its cold in err

C

cougcar

Forum user
Mar 25, 2017
10
3
uk
Since iv had my car, the heater has only ever blown warm air, its not been a problem in the summer, but now that the cold weather is here, it needs sorting.
The engine reaches operating temperature as normal, and the fan blower works as it should, so I assume the hot water is either not entering the heater matrix or the matrix is blocked.
anyone had this problem or got ideas what I can check, cause my car is green and I don't like frosty :LOL:
 
Thanks quicksilver, I tried to follow the link but it says...
" you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:
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  1. Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page"
However I will try the VIAKAL as suggested. never heard of it before but will ask the wife to get some in town.
I assume I just pour it into the header tank and let it circulate?

Thanks for the advice.
 
Sorry, the How-To is in the 'subscribers only' section which is the reason you can't access it.

I believe the Viakal has to be put directly into the heater system, left for several hours and then thoroughly flushed out.
 
Thanks quicksilver, I was a bit concerned not knowing the effect viakal might have on gaskets waterpump etc.
looks like a re-think is in order!!
 
cougcar said:
Thanks quicksilver, I was a bit concerned not knowing the effect viakal might have on gaskets waterpump etc.
looks like a re-think is in order!!
Click to expand...

Limescale is caused by hard water with dissolved limestone in it. Depending on where you are, (your profile doesn't say) you might be adding lime to your cooling system every time you top up your header tank.

Viakal and other limescale-removing products are just acids, (I downloaded the SDS for Viakal - turns out it's just Citric Acid Monohydrate - concentrated lemon juice). They pull your coolant back to a neutral pH and cause all the gunk to precipitate out and fall off the pipe walls.

Totally safe on a car that's starting to clam up with calcium, but you don't want to leave it in there.

That's why you need to dump it in, run it briefly, then flush it out and do a proper coolant refill. And if you do this, also replace your thermostat - you don't want it getting jammed open with crap.

Sources:

Viakal Descaler Safety Data Sheet

Limewater

Hard and soft water properties
 
Here is a true story. I once had a pipe blow on my way home. I managed to patch up the bottom hose with electrical tape, but didn't have any water left in the system at all. I was near a co-op so popped in for some mineral water. Eau, Perrier, £1.69 litre - Non! So I decided upon cheap, 23p per 2litre own label diet lemonade. Five miles later, heater on flat out during the drive and dying of heat stroke, I arrive home and decide to get rid of the lemonade quickly before it does my car a mischief. Holy moly, you would not believe the colour and state of what came out - green and full of sediment. But after flushing and replacing the pipe, I realised my cooling system was well and truly flushed and cleaned, the radiator filler was a nice brass colour inside ! This is now my method of choice when a flush is needed, I think the carbonation actually helps too...
 
Which means you inadvertently did the right thing!

It's crazy what funk you can get out of an Aluminium block and associated pipework with a mild acid.
 
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