Heater Matrix

[Vanbursta]

Me:

You want HOW MUCH to change a heater matrix

 

Garage:

Well it's a big job

 

Me:

Never mind I'll do it myself.

 

Just finished it and it was a complete b%$&*d

 

Lesson learnt, next time let the garage do it, it's worth every penny!

 

 

Took 3 ENTIRE DAYS from start to finish!!

[anadin]

:D :D :D bin there, not on a galaxy but there all the bloody same, my mate once brought me a cheap bottle of plonk ;) for doing his , nearly smashed it over his head :D

[Guest HairyPlateEater]

Je-sus ..... rather you than me!!! ;) :D :D :D :D

[mumof4]

OMFG!!...ruddy eck...one of those jobs you wish you hadnt started?..well done..hats off to yer...wow..blimey..omg....i mean..look at that !!

[Guest gooner52]

done a couple of heaters on mk2 grannys,total nightmare

 

well done m8 ;)

[Vanbursta]

Thanks all.

 

Yeah in the photo you can only see what had to be removed INSIDE the car, in addition you also have to remove EVERYTHING from the scuttle on the engine side, wipers, pollen filter, polen filter frame, alarm horn, et all. Worse still there are 4 bolts holding the heater to the bulkhead, 2 of which are completely inaccessible and 1 of which is hidden behind a heatshield (which also has to be removed) - never again. Why don't the manufacturers put in an access panel or anything to make it easier.

 

I was going to document it, but I took nearly 100 photos before I gave up on the idea, it would have taken pages to write it all up. All I can suggest if your Gal needs it doing is to accept the garages quote and let them do it, but be ready for a hefty labour bill as it took me about 21 hours from start to finish - goodness know how much longer it would of taken if I kept stopping for more photos!

 

Good news is I didn't have anything left (no stray screws or anything) and I managed to do it without breaking anything (must be a record!)

 

If you look at the photo it's interesting to see how much of the space available is taken up by the heater - its massive! nearly 3/4 of the available space.

[mumof4]

heatshield..that like the one im trying to remove in mine?..if it is..how did you do it?

[Steve S.]

Dear Vanbursta,

Well I'm bloody glad that my car doesn't look like that.....oh hang on.......!!!!!

Cheers,

Steve S.

[dipsomaniac]

need to replace mine at some point. autodata is quoting 6.5 hours - i think they may have taken that figure from the guinness book of records.

 

when you say that 2 of the screws holding the heater to the bulkhead are inexcessable how did you get them out?

 

can't afford to pay someone else to do it at the moment so any tips (eg. where to start) would be appreciated.

[Vanbursta]

MO4, the heatshield was the one high up on the bulkhead on the drivers side, it's held on with 2 ten mm nuts and is a swine to manouver out of position, if it's a different heatshield let me know and I will have a look for you.

 

 

Dipsomaniac, They might quote 6.5 hours, but I would be very surprised if anyone could manage it (then again maybe I was just slow!), still if autodata quotes that then thats what the garage should charge, if they do snatch their hands off! The worse nuts (there are no screws or bolts) were the one nearest the drivers side, behind the overflow container, its too tight to get a deep socket in and you need a cranked 10mm spanner to get to it, you have to do it by feel as you cant see it, 2 of the other ones were behind brake lines and aircon pipes but you can get to them with a flexible adapter, and the worst of all is the final one behind the heatshield up high on the drivers side, its about 2 feet from the drivers side inner wing and the Ford TIS doesn't mention it, also when you do it you will have to remove the strenghtening bar behind the crash pad, I found it much easier to undo the adjustable lever for the steering wheel and push the wheel down on the spring (you'll see what I mean when you get to it), also if you have aircon you can only pull the heater back about 2 inches as the pipes going into the back of the heater prevent any further movement, you can get round this by trimming the sound deadening pad where the heater matrix pipes go which gives you just enough room to get the matrix in / out.

 

Gooner52, I know what you mean, they call me Granada steve round here as I seem to know more than Fords about them, I used to specialise in them, nice cars in their day and the 24v Cosworth should of come with a safety warning!

 

Steve S, I think ours are the only 2 ultimas on here, so yours is the same :-) :-) Weird thing is that the coincidences don't end there, my real name is also Steve and my surname begins with S, so we have the same cars, and the same initials - spooky!

 

Anadin, Don't think I would of smashed it over his head, but it might of made an interesting report when he reported to casualty to have it removed !!!!

[dipsomaniac]

thanks vanbursta. the quickest time i have heard was 12 hours - that was a chap who works at my local auto aircon garage.

 

one more question... do you have to discharge the gas in the aircon system?

[Vanbursta]

thanks vanbursta. the quickest time i have heard was 12 hours - that was a chap who works at my local auto aircon garage.

 

one more question... do you have to discharge the gas in the aircon system?

 

No you don't need to but DON'T try to remove the heater housing as described in the TIS, just pull it forward on it's mounts enough to get the matrix out. Basically the procedure is:-

 

Oh one really good tip, to make the trim removal really easy buy yourself a gasket scraper, the wide head means you don't mark anything when taking it apart and the narrow tip means you can get it in the tight gaps.

 

 

Outside the car

 

DISCONNECT THE BATTERY NOW! - Very important as you need to remove an airbag later.

 

1) Remove the engine cover

2) Remove wipers

3) Remove wiper motor

4) Remove pollen filter

5) Remove Pollen filter housing

6) Remove alarm horn and mounting bracket

7) Remove the 2 13mm bolts to the upper left of the alarm horn

8) Undo the upper heatshield mounting bolts

8) Undo the 4 heater mounting nuts

9) Undo the dash panel retaining nuts, one of them is the horn mounting as well.

 

Inside the car

 

10) Remove all 3 air vents

10a) Remove the lightswitch

11) Remove the radio

12) Remove the heater controls

13) Remove the CD holder box

14) Remove the instrument panel surround

14a) Remove the instrument cluster (DON'T lay it on its back KEEP IT UPRIGHT)

15) Remove the sunlight sensor

16) Remove both tweeters

17) Remove lower A pillar trim

18) Lower the steering wheel by removing the adjustment bolt and plates

19) Remove the lower drivers side dash

20) Remove the lower passenger side dash

21) Remove the passenger airbag

21a) Remove the airbag mounting bracket

22) Remove the console around the gearstick

23) Remove the dash trim above the gearstick console

24) Remove the upper crash padding (the dashboard)

25) Remove the mountings for the strengthener bar (don't remove it completely)

26) Pull the heater back toward the rear of the car as far as you can

27) Make 2 cuts in the soundproofing material above the heater matrix inlet pipes

28) Undo the matrix and withdraw it from the car

29) Have several pints to calm your nerves and remember you CAN put it all back together!

 

Looks complicated but is easy if you don't try to rush, if you want print outs of the relevant TIS sections please ask. At the very least take photos and or keep notes of what goes where.

 

I was very lucky as I managed to get all the outside stuff done before it rained.

 

If you get stuck feel free to shout.

[familyman]

:( when they build any new car the heater is hung from a piece of string and the car is built around it!well done for doing this defo a medal job!

[Smilge]

:( Hey Vanbursta ... I had a right giggle at your photo... Had to do the same on a Montego estate that needed the Heater fan replacing. So I went up the local scrappy and ripped one out of another Montego. The problem was the guy behind the counter said " a tenner mate, and why didn't you just rip the whole heater box out, cos that would have cost the same and you wouldn't have been here all day". "Oh thanks mate". Anyway, got home, took yet another day to put it all back together and guess what?! IT still didn't work!!!! It turned out to be the thermistor mounted on top of the heater assembly. A ten minute job! :( :(

[Vanbursta]

Well I suppose that would be really annoying! I was lucky in that I could smell the hot coolant and it wasn't leaking from anywhere else, also the coolant was dripping out of the aircon drain which kind of gave the game away. I'm glad I won't (or at least shouldn't) have to do it again during my time with the car though.

[dipsomaniac]

thanks Vanbursta, i appreciate your advice. my manual only covers the mk2 but i should imagine that most of the parts/fixings are the same.

 

i am just waiting for a spare 3 days with dry weather before getting on with it. have been quoted

[Smilge]

Well done Van and good luck to you dipso :ph34r: