Ok I am sure there is somebody outhere who must like doing heater matrix swaps on a zed but the backbreaking position added to the knuckle skinning experience only must be for the very seriously masochist element!

 

Pic attached shows some of the bits that need removing to do it without removing the dashboard, all that harder in this case as it is a manual and the clutch pedal and booster has to come out!

 

All back in with a brand new martix just ready for fill up in the morning.....spare a thought for a guy I spoke to last year who went through this himself and thought a second hand matrix was a money saver...yes you guessed it when he filled the coolant system the replacement core was leaking too! arghhhhhhhh!

 

 

Jeff TT

Hiya Jeff, its James.

 

So you are now an expert at swapping heater matrix's?? Fantastic, and good news cos mine is an auto, would you take on doing another one? Already have the actual matrix so would just be after you swapping them over......ha ha "just" !!

PM or email if you want mate.

 

Cheers,

Yeah this pic brings back memories of my last zed, which had to have this done, advanced radiators do avery similar sized matrix for fourty quid, but you would be on as long in labour time cutting the aperture(3mm wider), especialy the inner one, as just biting the bullet and paying nissan for the correct fitment, i was given a file and told to have a go, i got into what could only have looked like a plane crash victim position under the steering wheel, where within seconds all blood went to my head, i scraped my knucle off, twice!, and then twisted my neck as i got out and went to ring nissan !!

Ha - I helped Grant do some of his heater matrix replacement and it's not a fun job - he removed the entire dash !

 

Anyone who wants to do this for a living is not normal ! ;)

Mine hasn't been working for a couple of years now, have bypassed it under the bonnet. Ever since SE fitted a new engine, within seconds of driving away from their yard, coolant started to piss out in the footwell. It was fine before.

If I discover they didn't connect a hose properly or something similar, I will fkin freak out.

Their suggested reason was stronger pumps that caused it !!??

 

I would be REALLY interested in people's views on this one.....

 

Thanx.

I did mine myself with a bit of help from Andy P. It really is a pig of a job, especially on a manual because of the clutch. This seems to be a common problem on the Z. The first time mine went was on the way home from having a new clutch fitted. I have heard various stories and explainations as to why this should happen a lot.

 

1) There is a chemical / electrolyte type reaction because the pipes leading in to the Heater rad are different. i.e. Copper / Ally. This is apparently acknowledged by Nissan and there is supposed to be a coolant additive / anti freeze that stops this happening.

 

2) The head gasket has gone and therefore air is getting in to the system and overpressuring it.

 

3) They just wear out!

 

There are a couple of technical articles on the web, i think Andy has some on his site.

 

One piece of advice... buy a very long (30cm+) flat blade screwdriver. This will help you get to the screws on the Jubilee clip that holds the hoses on to the heater matrix entry & exit pipes, which are located in the engine bay.

 

Second (sorry) piece of advice... Get several containers to put all of the screws clips etc in. Get some sticky labels or masking tape to label everything.

 

If I had to do it again, I wouldn't be too phased. It's just a long and tedious job taking out all of the dash, organising all of the bits and remembering where they all go.

 

Grant

Sorry, just BTT, really interested in views of my SE experience!

 

Thanks.

The Nissan issue on the differnt materials is only really half the story. It's earth leaks that cause most of the problems. 3 of these dying in 6 months makes me somewhat of an expert :mad:

My recomendation was two-fold. Firstly add some of the anti-corrsion additive that Grant mentioned (MJP sell it) and secondly attach an earth lead specifically to the matrix itself.

so normal anti freeze is not enough?:confused:

 

Vijay

Hey i am from australia

i have a TWIN turbo Z32 300zx 450 BHP @ wheels

 

and while i was 1500 km from home my heater core decided to blow out on me while i was on boost

they are a real bastard to fix

no one where i live will even consider fixing it and i dotn have the time till xmas

 

the only fix atm was to isolate it by taking off the pipes and re routing them so they bypass the heater all together and when it rains here my car fogs up so i cant do anything about it

 

i have changed over a few things in my zed, the clutch master cylinder and the vacuum part of it as well (4 hour job by me)

or an 8 hour job by Holden who f**ked my clucth master up by not bleeding it properly lots of dodgy fellas around here

but yeah

 

they are a mission to get out and everything and i havent attempted that yet if anyone has any pointers they would be greatly appreciated

thanks heaps

AND long LIVE THE ZED

and go my VL TURBO COMMODORE

No !

 

Some cars seem to 'have' the problem and some don't. If you are a 'have', ie you have already had a heater matrix replaced, then I suggest you take both steps in order to attempt to prevent a reocurrance.

 

Originally posted by vijay

so normal anti freeze is not enough?:confused:

 

Vijay

NO! NO! NO!

 

Don't attach an earth lead to matrix itself. This will accelerate the problem. If you don't believe me I will scan and eMail you the article in a trade publication for the radiator world why this is bad news

well my heater matrix has never gone, but I don't want it to either:( Would it do any damage by using it anyway? I have to reflush it in the summer when I change the rad hoses.

 

Cheers

 

Vijay

Please do. Because if we're talking about an electolytic reaction then the way to prevent it is by ensuring that both the anode and the cathode are at the same earth potential. At the moment the matrix is electrically isolated, giving it the potential (no joke intended) to become the other half of the battery.

 

 

Originally posted by Posidrive

NO! NO! NO!

 

Don't attach an earth lead to matrix itself. This will accelerate the problem. If you don't believe me I will scan and eMail you the article in a trade publication for the radiator world why this is bad news

Originally posted by Posidrive

NO! NO! NO!

 

Don't attach an earth lead to matrix itself. This will accelerate the problem. If you don't believe me I will scan and eMail you the article in a trade publication for the radiator world why this is bad news

 

I would be really interested to see this as I have attached an Earth lead to my matrix.

 

Grant

I'll dig it out over the weekend

Have seen a few zeds that have had a quick succession of Matrix failures prior to coming into the workshop and in every case the problem occured after an incorrect battery change with the terminals at the front of the battery, this means the earth lead is too short and a common mistake it to remove the holding braket at the bulhead to make it reach, unfortunately this is also one of the main body earth connections.

 

In turn this seems accelerates the production of corrosive chemicals in the cooling system and the matrix is the weekest part of the system.

 

I have reconnected many earth leads on zeds in the workshop, it may be good idea to check them. ASAP

 

Jeff TT

Originally posted by Posidrive

NO! NO! NO!

 

Don't attach an earth lead to matrix itself. This will accelerate the problem. If you don't believe me I will scan and eMail you the article in a trade publication for the radiator world why this is bad news

 

may be a good point actually.

 

on the mercs, we had a problem with road springs breaking, mercs answer was to fit a sacrificial anode under the spring seat (a bit of ally! same sort of material as the heater matrix) which corroded away instead of the spring.

Jeff, for the mechanically challenged can you explain in a little bit more detail so I can make a fix. Your explanaition, although seemingly unrelated, makes sense. I do have a very large battery which doesn't sit properly in the tray and may just suffer from your described problem.

 

Also, the fact that immediately after workshop repairs where the battery was removed matrixes have failed.

 

Could this be a ground breaking discovery??:eek:

 

Anybody else have similar scenarios that could shed light on this??

Originally posted by Grant

Could this be a ground breaking discovery??:eek:

 

was that supposed to be funny?!?!? :)

Originally posted by Paul C

was that supposed to be funny?!?!? :)

 

I'm on my fourth Matrix, so no it wasn't meant to be funny or sarcastic.:)

Jeff is that out of my car?

 

Ivan:confused: