DIY Heating my windscreen.

[Ryannn]

Morning all, I'm after some advice/real world experience!

The heater has packed in on my shogun and it'll only now blow cold air. The Yorkshireman in me is struggling with the thought of paying nearly £100 for a new matrix and spending a day taking the entire dash out. I've just put a new one in the gf's mini and it was less than an hour's job!

So anyway, what else am I left with to heat my windscreen? I'm not too bothered about cabin heat as I can just put a coat on, but defrosting the windows and keeping them clear is an issue.

Does anyone have any experience of 12v heaters or heating elements?

Thanksss!

[barty]

ive the same problem so watching this with interest

[welshpug]

you'll waste more time and money trying not to do the matrix, as you will just doing it as per the factory.

[steveo3002]

id say suck it up and repair it

theres not enough grunt in these 12v to get anywhere close to demisting it

[dodgerover]

Whats actually gone wrong with it, if the matrix isn't leaking then it will be a cable/ valve or similar gone wrong which is stopping heat from going where it should, that should be a cheap if fiddly/ time consuming fix.

To boost heater output I usually fit an auxillary water pump into the heater circuit, the transit is toasty warm after a few minutes of running with one fitted

[Ryannn]

It packed up towards the end of last winter. It doesn't have a valve as the flap just blocks the air off when you want cold, and opens when you want hot. I can hear it going flappy flap when I turn the dial.

[composimmonite]

I had one of the early types of little 12v heaters for demisting in my old Land Rover - total waste of time unless you just want an area around 6" dia clearing.
I've now got another type of 12v heater, bought for my mobility scooter (when I get roundtuit building a winter enclosure), and a little better than the first but still not sufficient to clear a screen.
Original Beetle had poor demisting and a 12v hairdryer worked better than either of the above on the windscreen - but required my wife to keep "whafting" it about

[ChasR]

The rest of your windows will still steam up without a working matrix. Inside my Escort the difference between no thermsotat and a working one was massive. Not only for the windscreen but the side windows as well.

+1 for changing the matrix. If you wish to be risky you could get s econdhand matrix and use some decent coolant in the hope it would hold toghether. I ended up doing this in my old 944 when it started leaking. The price difference was vast ; £230 vs £65. I got around demisting the windows but Jesus it was freezing in there. Passengers soon stopped going to places with me!

[Ryannn]

A 2nd hand one is still £60 minimum I don't have the money spare right now so I'll have to do without.

[swampy76]

Ryann
Let me have the vehicle details via pm I'll get you a price on the matrix
I work at a Mitsubishi dealership

[colnerov]

Hi, you say the heat is controlled by the flaps? So changing the matrix is not going to cure that, You need to do handstands in the footwell and investigate why the flaps are not responding properly. Even jury rigging it in the correct position will be OK until next summer.

Colin

[Ryannn]

I can hear the flap moving though so I can't see why it would still blow cold. There was nothing mechanically wrong with gf's car last week but I changed the matrix and now the heater blows hot?! :/

I'm off work tomorrow so I'll get under there!

Sept 15, 2015 18:27:55 GMT swampy76 said:

Ryann
Let me have the vehicle details via pm I'll get you a price on the matrix
I work at a Mitsubishi dealership

Cheers for the offer, I'll send you a PM with the vin!

[tdipd]

first port of call is to flush out the matrix in both directions with a garden hose in the engine bay, so you can rule out the matrix being blocked and not letting hot coolant in

[dodgerover]

If its not leaking then chances are its either an airlock (has the water level got a bit low lately?) or the matrix is blocked as suggested

[Ryannn]

I didn't think about bleeding it! I had a leak from the thermostat recently which I've now fixed. I better have a look at how to get rid of any potential air.

[cobblers]

As above, if it isn't leaking then it's unlikely to need replacing.
If both hoses to and from it are warm after a run (with the blowers on, set to hot) then the matrix isn't blocked either - the problem will most likely just be with the flaps.

[Deleted]

Sept 15, 2015 18:35:05 GMT colnerov said:

Hi, you say the heat is controlled by the flaps? So changing the matrix is not going to cure that, You need to do handstands in the footwell and investigate why the flaps are not responding properly. Even jury rigging it in the correct position will be OK until next summer.

Colin

I had a out of warranty Vauxhall with that problem, because it was so expensive to rectify the dealer said that I could take the car in for the to manually adjust twice a year free of charge as it was a previously known fault.
I just asked them to show me how to do it so I could adjust it accordingly when I wanted.

[The Jackeria]

I like the idea of the hairdryer above, get a 12v one and French it into the original pipework for the blower motor so the warm air goes through the right places and clears the screen in a similar way to factory. Or of course fix the matrix/find the problem =)Or look to 1960's rally cars with a similar system to that which clears the rear screens on cars, though goodluck finding a kit =D

[Ryannn]

I fear that by complete fluke, I may have fixed it!!! Lol

I found the pipes where they enter the bulkhead and prized the rubber off. Boshed the hose down it and plenty of iron bru came out. The flow was much stronger in one direction than the other.

Anyway, I put everything back together and went for a run, one pipe was boiling hot and the other cold, heater was luke warm at best. In my frustration I took a very aggressive route home lol, and the heater now blows warm!! Fair enough it's not red hot, but it works, for now :/ I must have dislodged something on my test run.

Someone recommended dropping a dishwasher tablet in, but I don't think I'm going to push my luck for now!

[taurus]

Try a flushing agent - I did mine a couple of weeks ago, having previously had it out and flushed it manually with a hose until it ran clear so I thought it was pretty clear, however the flush got a shedload of gunge out of it so you really do need some chemicals in there.

Once you've run the flushing agent through it then use a hose and flush it out both ways.