glad its not winter

[xcrocx]

can anyone help me. my heater in my maestro 700 diesel van as stopped blowing hot air out it just blows cold, is it a job i (being a beginer to anything with a engine) can fix myself, with out taking eveything apart. because i do tend to suffer from the sydrome called, ow look and ive even got some spare bits left over. i was told it might be just a wire thats come off, but i dont know where the heater is, so if anyone can point me in the right direction i would be greatful or should i just tack it to the garage?
thanks croc

[tony]

check your water level but i am sure you will have done that,but..when the head gasket went on my van the 1st thing that stopped working was the heating blowing warm air out. lets hope its somthing simple.

[E_T_V]

Start the engine from cold and check to see if the radiator hoses are pressurising. If they are then the headgasket has probably gone.
If not then remove the pipes from the bulkhead where they pass through and give the heater matrix a good flush out as they collect crud very well indeed.

I wrote a post some time ago in the FAQ called something like how to make your heater hotter. Have a search for it and it might point you in the right directions.

[E_T_V]

Linky to save you time

http://www.maestro.org.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=2886&highlight=heater+hotter

[xcrocx]

Start the engine from cold and check to see if the radiator hoses are pressurising. If they are then the headgasket has probably gone.
If not then remove the pipes from the bulkhead where they pass through and give the heater matrix a good flush out as they collect crud very well indeed.

I wrote a post some time ago in the FAQ called something like how to make your heater hotter. Have a search for it and it might point you in the right directions.
what do you mean pressurising how do i check them (told you i was new to engines) headgasket gone isn't thats bad news, ay it expencive to fix?
if its not that take pipes off bulk head??? whats that look like??.
do you think i should just tack it to the garage???

[E_T_V]

With the engine cold, e.g. first thing in the morning, pop open the bonnet and open the water expansion tank cap. (pressure escaping here isn't a good sign). Then replace it.
Then find the rubber pipe that runs to the radiator. Try to squeeze the pipe to get an idea of how hard it is. (it won't be pressurised)
Then start the car and rev it hard a couple of times.
Then try to squeeze the pipe again to see if it has now pressurised. If it has then the headgasket has failed. If it is nice and soft as it was before then that is a good sign and you can move onto looking at the heater matrix and on diesels the coolant rail that runs across the back of the engine as this gets blocked up too.

If the headgasket has failed then yes it isn't particularly easy or cheap to fix (the parts price isn't high (under £100), but it takes a long time to do the job). If you aren't confident at doing your own maintainance on engines then it probably isn't the first job you'd want to attempt but it is possible. Actually as it is a NASP diesel then it is a lot easier than the turbo diesels (No PAS or turbo to have to remove).

[xcrocx]

With the engine cold, e.g. first thing in the morning, pop open the bonnet and open the water expansion tank cap. (pressure escaping here isn't a good sign). Then replace it.
Then find the rubber pipe that runs to the radiator. Try to squeeze the pipe to get an idea of how hard it is. (it won't be pressurised)
Then start the car and rev it hard a couple of times.
Then try to squeeze the pipe again to see if it has now pressurised. If it has then the headgasket has failed. If it is nice and soft as it was before then that is a good sign and you can move onto looking at the heater matrix and on diesels the coolant rail that runs across the back of the engine as this gets blocked up too.

If the headgasket has failed then yes it isn't particularly easy or cheap to fix (the parts price isn't high (under £100), but it takes a long time to do the job). If you aren't confident at doing your own maintainance on engines then it probably isn't the first job you'd want to attempt but it is possible. Actually as it is a NASP diesel then it is a lot easier than the turbo diesels (No PAS or turbo to have to remove).


when i open the water expansion tank cap,(if thats the place where i fill it up with water, which i have to do every couple of days, dont know if thats normal or not?) pressure does escape a bit. i did squeeze the thick rubber pipe to the radiator it didn't seen hard but only did it when the van was running i'll try it in the morning when its cold. by the way i did have it in the garage this week and the changed two injectors they said they wasnt working when i told them the van didnt seen to have the power it should. dont know if that means anything to you, thanks i really appreciate your help

[xcrocx]

i did what you said,and there seens no difference in the squeezabilaty to the hose when cold or after running. i did open the water and the pressure release was very very little while engine was also cold. i hope thats good news??

thanks croc

[ben rawlings]

when i open the water expansion tank cap,(if thats the place where i fill it up with water, which i have to do every couple of days, dont know if thats normal or not?) pressure does escape a bit. i did squeeze the thick rubber pipe to the radiator it didn't seen hard but only did it when the van was running i'll try it in the morning when its cold. by the way i did have it in the garage this week and the changed two injectors they said they wasnt working when i told them the van didnt seen to have the power it should. dont know if that means anything to you, thanks i really appreciate your help

If you have to fill your expansion tank once every couple of days, and the van doesnt appear to be loosing any water (leaking onto the ground) then i would seriously suspect that you have headgasket failure unfortunatly!

[xcrocx]

is there anyway to test if the head gasket is failing so i know for sure. and if it is failing what will happen if i just leave it and carry on driving ? because the van still seems to run ok

[tony]

when we got my montego estate the h.g had gone , still drove nice, only problem was when you took the cap off and let it tick over.
http://maestro.org.uk/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=2000&d=1111878670

where abouts are you?

[xcrocx]

west midlands