Heater Valve...

[MatteWhite]

My heater valve is leaking water but £160 seems a touch expensive

http://www.jaymic.com/shop/parts_02_products.asp?grp=02CO&page=5

Anyone tried to service one?

[mac]

It's rumored that they are serviceable (I haven't done it-no need). I've spares. Visit the PartsWanted forum. A Texan wants one too. First come, first served.

mac.

[rms_sandiego]

The brass body older style valves are easily rebuilt. Unscrew the two screws holding on the top and then replace the o-rings sealing the top and the main shaft (I was able to find matching ones at the local hardware store). I snapped some pics of the top and the main body o-ring of one that I haven't rebuilt yet. The 0-ring is broken and is the usual source of leaks.

You also need to take off the hex head (7mm) screw holding the adjustment lever onto the main shaft and then push out the shaft and interior parts/shutter (be careful). There is a rubber bushing on the main shaft that can also be replaced with an o-ring. But if it isn't leaking there, you could skip this.

That should take care of the leaking. If the interior shutter is broken or off the shaft, you may not be able to fix it, but the leaking can be cured.

[MatteWhite]

Thx Rob, brilliant response and those pics give me a much better idea of what I'm looking for - I'll give that a try.

Is it as tricky as it looks to remove the valve from such a small gap?

[Tommy]

It's tricky and you'll probably end up breaking the plastic mount of the valve.... So prepare yourself to take out the whole heater box.

Tommy

[MatteWhite]

Darn. This looks like a whole weekends work. One for the spring I think...

[KFunk]

If the interior shutter is broken or off the shaft, you may not be able to fix it, but the leaking can be cured.

This may be fixed as well. I broke off the peg that pushes the shutter around. I drilled out the plastic, and replaced it with a finishing nail, epoxied in place. It's been working fine for a few years.

[Mike Self]

1. Replace the two countersunk head screws on the outside with stainless steel; then the next time you have to pull the valve apart they won't be frozen in place and either break off or have to be drilled out when the slots get all boogered up.

2. Use a little silicone grease on the new O-ring before you reassemble--particularly on the interior O-ring that moves.

3. Make a diagram of how the control arm (that the cable attaches to) is positioned when the valve is either fully open or fully closed; otherwise it's easy to reassemble so that the valve is open when the dash control says "cold" and vice versa (ask me how I learned this!). And put some anti-seize paste on the little nut/bolt that the cable fastens to. They're NLA.

cheers

mike

[Guest Anonymous]

the plastic tab it mounts to is over-rated (and under-strengthed). Usually the valve works fine if it is just held in place by the hoses it attaches to.

[rms_sandiego]

It can be a little difficult to get the valve off without removing the heater box, but it can be done. And Bill is right that the plastic tabs aren't really essential to hold it in place. Most are broken off by now in our cars. You can fab a bracket or just let the hoses do the job

PS: a short length of 1/2 inch copper pipe to span between the two water hoses will work fine if you want to keep on the road while you're working on the valve. You'll just have full heat all the time.