2000 tc Heater Blower no hot air

Hi all, I can't get hot air from the heater. Is there a valve in the system on the 2000 engine. I was going to disconnect the heater from the system and back flush it with a garden hose but the weather wont let me play at the moment. Anyone had similar problems.
Regards Terry H
 
Hi Terry, there’s no valve in the 2000 system. A lack of hot air can be caused by a few things:

Low coolant level, the heater matrix is high and can form an airlock. You can loosen the top hose with the engine running and that will bleed it normally.

Blocked heater matrix. The matrix is designed to stay free flowing even if the fins are blocked. So flushing with just water is rarely successful. You might want to drain it, fill with vinegar and leave for 24 hours. The acetic acid should help remove scale build up. Then flush thoroughly with clean water.

The foam seals in the heater are gone with age. The heater on the P6 is more like a modern cars. It uses air blend technology. Which is that the heater has a hot side and a cold side. There’s an internal flap that blends the two sides to adjust heat. When the foam seals go it means you’re stuck with tepid air no matter what. You can strip the heater and replace the foam to regain a seal. I believe there’s a guide in the interior section of the forum.

Hopefully one of the above items helps.

Steven
 
Thanks Steven, Will give the Vinegar a go when weather changes. I have a book, 501 uses vinegar has, putting in the heater matrix of a car isn't in the book. My heater is blowing very cold at the moment, good for the summer but not for winter. I don't suppose you have a link to the guide do you as a search is not finding it.
Regards Terry H
 
Thanks Steven, Will give the Vinegar a go when weather changes. I have a book, 501 uses vinegar has, putting in the heater matrix of a car isn't in the book. My heater is blowing very cold at the moment, good for the summer but not for winter. I don't suppose you have a link to the guide do you as a search is not finding it.
Regards Terry H

I think it was lost in the last upheaval of the forum as I can’t find it now. Added to that I didn’t take any pics when I did mine (doh!). It’s a time consuming project, but fairly simple.

1) Remove scuttle panel below windscreen (I’ve done it without removing the bonnet, but you might be glad of the extra space).

2) If you have an earlier four cylinder car you may need to remove the windscreen wiper mechanism.

3) Inside the car remove both knee bins.

4) Using every small extension you have plus a socket loosen (but don’t remove) the bolts securing the heater control levers. Counterintuitively you want to loosen the left levers by accessing from the right of the console and vis versa for the right. Under the bonnet unplug the wires going to the heater fan (right of the heater box near the steering box on RHD cars)..

5) Drain coolant to below heater level. Remove two hoses on left side of heater.

6) On four cylinder cars (can’t comment on V8s). Remove valve cover and cover camshaft to prevent dirt getting into engine. You need room to remove heater hence removal.

7) IIRC there are four bolts holding the heater down and (maybe) 2 holding it against the vertical wall of the bulkhead.

8) Remove heater from car (hooray!)

9) There are cast pot metal levers attached to shafts that run along the back of the heater. They will be very brittle from age now. I would soak in penetrating oil before attempting to remove them. They are a press fit into the shafts. Mark their positions before removal. Using patience a little heat and gentle force remove from shafts

10) There are tons of pop rivets holding the heater housing together. You need to remove those with a drill and the few self tapper screws. Take lots of photos before you start.

11) Now start removing panels. You should see the flaps inside with what looks like sand stuck to the surface of them or their matching slots in the body. That’s what’s left of the original foam used when the car was built.

12) Head down to Homebase (other DIY stores are available). And look for thin self adhesive sealing foam strips. You want something about 3mm or 1/8” thick or less. It should be very soft if possible and closed cell.
Foam comes in two general types: open cell where each ‘bubble’ in it is open to the next one. This will retain moisture and rot out the box. Or Closed cell where each ‘bubble’ is sealed so it can’t absorb water.
I found some about 13mm wide over here in the US. The thin stuff is for the internal seals. You’ll also want something closer to 15-18mm thick to make new gaskets between the bulkhead and the heater when you put it back.

13) Working through each part, clean off the old stuff. Paint if you want to (I did, didn’t want to have to repeat this job). And carefully apply the sealing foam to the flaps. Mitre the corners to ensure a nice flat, gap free corner to the seal.

14) Clean and repaint exterior panels. Re-assemble using new pop rivets and the old screws. Easy to say, as this takes a good while.

15) Refit by following the above backwards (again easy to say, getting the control levers back on is a royal pain).

16) Enjoy controllable beating and cooling.

Reckon on a good day to remove the heater, another day and half to carefully go through the heater and refurbish, and a day to refit.

I’ve probably forgotten a few things as it’s been a few years and I’m sure others will chime in.
 
Hi, Sowen did a quite good strip and refurb in his muscle car project thread, however he did say at the time that due to personal circumstances he had to delete almost all his threads and posts. A shame because they were an excellent resource for all sorts of jobs he did on the Rover. He shouldn't be blamed for it but hopefully this is an explanation of where they went.

Colin
 
Thanks Steven, doesn't this forum have "Sticky's". This sort of thing should be kept as a Sticky.
Regards Terry H
It does, look at the top of each forum section. The heater rebuid thread was on the old forum many years ago. I know they ported a lot to the new forum but they lost some at the time. My guess is that was one of the lost threads.
 
Sounds like a strip down is a summer job, I don't have room in my garage to open the doors without squeezing out of the car.
Regards Terry H
 
While waiting for the summer, you can do a simple check, if the move of the hot/cold lever inside the car does indeed act on the corresponding shaft at the side (nearside for you). If you don't have the factory manual that explains the movement of the levers on the side of the heater box, let us know and i will try to upload the relevant page.
 
Will have a look at the levers tomorrow. They do all move, but whether they actually move anything is another question.
Regards Terry H
 
I have the Rover 2000 workshop manual with the heating and ventilating system under section U. I think it's all of 5 pages before it goes to section UU Air conditioning. Levers are moving the mechanism on the left side (from drivers seat) of the heater unit.
Regards Terry H
 
Did a few more checks this morning and with the fan on full and the lever for air direction (two white arrows on it) in the down position air is blowing to the foot wells. When I put the lever in the up position the air stops in the foot wells and gets much stronger at the screen. This suggests to me that the respective vent flaps are working correctly. I still don't have heat but on the plus side the cold air will be great in the summer, if we get one this year.
My next step is going to be, drain and flush the system as a whole with the heater box soaked in vinegar first. I'm thinking of using "4life" as the coolant which is similar to "Evans" but a lot less expensive. I use it in my MGB GT without any issues so should be OK.
Regards Terry H
 
Hi, The lack of heat is either a block heater matrix or the lever is slipping on the shaft going into the heater box. Can you hear or feel enough resistance that it's actually moving the flap inside? Can you get a lovely assistant to operate it while you watch the lever/shaft?

Colin
 
Get the car hot and then feel the heater pipes in the engine bay. The flow should be as hot as the top hose and the return only slightly cooler.
This will tell you if hot water is getting through the heater.
Sometimes you can successfully clear a blockage by reverse flushing by connecting a garden hose to the return BUT BE CAREFUL mains water pressure is a lot more than 15 psi engine coolant pressure and you can blow up a corroded heater core.

I have rebuilt one to go in mine, I got a matrix from here.. Heater Matrix Rover P6 Demisterman
 
I don't have any help from anyone unfortunately, but the flap can be heard and felt moving. All the mechanisms are moving as they should.
Regards Terry H
 
If you have hot heater pipes then it is a flap issue.
If you don't have hot heater pipes try this. Let the car cool. Jack up the front as high as you can, take off the rad cap, have a bottle of coolant ready by the radiator filler neck with the rad cap.
Start the car, walk to the front and with your right hand reach over and hold the engine at @ 3000 rpm. The coolant level in the radiator will drop, still holding the throttle pour in the coolant with your left hand till full, replace the cap tight, only then let go the throttle.
Lower jack and see if the heater pipes get hot, if they don't it looks to be a blocked heater matrix.
 
I have run the car up to temperature and felt the hoses they all seem to be the same temperature with the exception of the hose where it enters the heater box. It doesn't seem to be hot to me yet the pipe at the side of the rocker cover is hot.
Regards Terry H
 
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