Great, now I have a heater matrix fault - help please VPC'ers!!

[Leeds_finest]

Right, following on from my red triangle thread, I am now experiencing what is potentially a heater pipe or matrix fault.

There is the dreaded coolant puddle in the passenger footwell that I have not noticed before. The coolant looks fresh/blue and is a reasonable puddle in the corner closest to the dash under the glovebox.

My only thought is to remove passenger side front carpet section so I can see where it is coming from.

Is this common? If I have to replace the heater matrix, is it easy to do? Most cars are a real pain in the back side and pretty much all of them are 'dashboard out' jobs :(

Help!


Thanks

[M-R-P]

So the coolant leak was triggering the low coolant warning? that would be a red triangle.

Not a dash-out job mate, just the scuttle panel and possibly the glovebox. I'll check my haynes book of lies later and let you know.

[Leeds_finest]

Well, the reservoir was completely empty, which, admittedly you may expect after a coolant change HOWEVER I did a correct procedure of firing the car up with the heaters on full whack and I left the reservoir on the max mark and also left the cap off for a little while before re fitting to ensure all the air was out of the system.

Then took for a drive but obviously once the stat had opened and the system had purged - it must have emptied the reservoir which then needed topping up.

The matrix fault may be seperate to this i'm not sure.

Lol Haynes Book Of Lies - well I got the V70 P2 book of lies myself for Christmas so i'll have a good look too but I would be over the moon if it WASN'T a 'dash out' job.

[V70 Graham]

Not sure if P2's are the same but this might help, remember to undo battery first.....

http://www.vpcuk.org/forums/showthread.php?40269-heater-matrix

[Leeds_finest]

I'll have a good read.

Thanks Graham.

[M-R-P]

Deffo not a dash out job mate, you do need to be a contortionist tho from what I've seen lol.

[Leeds_finest]

I'm glad really, I mean on my VW Polo I have a feeling it is a 'dash out' job to be honest and lets face it once you have removed major trim like dash boards and door cars they rarely go back in as they should with no rattles or squeaks etc plus that would be a fairly mammoth task anyway on the V70 I reckon and not something I would fancy with limited spare time.

I'll check my Haynes when I get home but let me know if you get to yours first.

Cheers

[M-R-P]

will do mate ;)

[stribo]

I've just looked it up in the Haynes manual, and am none the wiser.:confused::confused:

[M-R-P]

S60 may be different to the V70. the haynes covers V70 S80 so there may be better info.

[Leeds_finest]

Mmmm a mechanic friend has given me some K seal to try.

I don't feel comfortable putting gunky stuff in coolant, but, rad weld and similar has been known to work on mine and friends cars before... What to do...

[M-R-P]

I wouldn't recommend it, it can bung the matrix up - but if you're gonna change it anyway...

[Leeds_finest]

I'm always unsure about these products really.

Out of interest - worst case - is matrix a dealer only part?

I'm almost home so will remove pass side carpet astray to track leak.

Someone said these have two matrix because of dual zone air con - is that correct?

[M-R-P]

this (http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Volvo_V70_2.3_2003/p/car-parts/car-cooling-parts-and-car-heating/heating/heater-matrix/?214660050&1&1f73d50f25298c88f3d24d990f88ae440e650969&000189) should answer a couple of your questions...

[richiemat]

i found this if its a P2:

http://forums.t5d5.org/page/articles.html/_/articles/v70-heater-matrix-replacement

it looks like there's an easy way and a hard way :hbomb::jaw:

[Leeds_finest]

Ok guys thanks a lot for the help.

My phone only seems to load half that thread but I'll check it fully on my PC.

I have progress pics to upload shortly...

[stribo]

I could only view half of it on my laptop, seems to be incomplete.

[T5frankie]

Both my s70's need doing now, pain in the §§§§ job unless you're a gymnast

[Leeds_finest]

I've been known to straddle a few pummel horse in my time.... But im no gymnast ;)

[T5frankie]

[QUOTE=Leeds_finest;558632]I've been known to straddle a few pummel horse in my time.... But im no gymnast ;)[/QUOTE
thats no way to talk about walsall girls lol

[richiemat]

I could only view half of it on my laptop, seems to be incomplete.

at the top of the page click one link to view all of the hard way and the link below for the easier way.....

i've not tried either btw

[Leeds_finest]

[QUOTE=Leeds_finest;558632]I've been known to straddle a few pummel horse in my time.... But im no gymnast ;)[/QUOTE
thats no way to talk about walsall girls lol

Lol lol lol my girlfriends from Beechdale - I have experienced the worst trust me :p

[Leeds_finest]

i found this if its a P2:

http://forums.t5d5.org/page/articles.html/_/articles/v70-heater-matrix-replacement

it looks like there's an easy way and a hard way :hbomb::jaw:

So basically it is a dash out job according to that?

[M-R-P]

So, bung some k-seal in and if that doesn't work, and you don't mind getting cold, pull the pipes off the bulkhead connectors and join them together :)

ok, I'll start talking sense again lol.

[Leeds_finest]

Lol mint - icicles ahoy!

So any advances on NOT removing dash? I'm going to check Haynes now.

[M-R-P]

I'll look at mine too. You shouldn't need to remove the dash mate, that would be daft... Oh, P2....

[M-R-P]

Doesn't look like a dash out job mate. Although the haynes is pretty vague, it looks like a relatively straight forward job.

[richiemat]

So basically it is a dash out job according to that?

I don't know, I just googled it :)

[Leeds_finest]

Is it covered in Haynes? I started to look but then had to jump in the shower.

[oblark]

When I took the dash out of the 03 s60r it was only held in by 9 bolts, 4 on the centre console, 2 on each door pillar on one under the wiper motor.

[M-R-P]

It's in the haynes but lacks detail.

[richiemat]

Lets hope it's simpler than described in that link!

Good luck with it

[Leeds_finest]

So maybe it isn't as bad as it sounds?

[M-R-P]

You gonna try the K-seal stuff?

[Leeds_finest]

I'm unsure tbh.

The plan before I try that is to run it round as it is with no carpet in etc as I fired it up on drive with carpet removed yesterday and couldn't get it to leak so I'm baffled!! Needs driving about with carpet out, try and reveal the fault.

[M-R-P]

Interesting...
Could it be washer fluid you had in the footwell? I sometimes get a drip or two in the passenger footwell when it's raining hard but haven't located it's source.
Another possibility could be the collector for the A/C heat exchanger. It has a tube that lets condensed water run out the bottom of the car. If it gets blocked, it could, presumably, run into the footwell.

[Rudeyboy18]

Ive had a leak in the same place last week.

19797

I found it was coming from the heatermatrix intake........ So I took the pollan filter out and cleaned, dried and put back in as it was clogged up and saturated. cleaned the whole area out, pulled seals and cleaned them, I took off the drain off pipes and cleared of all the gunk and also cleared the other drain off pipe locacted in the heater matrix intake. All easy to get to taking the plastic cover off at bottom of windscreen. Now i dont have a leak. The carpet was saturated, now its bone dry.

I reached up under the glove box and could feel it was wet up there.... and funnily enough i think this was the route cause on why my heater motor stopped working a few weeks back . The connection was dodge.... i reckon it got damp and started to degrade. This might not be the case for you, but thought i'd share it

[Leeds_finest]

Thanks so much for the help ill try and follow your method and see what happens.

Martin it seems to be coolant as it leaves your fingers feeling silky even after its dried up.

[M-R-P]

Another thing to check would be the bulkhead connectors in the engine bay - they can leak if they get disturbed or some gunk gets in the seal.

[Leeds_finest]

I know what I'm doing this weekend then :( lol!

[M-R-P]

Give you something to do while your DIM is off for repair ;)

[Leeds_finest]

True story!

Shame my work van isn't as fun to drive as the Volvo...

[Leeds_finest]

Right guys, first chance i've had to post pics:

http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/545053_10151227939049024_1698291169_n.jpg

http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/206755_10151227938999024_1723876742_n.jpg

The floor is bone dry? I'm baffled? It has remained this way for the past couple of journeys too - I don't know what to think now...

Also, the heavy plastic under lining on the carpet section means no water could have come from underneath anyway, so it must have leaked onto the carpet from above.

[M-R-P]

Weird...

[Leeds_finest]

I don't get it, even with heaters on etc there's no leaks??

[silverhorse]

It's not windscreen washer fluid is it?

[M-R-P]

It's not windscreen washer fluid is it?

That question has already been asked and answered mate BUT it still keeps popping-up in my mind.

[silverhorse]

That question has already been asked and answered mate BUT it still keeps popping-up in my mind.

I really MUST read all the posts with more care!!:troutslap

[richiemat]

Have you had a new windscreen lately?

[Leeds_finest]

Maybe it is washer fluid then guys? I just assumed it was coolant as it was in foot well etc

[M-R-P]

Squirt some washer fluid in your hand and see if its like what was in the footwell.

[Leeds_finest]

Will do, will also try washing the screen loads and see if any appears in footwell.

[M-R-P]

Also, try washing the rear window. Sounds weird but the pipe for the rear window runs up the passenger A-pillar, from behind the dash.

[Leeds_finest]

That had crossed my mind as the rear washer pipe always runs through car interiors doesn't it?

[ChrisB]

Hi Leeds_ finest, Heater matrix probs are not uncommon especially on the 1998 V70 T5's. I replaced mine twice in five years, it's NOT a dash out job, takes about 1-1.5 hours and does come out into the passenger foot well. If this is of any help e-mail me at brighill@btinternet .com and I will gladly run you through the proceedure. I was told by a breaker and main dealer that it was a dash out job, NOT SO!!!
Kind regards ChrisB

[M-R-P]

Hi Leeds_ finest, Heater matrix probs are not uncommon especially on the 1998 V70 T5's. I replaced mine twice in five years, it's NOT a dash out job, takes about 1-1.5 hours and does come out into the passenger foot well. If this is of any help e-mail me at brighill@btinternet .com and I will gladly run you through the proceedure. I was told by a breaker and main dealer that it was a dash out job, NOT SO!!!
Kind regards ChrisB

Unfortunately chris, Leeds' car is a phase 2 model and slightly more complicated but still do-able without taking the dash out. It's nice to see a new member so willing to help tho - top marks that man :)

[ChrisB]

Hi there Scrapyard, I was not sure which model Leeds had but thanks for putting me right.I have just swapped my T5 for an 05 Sonic blue V70R so perhaps you could enlighten me as to the procedure on the phase two cars so I am prepared in advance unless of course the matrix has become more reliable on the later cars.At the moment the fuel filler solenoid seems to have packed up and won't unlock with c/locking. Is this a common fault and are the solenoid's Volvo only. any advice appreciated,
Regards ChrisB

[M-R-P]

Well my car is 10 years old with 196600 miles on the clock and still on it's original matrix so I recon yours will be fine.

As for the fuel filler, presuming you've checked the fuse and wiring connections, have you given the solenoid/lock pin a good squirt of WD40 or the like? I would get the part number off it and look on fleabay or europarts etc. i would imagine there would be pattern versions available. Also, try one of the traders here, you might be surprised at the discount you get.
Don't overlook 2nd hand parts too as these don't often break.

Funny, usually you see threads where people complain that their fuel flap doesn't lock, without realising that it locks 10 minutes after locking the car.

[LeeT5]

S60 may be different to the V70. the haynes covers V70 S80 so there may be better info.

It's the same.

[LeeT5]

Its very easy to ascertain if the fluid on your carpet is coolant. Stick your finger in it and taste it!! If it tastes 'sweet' then its coolant. Spit it out straight away thou as its carcinogenic!!

Simples.

[ChrisB]

Hi Scrapyard Womble, Thanks again for the info. To be honest I haven't had time to do a thorough investigation but at least I can get at the solenoid plunger from the access panel in the rear load area and pull it back so I can re-fuel, Strangely enough it does lock itsef after about ten minutes, just won't unlock with the remote. I have tried the WD treatment but to no avail. I have also had to repair the wiring harness to the rear tailgate assembly in the near side pillar when the rear wiper stopped working. Two of the cables were broken and two on their last legs, at least Volvo are generous with their wiring loom to the rear tailgate and I was able to access the damaged loom easily. With regard to your comments on the heater matrix my V70 T5 circa 98 had a failed matrix when I bought the car although I didn't find this out until three weeks later which then explained why the car bought from a dealer was sold with No warranty implied or intended but it's easy to let your heart rule your head. The replacement was from Hella yet failed again three years later.