Heater replacement.

[rob needs]

Would any of these be any good for a Javelin?

http://www.holden.co.uk/search.asp?sear ... =&pageno=2

[Forumadmin]

Probably. But Amy and I fitted one from a Mini. Much cheaper, like free.

[Drummond Black]

Rob Can you expand as to why You are requiring a new heater. Has yours packed in or are you looking for a more efficient unit ?. I have always found that when a javelin heater becomes inefficient it is usually blocked with sludge and usually dificult to clear.

[rob needs]

Mine does work but lets be honest about it,its a bit of a crap heater,just getting a trickle out the top.When you turn them on it does the car and the screen.I repaired the pipe going up to the right side of the screen as it was broke.

What got me thinking was that i saw one on ebay,it was a Smiths heater unused,went for £200+.At least it had a car or screen lever.

[Tim Neville]

Modern cars have a smaller volume of water pumped at a much higher rate thus extracting heat faster. This together with a smaller coolant radiator but a much larger heater matrix makes a huge difference compared to an old system. Also, the Javelin standard arrangement is the equivalent of the 'recycle' setting on a modern car, ie. it is only circulating air that is already in the car, so not only is the heat output poor but the humidity in the car is increasing (albeit that the dew point would be rising a bit) and no air is passing through and out of the car, so you stay pretty well fogged up.
How about ducting air direct from the fresh air inlets into a cowling fabricated to fit about the heater body (matrix) together with a sliding 'door' over the output grill that will/will not direct air into the car interior thus prioritising the screen if wanted.
Furthermore! There is room to fit 2 heaters, both genuine Smiths for Javelin of course.
Incidently I 'unsludged' my heater matrix using high pressure water after having let it soak (only a few minutes so as not to cause any metal corrosion) in standard brick cleaning acid. Rinse very thoroughly!

[Mike Allfrey]

G'dday from the Sunny South,

Noticed mention of high pressure cleaning of heater coil. Do not use high pressure or the coil will try to straighten out and damage itself.

After cleaning, use a good quality corrosion inhibitor (anti-freeze for you lot!) and then there should be no sludging. We have a brand here in Oz called Tectalloy and it is more expensive but works very well. It also seems to tolerate longer periods between changes. I can't speak for anti-freeze in this topic though, we don't need it!

I have looked at the pics in the Holden catalogue and decided that, if Sue gets wet feet, I will shout the heater a new coil. I leave my heater tap turned on all the time to keep the coolant mix circulating.

Good luck,

Mike Allfrey.

[Forumadmin]

Which pipe where?
May be best to put the outlet from pump into bottom so pump pressure drives out air; this is contrary to thermo syphon effect so pump has to do more work.

If you are confident you can get rid of the air lock then connect the other way. This can be done by leaving the heater hose off the pump outlet and filling rad up with water until water(coolant) comes out of heater hose. Of course connect heater hose to bottom of rad first!

[rob needs]

I fitted the mini heater into the car.the hose from the top of the car rad i put to the bottom outlet on the heater.And hose from waterpump to the top outlet on the heater.Putting the pipes this way around i got some warm air blowing out.This wont have any adverse affect on the system,will it?

I did connect them up the other way around,but didn't seem to get any warmth blowing out.

The rubber part that is just under the dash vent was badly split (the Y shaped rubber part) I'v stuck it back together (sort of)Looks a bit of a sod to get out,i can see a screw, looks like the end of the wiper mech is nicely in the way.

Are those Y shaped rubber parts available?Anyone got one.