Morris Minor Owners Club

I have fitted to my car what ESM calls a late type cable operated heater control valve. There is, however, no cable connected to it. What, therefore, is its function and should I fit a cable? What does the thing do anyway, even when fitted properly?

The function is to allow water through the heater, hence turning it off and on, and yes, there should be a bowden cable attached to it and a knob on the dash to operate it,

I thought the function was to last about 3 or 4 years then start leaking, (and if not replaced soon after, to change from a small leak to a big leak and loose all your coolant on a long journey).

It's function should be so that you can turn off the hot water supply to the heater allowing you to blow cold air in summer. However they rarely seem to shut off the flow very well - and don't seem to last too well either, hence my sarkasm.
From memory the knob on the end of the cable should be under the dash, to the right of the heater.

It should - again from memory, as I won't have them on my cars for the reasons you gave

Yes, mine had been leaking... Well, since my engine is in bits it's the perfect time to replace it... Can you get a blanking plate or something, or even a more advanced mechanism?

The older cars have a brass screw-down tap that you have to open the bonnet to operate, but you need to do it so rarely (twice a year?) that it's not a problem. Not sure if they're more reliable than the lever-operated type though... On my old car it was seized permanently open, and Fenchurch's seems to weep slightly from the gland despite taking it apart and cleaning it up.

The brass gate type are more reliable probably down to the type of action, although I have to confess I havent had too many problems with the later type.
Just a thought Jack what year is your car as it may have been fitted with the earlier type of gate valve as standard so that you wont have the cable and mounting bracket that the later ones have.

It's a '59, but it has bits from every year imaginable so I wouldn't be surprised if it hasn't been fitted with something odd. Also the car was originally fitted with a 948 which someone exchanged for a 1098, do they have different systems? I had the opportunity to strip down a friend's 948 the other day, and although the car was later ('62) the engine didn't have the same regulator as mine. What it did have was a little brass tap in the side, next to the manifold, but I think that's unrelated- its function appeared to be more to drain water than block its flow to the heater!

Especially out here in America, with the predictable weather- incredibly hot summer, freezing winter- you really would only have to change it twice a year, so getting the bonnet up wouldn't be too much of a downside... I think I'll probably fit a gate type instead.

Better choice by far IMO, FWIW.
Any more acronyms, anyone?

jackkelleher wrote:It's a '59, but it has bits from every year imaginable so I wouldn't be surprised if it hasn't been fitted with something odd. Also the car was originally fitted with a 948 which someone exchanged for a 1098, do they have different systems? I had the opportunity to strip down a friend's 948 the other day, and although the car was later ('62) the engine didn't have the same regulator as mine. What it did have was a little brass tap in the side, next to the manifold, but I think that's unrelated- its function appeared to be more to drain water than block its flow to the heater!

Don't connect the heater to the water jacket drain tap; it won't work very well even if you bodge some way to fix the hose to it. The heater takeoff (either type) should be at the back of the cylinder head. I think the valve changed when they switched from the old round heater to the rectangular box type. Fenchurch is a '63 and she had the round heater and the brass screw-down tap.

I disagree - have later cars, seemingly original with no evidence of EVER having had the cable operated type ``( no bracket for the knob, etc). All of them LCVS though

I changed mine to a tap
Have a look at some of the photos of the engine on my website
http://www.badfelafel.co.uk

ps if you want anything in particular photographed, just drop me a message!

Thats the new tap just been fitted - we are preparing to put the cylinder head back on next

no evidence on some cars as the heater was always optional.

LCVs are not 'cars' - and had no heater as standard - hence no bracket for a cable/knob.

Thanks for enlightening me... ;) THe vast majority of the ones that I've had DID have heaters, but only one had the cable operated version. If they did have heaters, then, rather obviously, they did have the necessary fittings for them.

I rather suspected you might know that already!