Heating

[EVL_801]

This is going to sound realy stupid but is there any way to beef up the mighty boy heating system? Because its bloody cold down here in tassie lol any suggestion at all will not be pushed away

[Brayden]

Dunno what's wrong with your heater but my feet start burning if I leave it turned up!

[EVL_801]

dont know if any thing is wrong, it just i doesn't get that warm my MB doesn't go above about 1/4 way up the temp gauge is that normal?

[shavenyak]

my mate's starlet had a similar problem of the engine (and therefore the heater) not getting warm enough - we replaced the thermostat as it was staying open and letting too much water circulate when the engine is cold. Does the engine temperature gauge take ages to go up to normal? (about 1/3 of the way)

[Brayden]

Normal for an MB is about 1/2 way on the gauge. If you're not getting the engine up to temp then the heater won't either!

[ike849]

if your cooling system checks out ok (ie. themstat, etc...) just put cardboard in front of about 1/4 to 1/3 of your radiator.....

it's an old moto trick (2 stroke racing)....when I did a road trip down to tassie on my moto I had to cover the whole radiator for it to get to temp and stay there!!!! it was in the middle of winter also...bloody cold!!!!!

just make sure your temp gauge is accurate and watch it at the lights or in traffic (not that there's much of it down there!!!!)

[EVL_801]

My MB never goes to "normal" lol and has a new thermostat in it

[EVL_801]

oh hang on would it matter that my MB when i bought it didn't have a heat raiser pipe? ive only just fited 1 today as my carbie froze up 2 times on the way to work last night!

[Trevor_w00+]

For a comparison, I have no issue with my heater. And my temperature gauge sits about the 1/4 - 1/3 mark after it heats up.

Could it be something in the heater system not working 100%?

[jeff]

howdy, could be worthwhile checking the heater cable and valve assembly (located on the firewall under bonnet) could be a kinked or broken cable or frozen valve, just athought, cheers

[Brayden]

Could also be a blocked heater core too.

[jeff]

Howdy again , thats also a big possibility, depends on how much heat hes getting ,does the demister work satisfactorily is there any difference between them(heater vs demister)or is it just a simple case that its too f#@@##& cold down there, what temps are we talking about when the carb freezes. Id tend to go the easy way ,visual checks then start pulling hoses and flushing if all else fails go to a higher temp thermostat (does that sound feasible),cheers

[shavenyak]

oh yeah, also mine is the older style, with three horizontal sliders, and the heat won't work on face setting, only on foot or demist setting. Not sure if it's supposed to work this way...

[Brayden]

Its the same for all Hatch/MB models.

[Ralf the RR]

what temps are we talking about when the carb freezes.

Heater temp and carb freezing are two separate issues.
Carb freezing is dependent on ambient air temp and dew point.

Last year I had carb freezing at about 5 degrees, but apparently it can also happen at 15 degrees. It's a big problem in aviation.

Fixed my carb freezing by installing the exhaust to air cleaner pipe thingy. (Is that a heat riser pipe?)

I also had the temp gauge showing about 1/4. Replaced the thermostat which increased it to just under half. It definitely made the heater hotter. It's now back down to about 1/4 so I guess I also need another new one (and possibly a radiator flush). However, haven't had a carby freeze issue.