Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: andyj007 on Thursday,July 29, 2021, 01:25:55 PM
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hi clever people , how do you turn the heater off? can seem to stop it blowing hot air,? hi guys, on an s2 , i have the rocker switch., the pull lever under the arm rest front, and the vents under dash , but this always blow hot air, I'm guessing the lever by the arm rest when pulled out is supposed to open the heat valve, but when closed cold air,, I'm guess somewhere is a valve that is stuck open? any ideas?
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Heater valve is the brass, round-shaped thing with two hoses going to it, between the air cleaner and the coolant swirl pot:
(http://cossdesign.com/ASSETS/LotusEuropaPhotos/EuropaEngine4.jpg)
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Very common for it to not fully close. To temporarily close, squeeze the hose with a shut off clamp.
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61oSeTdtzuL._AC_SL1500_.jpg)
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You can a modern shut off valve if you would like to keep the possibility of heat. I used an inline valve from an early VW Golf/Rabbit.
(https://images.nexusapp.co/assets/c6/77/99/258630359.jpg)
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:Welcome:
The lever in the front of the armrest should close a valve in a hose in the engine bay when pushed in (towards the back of the car). I have a Twin Cam not an S2 so I'm not exactly sure where (in the Twin Cam the valve screws into the thermostat housing). It won't be instant though as the air still blows through the heater matrix and this has to cool down. There are flaps under the dash (next to the knee nearest the tunnel to stop it blowing down, but you can't stop it blowing at the screen through the top vents. You should only get ambient air through the two eyeball vents TCS at either end of the dash as this air doesn't get heated.
I see I was too slow typing my reply!
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yes teh the vents work well the fast you go the more air, but the heater is pumping hot air in.. i doubt its even needed to be honest will try to manualy close it .in the engine bay.. i will get a stut off t and shut it off completly . i assume that teh hose to teh heater element just serves that purpose, so to cut that off just stops teh warm flow to teh heater core?
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:Welcome: andyj007!!
JB and Silverbeast beat me to it. The standard heater valve, which I believe is also found on several other Brit cars, can be hard to open and impossible to completely close with the cable actuator in the car. JB has a much better solution. Until you implement something like that, resign yourself to opening the engine cover and fully closing it for the summer and opening it for the winter by hand. There is significant resistance to its opening and fully closing that has to be overcome and the cable is just not up to the job.
Silverbeast described the TC setup very well. From looking at the S2 owner's manual (http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/s2owner/index.htm) the S2 has similar capability but is implemented differently. There are levers on either side of the backbone that direct the air either to the cabin (i.e. your legs) or to the windshield. I would direct the air to the windshield during the winter (if you do get hot water to your heater/demister core, you'll hardly feel it when it goes there. In the winter, generally direct the air to the cabin. I think the S2 is similar to the TC in that the air intake for the heater is from a large hole in the middle of the front trunk. You could block that off if you find it annoying. The side "eyeball" vents will still work.
Good luck and I know we'd all appreciate it if you would post some pictures of your baby!
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yes teh the vents work well the fast you go the more air, but the heater is pumping hot air in.. i doubt its even needed to be honest will try to manualy close it .in the engine bay.. i will get a stut off t and shut it off completly . i assume that teh hose to teh heater element just serves that purpose, so to cut that off just stops teh warm flow to teh heater core?
That's right, if that valve is closed completely, that should cut off all the hot water to your heater core and it shouldn't be hot anymore (at least till the water in the core cools down!).
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Since I posted the user manuals I thought I should post the workshop and parts manuals (along with probably the most information on parts x-references, modifications, other manuals, etc. in one place). Bookmark it: http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/
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The TC heater valve is famous for needing "help" to close fully. The S1/2 heater valve is famous for not closing fully no matter what you do.
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thank you all for the quick responses will tinker tommorrow and report back
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I removed the shut off valve and found it fouled with all types of debris. After flushing I added a 10percent solution of muriatic acid and let it sit overnight. Worked 100 percent afterwards.
Dakazman
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This company make a nice valve https://kitplaneparts.com
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I taped a piece of plastic over the heater intake hole in the front trunk.
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In the water line?
Dakazman
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I think he means plastic over the air intake in the front trunk
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Aughh that’s right, I completely forgot about that intake.
It’s probably the easiest but the heat is still in the cabin area.
Dakazman
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ok so i need to get the manule out to understand the system, .
firstly clearly my heater rad i still getting hot, so my valve is sticky or broken. i have two of the clamps posted earlier comming tommorow to try..
i have an lots of heat comming through the front vents directectly under the screen.. when stationary this is pretty much non flowing, but when traveling this blows in fast.. guess it is fed through natural air passage. is that the center hole in the bonnet? that was suggested to be tapped closed..
regardless if my heater rad has hot water or not im guess8ng there is no way of shutting air of to this feed,
the vents under the dash open and close letting heat from the heater rad or just cool air if the heater has its hot water feed closed properly..
have i got that right?
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You are correct in all you said.
The control in the front of the armrest just controls the heat of the heater radiator.
Speed related airflow will always travel into the heater radiator through the hole in the centre of the front luggage compartment/plenum chamber. This will always blow into the screen at whatever is set by the heater control.
The flaps on either side of the heater determine if air also flows out onto the passengers legs.
Air flow can be boosted using the heater fan, which is actually mounted on the outside front of the front luggage compartment/plenum chamber in the compartment where the spare wheel is stored.
The eyeball vents at either end of the dash only deliver ambient air, again speed related flow rate, with the same fan boosting flow as the air to these is also delivered via the two holes at either side of the front luggage compartment. These can be closed individually.
If you fill your front compartment, you won't get any airflow!
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great thanks for the confirmation.. will tape that off, crimp the hoses.. and see how e get on..
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Andy,
The other thing you could do if you just want to shut the heater off permanently is to use short lengths of hose on the water pump connections and clamp a bolt in those short hoses.
This would leave all the cold air flow to be directed as you wish.
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I agree with Gavin .
Another way would be to take the hose off the pump. Buy a 5/8 heater hose approximately 18” long and connect the supply and return line . This will give you time to flush the lines and the valve and still drive the car.
Dakazman
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If you just join the supply and return heater connections, bypassing the heater core, then you have a lot of coolant bypassing the radiator. This may lead to overheating on a hot day.
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It seems to me that the flow would be shut off at the valve anyway unless there is a leak rate in the off position built into the valve gate.
So your saying hot water is always running into the box and the air vent doors should be shut.
I’m only questioning this because I don’t have a heater and I do plan on bypassing in this manner.
I will surely watch the water temp gauge.
Dakazman
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If you also plumb in the shut off valve, then it won't be a full-on bypass. If you are not hooking up the heater core, then just don't hook anything up and fit plugs to the inlet and outlet.
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It's an interesting discussion. My S2 has never had a problem shutting off the heater valve completely from the control on the console. It must be one of those situations where your experience may vary!
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The heater control knob on the console is hard to 'maneuver'. Regardless, I am not getting HOT AIR into the cabin through the 2 vents by the windshield. I don't have the owner's manual, so can one of you provide instructions as to which POSITION of the heater control know will turn the heat off.
I have a '74 Twin Cam Special. Thanks much for responding!
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With the heat control knob in the armrest pushed in (towards the back of the car) the valve screwed into the thermostat housing should be fully closed, for cold air. If it's still getting warm your valve isn't working.
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All the manuals can be found here:
http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/index.htm
The heater valve used on the TC is well known for being problematic. Often you can have it set to close properly or open fully, but not both. Very common for people to disconnect the control cable and work it manually. Check and see if yours is disconnected. New valves do work better than 50 year old ones.
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And by the way :Welcome:
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Thank you for your comments and welcome ! My Europa is OTHERWISE perfect! A fully-restored, perfect running fun car !
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Try disconnecting the cable from the valve on the thermostat housing and see if you can close it further and shut off the flow. It might just be clamped at the wrong place on the cable. You'll also be able to check the cable inner runs smoothly in the outer. I think they are supposed to lock at the cabin end when you twist them a bit too, like the choke.
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The TC heater valve is famous for needing "help" to close fully. The S1/2 heater valve is famous for not closing fully no matter what you do.
I know this is resurrecting an old thread...but...if you switch the hose positions on the valve..it usually works better, since it's just a flat piece of metal that covers the inlet hole, but the pressure of the water flow cracks it open a tad. If you reverse the hose positions (may take some fiddling...), the pressure will be against the back of the valve flap instead of the side facing the hose connection, so it will keep it closed.