Heater issue - pumping out hot air all the time

Jacktherover

New Member
Hello Everyone,

I have been trying to figure out a heat issue that I have with my Rover 2000 TC. It seems to have a few issues which I am not 100% about.

The first issue is that I do not think the airblower works. Will I have to replace the heater unit or can I fix this somehow?

Additionally, even with both the temperature and direction levers pushed to the top, hot air seems to keep on being pumped out. The levers themselfs have very little resistance to move and generally do not hold in place. In the top position, the air does not pass over the windscreen through the demisting vents. As you can imagine this makes it quite difficult to drive when the windscreen gets foggy!

I was wondering if any of you could provide some advice on how to fix these issues as the Australian summer is making it hard to drive the car with the heater on all the time.

Thanks,
Jack
 
My guess is that the internal foam seal have died. Lack of air flow, no control of temp when you’re moving. All of those point to the foam gasket material having died on the internal flaps of the heater unit. Your best bet is to remove the heater, dismantle and replace with modern closed cell foam.
 
These heaters were among the early 'air mixing' types , where hot water is always running through the core, and the flaps control whether the air goes through the matrix or not. Your problem sounds like the levers are not connected to the flap controls properly. If you get somebody to move the levers while you watch the action on the nearside of the heater box, and you can see a lack of movement at the heater, this will verify disconnection. IIRC the ends of the levers slide over a pin and are then locked down by a small bolt, possibly accessed through the speaker opening?
 
I have looked at the flaps and determined that they are operationally okay. The flap which you can see when looking through the grill opens up when the lever for it is moved so I think that side is okay. Is there an internal fan inside the heater which turns on upon opening the flap or does the air just flow through passively when the car starts to move?

@sdibbers do you know what thickness of foam I should buy to reline the heater flaps?

Thanks so much for your help, really appreciate it :).
 
When the air lever is fully up, no air flows through the heater unit, useful if you're following a smoky truck. First click downwards: air duct open, airflow occurs if car is moving. Second click: fan at slow speed. Lever fully down: fan at higher speed.
 
The single heater control has four positions

Fully up is off

Next position down opens the top flap which allows air into the heater and flows into the cabin (Either hot or cold)

Third position is top open as above, but fan on half speed

Fourth position is top open, fan on full speed

I rebuilt my heater, have a looksie here Sparky's winter/spring/summer/autumn work

Scroll down a bit to see thew heater is pieces, that may help to understand what's going on in there.
 
I have looked at the flaps and determined that they are operationally okay. The flap which you can see when looking through the grill opens up when the lever for it is moved so I think that side is okay. Is there an internal fan inside the heater which turns on upon opening the flap or does the air just flow through passively when the car starts to move?

@sdibbers do you know what thickness of foam I should buy to reline the heater flaps?

Thanks so much for your help, really appreciate it :).
Sorry for the late reply, if I remember correctly it was 1/8” (3.2mm) thick soft foam for the seals. I replaced the gaskets between the bulkhead and the heater with layers of 1/4” (6.35mm) closed cell EPDM foam rubber strip. I got both from a DIY store, they’re sold as air conditioner seals.
 
The single heater control has four positions

Fully up is off

Next position down opens the top flap which allows air into the heater and flows into the cabin (Either hot or cold)

Third position is top open as above, but fan on half speed

Fourth position is top open, fan on full speed

I rebuilt my heater, have a looksie here Sparky's winter/spring/summer/autumn work

Scroll down a bit to see thew heater is pieces, that may help to understand what's going on in there.

Mine definitely does not have 4 modes hahaha! It does not click and is really difficult to move from open to closed and visa versa. It either has an open position or closed. Need to get some lubricant on the mechanism by the sound of it.
 
Sorry for the late reply, if I remember correctly it was 1/8” (3.2mm) thick soft foam for the seals. I replaced the gaskets between the bulkhead and the heater with layers of 1/4” (6.35mm) closed cell EPDM foam rubber strip. I got both from a DIY store, they’re sold as air conditioner seals.

Thanks so much @sdibbers . I have ordered some and it is on its way :)
 
Mine definitely does not have 4 modes hahaha! It does not click and is really difficult to move from open to closed and visa versa. It either has an open position or closed. Need to get some lubricant on the mechanism by the sound of it.

If you drop the knee bin down, you should be able to see the lever and the mechanism which controls the positions.
 
Thanks so much @sdibbers . I have ordered some and it is on its way
Excellent! Just to let you know, when you first put it back together the flaps will bounce back a little until the foam takes a set. I had that problem with mine at first. Once its set the seal and heater performance is much better.
 
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