poxy car

[andy_richmond]

did a complete coolant change today, great bday treat, couldnt get matrix hoses off, vectras are a pain in the bum, used speed flush to see if that might help, put all back together, new antifreeze, and 4 hours of my time later, and i have no heating!!!!!!!! it got worse, i stripped an HT lead too, left the electrode stuck to the plug, what a day lol :svengo:

[pgkevet]

You did it the hard way! Next time just take the rad cap off and tip the car upside down :)




[COLOR=dimgray](when I was at college one of the lads drained his auto fluids, then snuck into a barn with a hoist and flipped his car over onto bales of straw to fix the holes underneath...worked a treat and saved all the crawling about)[/COLOR]

[rsmuppet]

Sound's like you've got your self a big old air lock the buddy , might release it's self as the engine cools down if not go looking for that bleed screw :) , u can get away with rebuilding and re crimping ht lead's if ur as tight as me :) , sound's like your day has gone as well as mine chap oh and Happy Birthday

[andy_richmond]

i let it run till fan came on, left for a while, took cap off, hissed a bit, but theres no more air in there, looks like a new matrix is needed, ebay here i come

[coolice]

Hey.

Aren't there also bleed screws on the heater matrix or near it atleast? If it was working before then I am sure its just an airlock not allowing the heated water to circulate around the matrix.
.

[simplyraptor]

Andy, I would be surprised if it was a blocked matrix (unless you have drained out some thick rusty brown sludge) if it was blocked it would have an airlock.

Maybe a daft question but have you checked the operation of the heater tap?

If I remember rightly there are no bleed screws on a Vectra

[rsmuppet]

Are the pipes hot in and out of the matrix ? Well on the in-side in ur case ? Sounds like a big out air lock to me dude .

[andy_richmond]

it was rubbish before but worse now, when i first drained out the radiator, it was pretty clear, which suprised me, was dead clear after the rad flush, i cant get to the matrix, the pipes wont come off, wanted to hose through, however, one pipe is definatley a lot cooler than the other, no bleed valves, and no other means of bleeding, ive squeezed all the hoses, did that for 20 minutes while it was warming up, loads of bubbles which went after the fan cut in and it cooled down.

heater tap????

[simplyraptor]

The heater tap controls the water flow through the matrix when you turn the heater from hot to cold, on the earlier Vectra's the tap is in the hose at the rear of the engine before it goes into the bulkhead, not sure on the later ones never had a problem with them

[simplyraptor]

It looks like this if it is a vectra B

[URL="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VECTRA-B-9-158-947-948-HEATER-VACUUM-VALVE-1-8-2000-/270710307204?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f07977984"]VECTRA B 9 158 947 948 HEATER VACUUM VALVE 1.8 2000 on eBay (end time 24-Mar-11 13:45:21 GMT)[/URL]

Vacuum controlled as well so make sure the vacuum pipe has not split

[andy_richmond]

ah, mine doesnt have aircon so apparently doesnt have that

[simplyraptor]

Kind of baffled then Andy, I thought that valve was fitted on the on all the models regardless of aircon, it still has to have a heater control valve though to regulate the flow of water when you turn the heater control on your dash.

what is the year and engine size of your vectra?

[andy_richmond]

suppose there could be one, havent seen it, its a 1.8 n reg, 1996, x18xe engine

[oneandonlyian]

Make sure you have heaters on hot as it will open flow to the matrix, keep the filler cap off until hot will ease coolant flow. Maybe hold revs on about 3k to help pump coolant through, but keep an eye on temp. If you have a big enough air lock she will get hot quick. Vauxhal not usualy to bad to bleed. Also keep fan speed low until hot (heater blower)

Is it petrol or diesel? lol you posted just before me with engine.

[andy_richmond]

[QUOTE=oneandonlyian;627808]Make sure you have heaters on hot as it will open flow to the matrix, keep the filler cap off until hot will ease coolant flow. Maybe hold revs on about 3k to help pump coolant through, but keep an eye on temp. If you have a big enough air lock she will get hot quick. Vauxhal not usualy to bad to bleed. Also keep fan speed low until hot (heater blower)

Is it petrol or diesel? lol you posted just before me with engine.[/QUOTE]

its a petrol, did all of the above, took 20 mins to heat up to almost over flowing, i then put cap back on, let it bubble away, cool, then opened expansion tank, water level perfect, il have to get some hose clamps and try getting them off again, and flush out the matrix, not easy at all to get to