help needed flushing mondeo heater matrix

[Bubbers]

hi all, I have a heater problem on my 1997 mondeo. I do not get any warm air inside the car. These are my symptoms. Engine gets warm ok, temp guage goes up to about 1/4 way (which is bout normal ) although my radiater fan does not come in.(prob cause its not reaching high enough temp) I have removed the theromstat and tested it in boiling water and opens ok, closes when I take it out no problem.
Been told that my heater matrix may be blocked and that I can flush it out of any muck etc inside. this will allow flow thro into heater and thus in car. Does anyone know where these hoses to and from matrix are accessable from, under drivers foot compartment or in engine. (if so where by, what do they look like ).
have a hosepipe ready to flush but need to know exactly where to connect.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Bubbers

 

[JohnD]

Blocked heater is fairly uncommon these days. Check that your heater controls are correctly opening the warm flap or valve first (probably operated by a cable that may have come loose or broken). You may want to consider buying a manual fior this car.

 

[Bubbers]

heater knob seems to be ok although does seem to be a little resistance there, do I need to remove dsah for access to cable connections or is there an easier way. Have looked at haynes manual and not much mention of heater matrix flushing. Will have a look at temp control knob tomo.
Thanks for reply

 

[Bubbers]

managed to get behind dash via radio etc. there is a rack and pinion type plastic fitting that looks like it opens and closes the valve , attached to the rack there is a steel wire that opens the valve after turning the knob and hence rotating the pinion. this wire is shaped like a hook at rack end of wire and looks as thou it could be fouling ( but that could be the way I have it at moment hanging out of dash.), I managed to move rack to its limit via heater temp knob and back but still no heat inside.

 

[Belle427]

have a look in the engine bay for the hoses, probably connecting to the matrix via the lower bulkhead somewhere,hope they are easier to get at than my escort which was a complete mare of a job,turned out to be a blocked coolant return hose in the engine bay not allowing the circulation through the matrix

 

[yes2mud]

Bubbers,any thermostat will open in boiling water,but yours may be opening at about (say) 60 degs,so your engine doesn't get up to temperature.You would have been wise to renew it while in bits.Most modern engines need to run about 85 to 95 degs for efficiency,with 50% antifreeze/water mix.A quarter across on the guage does not sound enough to me.No matter what you do with heater controls etc,you will have no heat unless the coolant is hot enough.

 

[Bubbers]

ok cheer mate, will change it tomo. c wat happs

thanks for help

 

[Ron Gamma]

Bubbers,

Try bypassing the heater matrix by connecting the in/out coolant circuit directly to each other. 15mm copper pipe and jubilee clips will do this temporarily. Then see if the engine temperature comes up correctly. If it doesn't then suspect the thermostat sticking open.

If the temp runs normally then you may have airlock, which will hopefully be cured by draining and refilling the system slowly. If the problem persists then fill the matrix independently of the block and reconnect carefully.

My dad had a mk3 cortina years ago that used to be a s*d to get right when working on the cooling system. At one point we used to half fill the system and then run the engine whilst filling up the remainder under pressure from a hose pipe.

 

[Bubbers]

took part of dash away to get at heater and found that wire was not opening the heater valve to allow heat into car. wire had bent at temp knob end and bent over stopping full extension of rack thus bending the wire. ordered new one to re fit. manually opened the heater valve by hand and is now like Hawaii , happy days thanks to all who answered, got me there in end
Cheers
Bubbers

 

[przemenko]

I had similar problem in my mondeo. No hot air, gauge went up to 3/4 and went back down. I bought a new thermostat and right before replacing old one i got underneath a car just to find that cable was lose, put it back in and worked like a charm. I don't know if that's the case in your car but it's worth checking and i won't cost you anything.

Sorry just read you found the problem Never mind

 

[Rhino007]

just wanted to thank you guys. I had no heating in my Escort and after changing the thermostat and flushing /changing the coolant it still didnt work. After reading your posts I attached a garden water hose to the pipes going into what i think is the matrix and flushed it out. Heating working now, no more journeys with 4 layers on I hope! Cheers.

 

[kev25v6]

If you have air con there are no cables to come loose behind the controls, its all electronic. if the heater is stuck to either hot or cold only it could be the cogs sticking in the drivers footwell. On the left of the clucth is a white panel with four torx screws in it. Remove the three you can just get to and give the cover a tug back and forth, not too hard. This should free up anything that is sticking behind it. Mine had been stuck on hot for a while but a bit of looking found the problem hidden away, its quite a common problem. Also while down there you can see if there are fittings for the footwell lights, it makes it easier working down there and looks better when you open the doors. The fittings are hidden just into the dash on driver and passenger side, most cars were fitted with the fittings but not the bulbs.

 

[pepi]

I had similar problem in my mondeo. No hot air, gauge went up to 3/4 and went back down. I bought a new thermostat and right before replacing old one i got underneath a car just to find that cable was lose, put it back in and worked like a charm. I don't know if that's the case in your car but it's worth checking and i won't cost you anything.

Sorry just re ad you found the problem Never mind[/quote

got exact same problem with my renault. Never done this before so can you explain what this cable is and exactly where i will find it. Garage have told me i need a new heater matrix.Your advice could save me £200 thanks Tricia]

 

[poppiesfan]

Thanks to comments above.

No heat in my mk1 mondeo diesel. Found the cold/hot flap lever and tied it up - can't be doing with replacing the cable today.

Now it's toasty again

Cheers