General Car Question
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Joined: Oct 2001
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From: Euclid, OH
General Car Question
A member of another list I'm on posted this. Can someone answer his question?
JonasM
I have a 1992 Volvo 940 GL. It has been leaking water for months and I've been told "the part is on backorder" several several times. So today, I finally find *precisely* where the leak is. It's in the Heater Core flow valve -- which has a little vacuum thingamajig on it to divert water to the heater core whenever you engage the heater.
With a spindle from an old package of CD-RWs and a little elbow grease, I managed to *BYPASS* that valve... NOT the heater core, just the VALVE. Upside -- it doesn't spew water everywhere and overheat. Downside: there is now hot water flowing through the heater core at all times. Thus my question: is there any real downside to bypassing the heater core flow valve? Eg. should I worry that hot engine water is flowing through the heater core even when the heat's not running?
With a spindle from an old package of CD-RWs and a little elbow grease, I managed to *BYPASS* that valve... NOT the heater core, just the VALVE. Upside -- it doesn't spew water everywhere and overheat. Downside: there is now hot water flowing through the heater core at all times. Thus my question: is there any real downside to bypassing the heater core flow valve? Eg. should I worry that hot engine water is flowing through the heater core even when the heat's not running?
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From: Marblehead
^^ I've had something similar on a Jeep Cherokee some years ago. I didn't care about the car, really. It was never an issue in the winter months, and in the summer, I simply took the heater hoses to the firewall off, inserted a proper diameter metal tube and short circuited it in the engine bay. That created no problems either.
Joined: Dec 2005
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From: Stockbridge, Georgia
Just put shut-off valves to the heater hoses at the engine. We do that for racing in Panteras because the hoses run through the console and if a hose broke, a cabin full of steam and hot water would distract the driver during a race, especially if that hot water was spraying all over your right leg.
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From: Wildwood, TN.
Originally Posted by PanteraKitty,Dec 15 2009, 12:30 AM
Just put shut-off valves to the heater hoses at the engine. We do that for racing in Panteras because the hoses run through the console and if a hose broke, a cabin full of steam and hot water would distract the driver during a race, especially if that hot water was spraying all over your right leg.
The only downside to this fix is it may take longer for the car to warm up in the winter months. But it will work with no detrimental effects to the vehicle.
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From: Mish-she-gan
Originally Posted by Vanishing Point,Dec 15 2009, 01:47 PM
The only downside to this fix is it may take longer for the car to warm up in the winter months. But it will work with no detrimental effects to the vehicle.
The point of the shutoff valve is to open it in the winter; there's no reason for it to slow things down. I know, I've done it.
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From: Wildwood, TN.
^^
Sorry for the confusion.
I used the wrong quote to agree to, I should have used legal Bill's. By having the cold coolant circulate through the heater core in addition to the radiator, it will tend to lengthen the warm up period.
Sorry for the confusion.
I used the wrong quote to agree to, I should have used legal Bill's. By having the cold coolant circulate through the heater core in addition to the radiator, it will tend to lengthen the warm up period.
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