K Series Heater - HELP

[PeakPractice]

After a year of "good as gold" service and in true eccentric British Sports Car style, whilst preparing my 7 for sale, the heater has blown a leak . . .

Fortunately, it was on "the" drive and not on "a" drive !

So, it's a 120bhp 1.6 K 1999. I've whizzed the heater off which appears to be service unfriendly - I can't see how to get into it and it appears to be made of cheese.

The label states -

Serial no. 309061

Part no. can't tell because it's wet

Made by K L Automotive of Ripley, Derbys.

Considering it's serviceability / age / amount of coolant loss, I presume I'm looking at a new one. Looking at the Caterham Shop, mine doesn't look like the one I have.

1/ Is this failure common ?

1/ Is the Caterham shop heater a direct swap ?

2/ If not, is my heater readily available ?

3/ I've managed to contain coolant loss to a minimum. When refitting, what is involved in so much as coolant - will it need draining or bleeding or whatever ?

And finally, I'll put a Wanted Ad on also for a replacement - but if you're reading this post and not that one - please BM if you have one available !

Ta V Much in anticipation !

Paul

 

[stuart147]

 

Hi Paul. Is your heater the one with the "7" embossed into the casing? If it is, I have changed one of these on my 2002 car. If it is the same as mine, you should be able to take the matrix out of the Black plastic casing that it is in. A replacement matrix is available from Claytons in Coventry. If you Google "Claytons Coventry" you will see their website. They are not cheap, but cheaper than a complete replacement from CC.

 

My original one had the KL Automotive sticker on it too. This company were bought out by another company that trades in Tamworth whose name escapes me at the moment, but I remember them telling me that the coolant attacks the plastic parts of the matrix and eventually results in leaks.

 

Stuart

[PeakPractice]

Thanks Stuart - Very quick response to an anxious owner !

I've had a brief look at the site you mentioned.

Can you remember how much bu66ering around the job was ? - How did you get on with the coolant loss / replacement ?

I'll look at bit further into my defunct heater then . . .

Paul

[stuart147]

 

Hi Paul. Not a bad job to do. The clips on the casing can be a bit of a problem. If you break any of them, give me a shout as I have quite a few spare ones that you can have. As for coolant loss, yes you will lose some of it, but if you are patient re-filling the system, you should not have any problems.

Stuart

[PeakPractice]

OK, Stuart - thanks. I've fired off a message to Clayton's. Forgot to mention, my heater does have the "7" thereon -

Paul

[skeetsy]

Hi Paul,

 

I have a 2006 1.8K series with the heater removed at the moment due to a similar leak from the heater (mine is also in the flimsy plastic case with the 7 embossed on the front.

 

If it's failed in the same way as mine then you will find that the plastic outlet pipe connector onto the header of the matrix has warped with the heat and has allowed coolant past the o ring seals (mine only leaked when the engine was up to temperature)

 

I bought a replacement outlet pipe connector from Mini spares here although they appear to be outt of stock at present.

 

I've got a short piece of pipe connecting the two pipes on the heater control valve at the moment and everything is fine so you could wait until they have new stock in.

 

To get the heater apart you only really need to undo the hoses and then deal with the pop rivets and it all lifts out, leaving the fan deck still in the car.

 

I hope this helps.

 

All the best.

 

Richard

 

[PeakPractice]

OK, heater assembly now in bits - the lengths people will go to avoid Eurovision 😬

 

Stuart - plastic rivets still in one piece - thanks for the offer

 

Richard - I've removed the complete assembly, so it's all disassembled quite easily. Thanks for the link to MiniSpares. Yes, I see the part you replaced is out of stock - but from that part is a link to a complete matrix for something like £45. As stated, I'm preparing the car for sale so I think I'll get one of those if it will fit ? I imagine that a Mini heater matrix from the same period will be what was used in 7 . . . I'll check with MiniSpares for dimensions etc - The Link pipe on the control valve is a v.good idea - any problems with that ref. coolant ie fill / amount lost / air etc. ?

 

Thanks again, chaps -

Paul

[PeakPractice]

Car is now back in one piece courtesy of the excellent service provided by -

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290919078088#ht_2325wt_721

After digging and realising the matrix is very similar - if not the same - as a Rover Mini matrix, a quick trawl of ebay found the above.

This matrix is all metal and is vastly superior to the original. My car had an uprated rad and silicon hoses, the added protection for the car added up to nothing due to the heater being made of cheese . . . .

Anyway - it was on my doorstep less than twenty four hours later. They were very knowledgable and apparently had helped several Caterham owners in the past.

Thanks to those who assisted !

Paul