Hi,
Am going to attempt the replacement of my heater matrix this holiday on my xantia, could anyone tell me if you have to disconnect the air con to do this awfull job.
Thanx in advance
paul
Heater matrix replacement (air-con)
Moderator: RichardW
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Hi, a quick update.
Have now completed the matrix change, it took me approx six hours and wasnt as bad as first thought, the heater unit splits into two parts with two 10mm bolts, one at the top and one at the bottom of the heater assembly so that you dont have to touch the air con, I also split the connection to the heater matrix inside the car with two 8mm bolts and found there was just enough space to get the unit out, on assembling the heater unit I used two new o rings and lubricated them and the internal ports of the matrix with petrolium jelly and everything went together great.
A few tips, if you have a centre arm rest like i have do not remove the drivers seat, just recline it fully so that the centre console will come out, also do not remove handbrake cables as you can pull the handbrake up enough to remove centre console.
Another time saving tip is do not remove the steering column completely, just undo all the electrical connections and the four 13mm nuts, you can then just drop it onto the floor without having to undo the universal joint.
If anyone else is thinking of doing this job dont be put off ! It aint that bad as long as you take your time, and label up where all electrical connections go. Its also easier on your pocket with dealers charging 50 notes an hour and wanting 10 hours to do the job plus parts, the cheapest I was quoted by a specialist was £350 plus parts and in total doing it myself it has cost a bit of my own time plus £29.50 for the matrix !!
Have now completed the matrix change, it took me approx six hours and wasnt as bad as first thought, the heater unit splits into two parts with two 10mm bolts, one at the top and one at the bottom of the heater assembly so that you dont have to touch the air con, I also split the connection to the heater matrix inside the car with two 8mm bolts and found there was just enough space to get the unit out, on assembling the heater unit I used two new o rings and lubricated them and the internal ports of the matrix with petrolium jelly and everything went together great.
A few tips, if you have a centre arm rest like i have do not remove the drivers seat, just recline it fully so that the centre console will come out, also do not remove handbrake cables as you can pull the handbrake up enough to remove centre console.
Another time saving tip is do not remove the steering column completely, just undo all the electrical connections and the four 13mm nuts, you can then just drop it onto the floor without having to undo the universal joint.
If anyone else is thinking of doing this job dont be put off ! It aint that bad as long as you take your time, and label up where all electrical connections go. Its also easier on your pocket with dealers charging 50 notes an hour and wanting 10 hours to do the job plus parts, the cheapest I was quoted by a specialist was £350 plus parts and in total doing it myself it has cost a bit of my own time plus £29.50 for the matrix !!
I spent many hours this weekend with Tom taking the dashboards out of our BXs, identifying and then swapping over various aircon components and looms from my BX to his, taking the non-aircon equvalents of his and putting them onto mine, and then putting the whole lot back together again (more-or-less, important sections left free for debug).
Cheap? Yes. Satisfying when accomplished? Yes. Fun to do? Well, erm...... not really. But the company was good.
Note - reassembly proved more difficult than disassembly (a definite reverse) in the time-honoured Haynes fashion, largely due to an extra procedure. Two important components, Tom and myself, were immersed in large quantities of wine overnight. We may experiment again to establish more appropriate quantities for this extra step......
Cheap? Yes. Satisfying when accomplished? Yes. Fun to do? Well, erm...... not really. But the company was good.
Note - reassembly proved more difficult than disassembly (a definite reverse) in the time-honoured Haynes fashion, largely due to an extra procedure. Two important components, Tom and myself, were immersed in large quantities of wine overnight. We may experiment again to establish more appropriate quantities for this extra step......