Morris Minor Owners Club

Betsy Belle's heater matrix decided to give up today, which earnt her a ride home on a recovery truck Can anyone suggest a supplier either of a new matrix or someone who could recondition the current one? It's a round one from 1960 and the usual Minor suppliers don't seem to stock them.

Thank you!

Lynda

Pictures of the heater matrix in question...[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

You should just have taken the feed pipes off and shorted out the loop - and driven home! The later heater is MUCH better - and the even later one from a Mini is very much better. I would upgrade........

bmcecosse wrote:You should just have taken the feed pipes off and shorted out the loop - and driven home! The later heater is MUCH better - and the even later one from a Mini is very much better. I would upgrade........

1. That assumes I knew what the problem was at the roadside. I actually pulled over due to clouds of white smoke and scary electrical noises. The car wasn't in a safe spot to start checking further, and I didn't have the tools anyway. I was however, given a chocolate brownie and a bottle of water, so had a nice picnic in a nearby field while waiting to be towed home.

2. I like the heater, it's right for the age of the car and it's nice to be able to preserve the originality. It works perfectly fine too Apart from throwing all the coolant out, that is. Now if I was in chilly Scotland, that might be another matter, but in the sunny south west it keeps me nicely toasty in winter.

Hopefully I will be able to get a working matrix from someone on the boards

If it had chucked all the coolant out - that coolant was presumably lying all over your feet and legs.......... Quite obvious I would have thought! Have you tested the matrix with a garden hose to find the leak ? And yes - if you consider originality over warmth - by all means chase up a new matrix. Having used both kinds in the past -I have no doubt which heater I would be getting!

bmcecosse wrote:If it had chucked all the coolant out - that coolant was presumably lying all over your feet and legs.......... Quite obvious I would have thought! Have you tested the matrix with a garden hose to find the leak ? And yes - if you consider originality over warmth - by all means chase up a new matrix. Having used both kinds in the past -I have no doubt which heater I would be getting!

Nope, my legs were totally dry. That's what seems to happen with the heater design on that type, it has the air intake at the base of the bulkhead so all the water went out the back. We didn't need a hose to check the matrix - Philip blew into it and sprayed water out of the sides! Must admit it a hose would have been less yucky

You will probably find a selection of "fug stirrer" heaters on the autojumble stands at the Nat. Rally.
If you had electrical sparks then it could well have been some wiring behind the heater, you need to check each component at a time to find the problem. Check the rheostat switch on the front of the heater, it should go from off in a clockwise direction to full on then smoothly to very slow. Any problems are normally caused by corrosion in the switch which can be carefully taken apart and cleaned. Any water leaks are likely to be from the water hoses or connections at the back

Well - the heater sits inside the car - so if it was leaking water - you should have seen or felt it! Have you shorted out the hoses and got the car running sans heater meantime ?

bmcecosse wrote:Well - the heater sits inside the car - so if it was leaking water - you should have seen or felt it!

On the later ones there is a fresh air inlet duct that runs down to a hole in the bulkhead. The coolant probably ran out through there.

alex_holden wrote:On the later ones there is a fresh air inlet duct that runs down to a hole in the bulkhead. The coolant probably ran out through there

That's the type Alex, as it wasn't properly connected to the bulkhead some water leaked through under the carpets but it's all dried now.

bmcecosse wrote:Have you shorted out the hoses and got the car running sans heater meantime ?
Well - the heater sits inside the car - so if it was leaking water - you should have seen or felt it! Have you shorted out the hoses and got the car running sans heater meantime ?

We'd done it before you suggested it, but thanks for mentioning it

Well - I did 'mention' that you could/should have done it at the roadside when it all went wrong - so you obviously didn't do it 'before I suggested it' ! Anyway - was only trying to help! Good luck with quest for a new one. If you buy an old one - it will be the same age as yours and therefore likely to leak sooner rather than later. Does anyone make a new replacement for these ??