Mk2 Xsara HDi - Heater Matrix leaking

[dandare1980]

Hi,

On the same day that forum member Chris570 kindly diagnosed my ABS fault with his Lexia fault reader, seems my heater matrix has packed in

I was driving into town yesterday and noticed as the engine began to warm that the windscreen was becoming badly steamed up.

Ran the fans at full blast but it just got worse and worse.

It wasn't until I stopped at a supermarket that I noticed a trickle had developed into a puddle of red coolant in the passenger foot well.

The exterior of the car was also covered in small white flakes of what I presume is dried coolant.

The car's interior has been smelling of coolant for sometime but the coolant level seemed fine, until yesterday of course.

Drove home with heater on cold having to manually wipe the screen every 5 minutes.

Never done a heater matrix before, does anyone have any tips?

Have a trusty Haynes, but I have found them to be somewhat "lacking" in description for some jobs.

I've been looking on eBay for a part, but notice that there is a mention of two different types, a VALEO unit and a BEHR one.

The seller suggests the two types are not interchangeable, so how do I tell which type is fitted to my car without dismantling?

There are some used units on eBay too, but presumably these are a false economy?

Any help or advice will be most appreciated.

Dan

[citroenxm]

A used one is VERY false economy, from experiance!!!

ALWAYS put a new one in, and get a Valeo one as those are the original ones fitted... Unfortunally, just like the Xantia its a dash out job!

Ive not done a Xsara one yet, but no doubt it will be simmilar in operation to dooing a Xantia one..

Paul

[RichardW]

Bad luck Dan...

Oddly although Xantia ones fail as a past time, I've not heard of a Xsara one going. As Paul says, likley a bit of a dog of a job...

It looks like the Valeo one is for cars with auto A/C, and the Frape Behr one for cars with std A/C or none at all. If you post up your VIN, I can check on service.citroen which is fitted.

[dandare1980]

Thanks Paul/Richard,

Not looking forward to taking the dash out.........

You've confirmed my suspicions of the false economy that comes with a used one.

Looking at some pictures, it appears there are differences between the VALEO and BEHR models, just need to figure out which one is fitted to mine!

Valeo measures 157 mm wide x 234 mm high, BEHR measures 152 mm wide x 234 mm high, but they have different pipe configurations.

Would I need to buy any new seals at the same time?

Richard, I'll PM you the VIN, thanks for offering to check it.





Dan.

[marty1979]

This sounds like a right pain in the bum, especially as you need heat in the car this time of the year, and you really don't need a leak inside of the car. Couldn't you put a small amount of K-seal or Radweld in as a temporary measure, just until you can get your new matrix? I know it's not ideal and a new unit is the only real way to tackle this, but as a temp fix it's got to be worth a shot? The screen in my 406 2.1td was steaming up because of the same problem, I put less than half of a bottle of radweld in about 4 months ago and it's been fine since.

[woodywoodpecker]

Hi, put K-seal in it mines had k-seal in for over a year and not lost a drop of coolant since, got to be worth a go for a tenner.

[CitroJim]

Don't use Radweld or K-Seal. use only Forte Stop leak. It works and definitely won't cause damage.

I have a belief that the former two products cause the heater matrix elbow joint to stick fast and makes eventual matrix replacement even more difficult.

I wrote a piece here on the subject.

[dandare1980]

Thanks for your comments gents,

I was a bit nervous about using coolant sealant after a bottle of Rad Weld effectively welded a leaky radiator completely shut on my old MK3 Astra!

Had to drive around with the cabin heater on max and the fan on full (in the summer) as a temporary fix........

On your advice Jim I am tempted to try the Forte Radiator Stop Leak, it may at least get me into some milder weather before I have to spend a weekend removing the dash etc.

Dan.

[dandare1980]

Update......

I'm still trying to track down the type of heater matrix fitted to my Xsara, so I contacted my local Citroen dealers parts section quoting my VIN and got the following:

Unfortunately your vehicle does show the option of either having Valeo or BEHR, it doesn’t tell me which it is so I can’t answer your question im afraid. You should find the make stamped on the part.

So looks like I'm still in the dark until dismantling.

RichardW suggested that the Valeo type was fitted to cars with auto A/C, excuse my ignorance but as the car has A/C fitted and the fan control has an "auto" setting, does this mean a Valeo is likely to fit?

Thanks again for everyone's help.

Dan.

[RichardW]

Dan

Local agent is plonker (*) - PM your VIN and I'll have a look. I would think it will be the Valeo unit, as the auto setting is what Citroen call the 'regular' A/C I think - they call 'manual' A/C 'Single' A/C....

* - I reserve judgement totally on that till I have a look with the VIN!

[dandare1980]

Thanks Richard, sending PM now.......

[handyman]

Doing a matrix on the Xsara is about the same time as for a ZX and is a lot less complex than a Xantia. Last Xantia I did took me six hours, so the Xsara should be less.

The matrix is a common part between many PSA cars so also look for Peugeot as a source of supply. Would not mind betting that the OE parts price for Peugeot might be cheaper. There are pattern ones about, some good, some complete rubbish. If it is a Valeo unit, buy it under that label rather than Citroen, as the price usually works out cheaper than for OE.

Using rad repair solutions is only delaying the inevitable.Once the matrix goes, the only REAL repair is a change of matrix.

If Richard cannot help, PM your Vin and I'll look it up on Servis Citroen for you.

Handyman

[RichardW]

REFRIGERATION REGULAR AIR CONDITIONNING

However...

HEATER

6448 80
VALEO (THERMIQ) -

6448 C9 FRAPE BEHR -

I take it back about the local agent

but if you take the VIN out, then it says the following:

6448 80 VALEO (THERMIQ) -
- RIGHT HAND DRIVE AND REGULAR AIR CONDITIONNING

6448 C9 FRAPE BEHR -
- RIGHT HAND DRIVE

So I would say you were odds on for a Valeo....

[addo]

I've only seen AC fitted Xsara IIs, and all used the same matrix as a Xantia.

[dandare1980]

Thanks for checking this out for me Richard.

I'll take a punt on the Valeo then, if it's the other type I can probably just return the first matrix.

Really appreciate the help so many have been offering on this forum.

Cheers,

Dan.