.  When selecting flow to the foot wells, the flaps lift up and sit against the inner lip of the rubber grommets that seal the top of the facia duct to the two corrugated hoses to the demisters.  It isn’t uncommon for those grommets to split with age or have been unseated, so you can get leaks through that side, but it doesn’t make a lot of difference as the easiest airflow is through the foot vents anyways, so the air will generally go that way if the lower vents are open, regardless of a poor seal on the demister side.

The condition of the heater matrix and the coolant pipes feeding it make a huge difference to heater efficacy.  It’s worth removing them to clean them out with some caustic soda and flushing them clean before refitting if running the heater on full hot doesn’t become uncomfortably warm in the cab after a few minutes.  For all the complaints about poor heating, the unit is perfectly capable if in good condition and the Bowden cables are adjusted correctly - it is similar to the reputation for poor brakes or steering on LRs; they’re actually just a lack of maintenance.

 

Cheers, I juat found some M2 M2.5 and M3 grub screws on ebay so might try them. May try locally first as there's a few fastener and engineering specialists about. If I can ID the size/thread pitch I'll post it here.

I've had the matrix out a couple of times to clean it and replace seals. The heater was phenomenally hot until a bukhead replacement years ago (not done by me, but by Liveridge) and afterwards was warm enough but not anywhere near as vigorous as before. I've been adjusting flaps and what not and whilst its pretty good I know for sure it could be better hence the current messing about with it. There was some faffing about by Liveridge with the electrics as they could not get the Eberspacher they had removed/replaced to get sufficient voltage to operate properly so did some bodge with the wiring from the heater. I've replaced the Eber loom completely and its fine now, but I think there may be some gremlins in the heater fan motore control wiring so will need to get in about it with the meter.

Thanks both for the explanation of the flap mechanism, it had me puzzled!   Just had all my brakes overhauled and it stops like a dream, and renewed steering UJ's and TRE's so its steers beautifully too!