Bypass the Heater Matrix?

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Whitedragon
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Bypass the Heater Matrix?

Post by Whitedragon »

ZX Elation 1.9D

Ok, so the Heater Matrix has blown, and I'm getting a nice steam bath when I drive (unless I close all the ports, then the dashboard glass mists over).

I'm poor, I just don't have the money to buy a new matrix, let alone get it fitted (and although I could get the dashboard off, I would be very concerned getting it back together, so its all fine).

So....Apart from me getting cold, is there any reason I can't just disconnect/cut the pipes going to the matrix (from the engine side) and join them together ??
IE. Has it any other purpose than keeping me warm?

Thanks in Advance

Bry
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Re: Bypass the Heater Matrix?

Post by splat2 »

Whitedragon wrote: So....Apart from me getting cold, is there any reason I can't just disconnect/cut the pipes going to the matrix (from the engine side) and join them together ??

IE. Has it any other purpose than keeping me warm?
As far as I am aware there's no reason why you shouldn't just block the pipes off, although it might be easier to cut and join them if you have a suitably sized bit of copper pipe or some such thing to use.
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Post by Peter.N. »

The heating system is designed to be continious flow, so just disconnect the pipes and join the ends together with a suitable piece of tubing and see if you can get a 12 volt electric fire!
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Post by oscarloco »

Just disconnect the plastic manifold that enters the firewall. Then join both ends with a suitable piece of pipe and you are ready to go.
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Post by micitroen »

Got to say that Peter's suggestion is not as far out as it might seem. There are a number of places I've seen ceramic type 12v fan heaters to be plugged in off the cigar lighter for sale. They would have been ideal when I had an old type 2 Vw, as it used to take ages to warm up and even then it wasn't very good.
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Post by fastandfurryous »

The only problem other than being VERY cold driving a car with no heater is that you have no windscreen demist.

What you could do is pull a car apart in a breakers yard to learn where everything is, and how it goes together. Buy the secondhand matrix for £5, and then fit it to yours.

you may also find that it's possible to just undo some bits of the facia, and modify some other bits, and not remove the complete facia. Aparently it's possible on a number of cars, although I don't know about the ZX.

Just to make the point.... it's REALLY REALLY cold drving a car with no heater. Most car heaters are able to kick out over 5kW of heat to keep the car warm, as cars have no insulation to speak of. You won't get anywhere near that out of a 12v heater.... after all, 20A load at 14V is still only 280w. Nowhere near the heater output.
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Post by Stewart(oily) »

The new matrix is under £30, brrr! bite the bullet, its fairly straightforward if you follow the book of lies, the matrix is right behind the bulkhead, sideways on AFAIR.
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Post by mpr1956 »

Hi there, before you "waste" 20 quid on one of those ceramic heaters... be aware that they are barely powerful enough to demist a small area of windscreen right in front of you... and if you leave it on without the engine running to defrost the windscreen, then it will run your battery down very quickly indeed ! - don't ask me how I know...

I should add in closing, this little gadget made it possible for me to drive to work safely when my BX blower motor died..-just don't expect too much !! Best Wishes, Martin
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Post by oscarloco »

If you are to replace your matrix, I would say DON'T USE A SECONDHAND UNIT, as replacing the matrix is a pain in the a** job, put in a new one and forget about it. Else, you will be doing it again in a few months.
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Post by James.UK »

Hi Bry. Your heater does have another job. It keeps the car dry.. :)

With no heater your seats will be too damp to sit on within a week.. and after a few weeks the car will smell unpleasent.. It's the smell of things getting fungi covered and begining to rot... :(

As Stewert said, Buy a matrix and get the job done, better a day messing in the cold, than 4-5 months in a cold, damp car.. :cry:
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Post by wilkobob »

I like subjects like this... The matrix aint that difficult to do, Ive done one before and it was fairly easy. The worst bit is that the dash has to come out, but, its only a dozen or so screws, and it comes out fairly easily. The haynes book does make a good job of it, although it does say the steering wheel + column have to come out, which is a lie. Only the steering wheel came out of mine, and I still managed the dash out job. When theres loads of wires etc and you get confused, label them up as you are undoing them as it makes putting it all back together a doddle.

One other thing you could try (many people will probably say it wont work / dont do it) but you could try some barrs leaks or radweld or such like, might just fix it for you.

New matrix is only £30, I didnt however have the cash for a new one, and did what was advised and fitted a second hand one from the scrap yard. Also whilst there, you can have a go at taking the dash to bits so you know what you are doing when you do yours.

The ceramic heaters you can buy are pants. Got one for a master van to demist as the heater box had packed up, and after half an hour, there was a 6" square hole to see through, not worth the money, buy a matrix instead.

By the way, It took me 3 hours to remove and change matrix and refit the dash, and I hadn't done anything like it before.
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Post by Whitedragon »

Ok thanks for the suggestions..

For the moment I have bypassed it, and it's all working fine.
(though I agree the lack of demist is a problem, however as the fan had also packed up some time before, I'm used to that).

Going to see if I can find a local breakers, and as suggested, take that dashboard off, get the bits I need, and learn all about it at the same time.

Is there anyway of telling if a second-hand Matrix is good or not ?

thanks for the help so far.

Bry
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Post by wilkobob »

It will be cacked up with blue - green deposits of antifreeze and generally look rotten.
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Post by fastandfurryous »

Just look at it, and see how old it looks.

Heater matrixes fail all the Bl**dy time, so there's a fairly good chance that the one you take out of a scrapper car will not be as old as the car is. If the matrix looks nice and shiney, and there isn't a whole load of sludge coming out when you rinse it through, then it's probably fine. If it looks old and knackered, and there is crap in it, I woudn't bother.

It will also be fairly obvious if it's been leaking, as there will be discolouration all over the bottom of it, and the inside of the heater box will be full of crystaline deposits from coolant.
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Post by Stewart(oily) »

The dead matrix that came out of my ZX looked identical to the new one! perhaps not quite as shiny its a good idea to practice at the scrappy but the job is too long to risk a secondhand matrix IMHO
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