XP heater issue

[Trevor]

A quick question for the more knowledgeable. On Saturday I replaced the heater tap on my XP Coupe, the old tap was only letting a small amount of water through. The heater radiator was completely overhauled in late 2012.

I am not getting any heat through at all now, air block? Advice please

I also think the hoses maybe running the wrong way - so some advice on that as well.

It has a XA 250ci in it and a XA radiator as well, it struggles to get above about 150f running temp which on its own shouldn't be a problem. I recently put a different (new) thermostat in it to try to get it to run a bit hotter. I reckon it is struggling to fully open at that temp.

[Road_Warrior]

Stupid question but are the cables hooked up to the heater tap correctly? i.e. is the correct cable operating the heater tap or the correct flap under the dash

If memory serves me correctly the 250 had a heater inlet at the water pump and an outlet on the driver's side of the head - do the hoses match up in that sense. Even if the hoses were reversed, you should still be able to feel something coming through, it just wont be hot - sounds like a blockage of some description

[Trevor]

Yeah the wire is hooked up OK, I can see it working (I love old cars - they are soooo simple)

I thought the outlet was on the water pump and the inlet was in the head, if what you are saying is correct then it is hooked up OK

I am thinking air block, although I did do about 100+ k's plus on Sunday so I would have thought that any air in the system would be flushed through

[Road_Warrior]

Yeah the wire is hooked up OK, I can see it working (I love old cars - they are soooo simple)

I thought the outlet was on the water pump and the inlet was in the head, if what you are saying is correct then it is hooked up OK

I am thinking air block, although I did do about 100+ k's plus on Sunday so I would have thought that any air in the system would be flushed through

Ok now I'm questioning myself - the inlet to the heater by rights should be the one coming off the head? As it requires hot water to the heater box. Now that I think about it I dont even know how my XW one goes

I cant imagine it being an airlock after all this time - perhaps there's some crud in the cooling system blocking it. Maybe uncouple the heater hoses at the engine end and shove the garden hose in and see what comes out?

[Trevor]

The hose that goes to the heater tap come off the drivers side. The water goes through the tap, through the heater core then back to the motor - passengers side, the 'hot water' really shouldn't go to the heater core first - I am buggered if I know

I thought that the hose coming off the water pump would be the inlet to the heater that way the 'hot water' is going to the tap, then the core

[Trevor]

hahaha, this is fun isn't it?

There shouldn't be any gunk in the system, it has been flushed fairly recently

[Trevor]

Here is a pic of the engine bay (yes it is in 170 colours but it is a 250), the red arrows point to the heater hoses, the one on the left (drivers side) leads to the tap

[Road_Warrior]

IMO its hooked up correctly. This new heater tap - repro part?

[Trevor]

No, paid top dollar from the old mate in Canberra, been burnt with Rare Spares bits in the past