Do I need to drain all the water first?

aside from the obvious , are there any special tools needed? Dreading The thought of this job, :( but i know once I start it it will be OK. :smash:

No need to drain the water, only the remaining water in the matrix will come out and that will be very little.

 

When you decide to change the heater matrix DO NOT REMOVE THE DASHBOARD this is simply NOT required and can potentially cause more problems, ( ( tip) remove the seat for ease of access) having done in excess of 20 matrix last year this way it is easy for me to say it is easy, but it is.......... honest.

 

I have however had to correct the problems caused by dashboard removals and that is harder than changing the matrix :(

 

Plan it out and your looking at a mornings work, as it is your first one allow 6 or so hours.

 

Jeff TT

No need to drain the water, only the remaining water in the matrix will come out and that will be very little.

 

When you decide to change the heater matrix DO NOT REMOVE THE DASHBOARD this is simply NOT required and can potentially cause more problems, ( ( tip) remove the seat for ease of access) having done in excess of 20 matrix last year this way it is easy for me to say it is easy, but it is.......... honest.

 

I have however had to correct the problems caused by dashboard removals and that is harder than changing the matrix :(

 

Plan it out and your looking at a mornings work, as it is your first one allow 6 or so hours.

 

Jeff TT

 

Cheers for the advice jeff, but which area do I work from? surely some of it has to be removed? i guess the unit itself is set deep behind the stereo facia.

 

if this is possible without dash removal I would be a happy man.

From the drivers side mate,remove seat as said and the matrix comes out into the drivers footwell,if yours is auto-much easier! :)

my maytrix was replaced by my boy and his mate

dash out

complete heater on the floor in hour and a half

 

put back in refit dash and tidy up wiring and car running in 3 hours and every thing works

i was amazed how fast they had done the job and the boy is not quallified till later this year, his mate had helped someone to replace his two years ago

not a job i would take on so fair play to them both,cheers woody :bow: :bow:

http://www.aus300zx.com/tech/heater/heatercore.htm

cheers guys, starting to feel a lot better about it now!

I used the aussie guide when i did mine , found it very easy , the only tricky thing to do is the little 8mm headed bolt inbetween the matrix pipes ,were it comes through the bulkhead , you need a 1/4 drive ratchet set and a few little extensions to find the right length needed to work inbetween the engine and bulkhead :headvswal Also having small hands is VERY helpfull.

Took me about 2 hours and a few grazes :x: :D

Ok Guys,

 

See a few of ya have been in the same boat as me, but looks like you've all managed where I couldn't.

 

I've been following the aussie guide, and aside from the bolt between the pipes through the bulkhead I managed everything reasonably easy (with the exception of 1. Stuck hoses that took ages to pry off, 2. A firewall grommet that wouldn't budge until demolished 3. Foam padding that refused to move off the bolt until pulled out!)

 

But for the love of all things Z I cannot get the last bolt undone. There is simply no room for my hands and any tools to get to it. I managed to get a 1/4 inch socket on, but no room for the ratchet. I managed to get a screwdriver in there, but no room for leverage to get it turning. I spent 4 hours trying to get his one bolt undone. :headvswal

 

So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE - any hints, tips, on what I can do next? Any special tools any of you used? I'm desparate and I'm sure I don't want this b*stard to beat me.

 

CheerZ

 

StuartR

Ok Guys,

 

See a few of ya have been in the same boat as me, but looks like you've all managed where I couldn't.

 

I've been following the aussie guide, and aside from the bolt between the pipes through the bulkhead I managed everything reasonably easy (with the exception of 1. Stuck hoses that took ages to pry off, 2. A firewall grommet that wouldn't budge until demolished 3. Foam padding that refused to move off the bolt until pulled out!)

 

But for the love of all things Z I cannot get the last bolt undone. There is simply no room for my hands and any tools to get to it. I managed to get a 1/4 inch socket on, but no room for the ratchet. I managed to get a screwdriver in there, but no room for leverage to get it turning. I spent 4 hours trying to get his one bolt undone. :headvswal

 

So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE - any hints, tips, on what I can do next? Any special tools any of you used? I'm desparate and I'm sure I don't want this b*stard to beat me.

 

CheerZ

 

StuartR

 

 

know how you feel :cry: ....but dont worry, theres an answer. get a good grip of the two copper pipes from the inside and shake with all your might till you break the screw, it's not very big. thats what I did, and it worked.

Need to put mine in after being brass monkeys for the last 3 months!

Im right behind ya Chewie - i have to do the matrixes on both my Zeds. And im not really looking forward to it at all....

One tip I could have done with would be to do all the interior stuff before doing the pipes, etc. in the engine bay (at least enough to expose the piping in the footwell). When this is done it should be relatively easy to push the rubber grommet out from inside the car - I butchered mine trying to remove it from the engine side, but found I could push the remains out real easy from inside the car - DOH!