Heater question

[rockabillygilly]

Hi how good is a minor 1000 heater supose to be because mine is shocking when is switched off i get more hot air than when its on

[bmcecosse]

Depends what type of heater? The round ones are not great - the rectangular ones are better. And they can be improved by fitting an externally identical one from a Mini, which has a better fan. For your heater - either type - to make the best of it, take the pipes off at the engine and flush it through both ways with a hose pipe. Don't close off one end - it's NOT designed to take mains water pressure! Make sure the pies are not kinked - and that the heater valve is wide open. For the engine - fit an 88 degree thermostat - and for very best heater - block off the little bypass hose If your car has a 'fresh air' trunk - it can be repositioned (in winter) to take air from behind the top of the radiator - so slightly pre-heating the air to the heater. It is possible that the water pump is corroded -and not capable of circulating enough water......by try everything else first!

[rockabillygilly]

cheers mine is the later type heater as its a 68

[Trickydicky]

I beg to differ regarding the Round Heaters effectiveness, mine works well providing plenty of heat. As Roy says though a service of the heater will help.
I think the biggest problem getting the heater up to a good temp is because the radiator due to the large grill at the front is "over cooled"
I have thought about blanking a third of the radiator (equally) to try and allow the radiator to get slightly warmer. My minor is not my everyday car so its not top of the list
When the minor was in production they used to sell radiator muffs to overcome this problem

[bmcecosse]

Round heaters 'can' be ok - I used to have one - but the later heaters are more powerful when working well, and fresh air of course. An 88 degree thermostat means the radiator 'overcooling' is not a factor.

[hanvyj]

My late type heater on one car is terrible. Took it completely apart and flushed, fixed and resembled: Still awful. I think the heater element is a bad reproduction (certainly not original) because it has hot water going in and hot water coming out but seems to fail spectacularly at heating the air going through it!

[bmcecosse]

Worth checking if the fan is running correct direction.....there has been some discussion in the past about this - never fully resolved. In theory it should always run 'right way' - but some have been adamant that theirs is going wrong way. Also possible the fresh air trunk is maybe blocked with something.....bird's nest/hedgehog....(maybe even a badger...). I once found a Mini trunking stuffed with (soaking wet) foam.....presumably an attempt at filtering out the flies......