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Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 12:51 pm
by Goz
This was a job id been putting off all summer but as it turned out, it was easy enough...

My Capri developed a burning smell. Smelt a bit like clutch burning but it turned out to be only when the heater was on. I managed to pull the wires off the heater resistor so i could ignore it for the rest of the summer

There's a lot of information on the interweb but i thought it might help if i put what i did on here

Firstly you don't need to strip the whole dash out, see photo. Only the lower dash pieces need removing, glove box, ashtray panel, flimsy pedal cover and center console. the hardest part was getting the bracket, holding the red relay, off (single 10mm hex bolt hidden under wiring loom)
car interior.jpg
To remove the heater, drain radiator, remove hoses from bulkhead pipes, flush through heater with clean water to prevent carpet staining. Remove oval bulkhead plate and seal. inside car, disconnect heater cables from side of box, in drivers footwell. They just lever out when outercable is unbolted. remove wires from resistor. then undo the four 10mm nuts fixing heater to the car. with a bit of a wiggle the whole assembly can be lowered and slid out into the passenger footwell
heater box.jpg
Once out of the car the heater can be split into 2 half's, there's 2 metal clips by the motor, then the rest just levers apart carefully
you can then see the state of the motor, the resistor and the mouldy foam on the flaps. My motor was all melted, the resistor was rusty but complete. I decided to change it anyway

You can buy properly made resistors off the Capri sites, but all you need is a 2.2ohm 10w resistor like this one, eBay item number:262310244799, £2.39 posted. i mounted it on a bit of ally plate and put the wires out through rubber grommets. not exactly concourse or original but if it works i don't care
new resitor.jpg
fitted in box, it just clears fan so should get plenty of cooling
resitor stripped box.jpg
as i said, the old motor was all melted. a bit of research found that a mercedes sprinter one fitted (bosch part number 0130 007 027) which i found on ebay for £21.50 (eBay item number:172804792531). When it finally arrived (royal mail 48, cough 6 days! delivery) it was exactly the same as the old one! the plastic holder fitted perfect and even the wiring terminals were the same.
i carefully prised the fan off the old motor. sawing the motor apart to gain better access
old motor.jpg
i then put some new bits of foam around the heater matrix and cleaned the flaps. then put it all back together. tested the fan with a battery on both speeds for a while
the refitting is a reverse of removal, as they say in the manuals...

i managed to fix my heater for less than £30, with about 5hrs labour.
i hope this is useful information and helps somebody out

EDIT....
my MK2 has a BEHR plastic heater fitted to it, which i believe is the same as MK3s but different to the earlier metal heaters
behr.jpg

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:04 pm
by pbar
That's a superb write up of a job which a lot of people fear. Good one. Wonder if the MK2 and MK3 heater boxes/components are the same, it looks like it from your pics. Good cheap fix with the resistor too.

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:05 pm
by stevemarl
Fantastic write-up - sure to be of help to people in the future! Thanks for taking the time.
(you beat me to it Paul !!!)

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:22 pm
by Bug
pbar wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:04 pm That's a superb write up of a job which a lot of people fear. Good one. Wonder if the MK2 and MK3 heater boxes/components are the same, it looks like it from your pics. Good cheap fix with the resistor too.
They are the same, yes, unless you get a very early Mk2 which may still have the original Smiths heater. They were basically the same, but metal cased.

I used to save up old heater assemblies, then people could provide whatever new components they needed, I'd build up a new assembly, then do a straight swap over at their convenience.

My record was 45 minutes from start to finish, using the same method shown above.

Only difference was, I used to remove the dash panel and then take the whole heater control assembly out with the box. (Again, i had spares available). That way I could set up the control cables and be sure they had full range of movement before I put it all back in.

One final point........... I'm sure the four retaining screws were actually 11mm?
May sound trivial, but not when you're upsidedown in the footwell wondering why the socket won't fit :D

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:52 pm
by pbar
Thanks very much Martin, all read, understood, and noted :)

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 6:03 pm
by Goz
Bug wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:22 pm
pbar wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:04 pm
One final point........... I'm sure the four retaining screws were actually 11mm?
May sound trivial, but not when you're upsidedown in the footwell wondering why the socket won't fit :D
apologies, ive just checked and you are right. they are 11mm nuts.

tried to edit my post but it wont let me....

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 6:13 pm
by Jasonmarie
:applaud: Well done that man as everybody says not a easy job and you need a good back to get under that dash :beer:

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 6:49 pm
by Bug
Goz wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2020 6:03 pm
Bug wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:22 pm
pbar wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2020 1:04 pm
One final point........... I'm sure the four retaining screws were actually 11mm?
May sound trivial, but not when you're upsidedown in the footwell wondering why the socket won't fit :D
apologies, ive just checked and you are right. they are 11mm nuts.

tried to edit my post but it wont let me....
No prob. I appreciate that you took the time to document it all.

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 9:16 pm
by Not_Anumber
Thats a very good write up

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 7:14 am
by pbar
Goz wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2020 6:03 pm
tried to edit my post but it wont let me....
I think you only have a time limit of one hour to do that. Don't worry though. Superb write up and info, it will help a lot of people out, one of the best threads around here at the moment.

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:25 am
by STEVEW
Hi Goz

Tips, tricks and alternative parts - a super post.
Many thanks.
:applaud:

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 11:50 am
by stevemarl
STEVEW wrote: Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:25 am alternative parts
Especially that. £72 ?

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 7:47 pm
by STEVEW
Spot on Stevemarl

:agree:

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2020 6:03 am
by atomic4
Been there, done that a couple of times over the years of my ownership of capris. Have to admit, a job well done when it all works tho. :applaud: :woot:

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2020 8:20 am
by Andrew 2.8i
As said by the others, that's a great write-up that is sure to prove to lots of people in the future.
I'm particularly interested in the use of an alternative Bosch heater motor, especially as there is a significant cost saving over the Capri item. It's reassuring to know that the motors are identical and won't need any modifications to fit.

Andrew.

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2020 4:45 pm
by D366Y
This is a great write up thank you! Ordered a new Bosch Sprinter motor and it fits right in, and at £29 as opposed to £55-60 for a 'capri' one I'm well chuffed.

I have a question about the resistor... I found this part and thought it may be easier to use as I wouldn't have to make as much to re-make one as naturally the original has cracked in half.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aluminium-Cl ... CbkwwIS0Ug

My question is, would this work, and am I better getting a 10W 2.2Ohm resistor, or going for a 25W 4.7Ohm resistor or will it not make that much of a difference anyway?
Only thinking of using this part as it's roughly the same size and shape as the old resistor and would be easier for my skills to mount onto a board, and I can still then use the coil wound inside my old resistor to connect it to a new board - or even just glue that old board back together and use this to keep it together...??

Thanks
Danny

EDIT:
I did find this bargain for a NOS resistor if you want it?!? :shock:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MK2-ESCORT-M ... Swc6Relu2u

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2020 11:25 pm
by stevemarl
The 4.7ohm resistor will just `pass` less current than a 2.2ohm one so the motor will run a bit slower: couldn`t say which will give nearest to the original low sppeed but I`d have thought 4.7 cos it is quite a lot slower (quieter) than on high? Maybe get one of each and see which you prefer, they`re both ok. (The power shouldn`t exceed 10w in either case, and they are rated in free air not with a cooling fan so a 10w R should be more than adequate. The wattage of a resistor is to do with how much power it can dissipate before failing, it`s not that it`s more `powerful`as such (sorry if you knew that :oops: )

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Fri May 01, 2020 9:50 am
by D366Y
stevemarl wrote: Thu Apr 30, 2020 11:25 pm The 4.7ohm resistor will just `pass` less current than a 2.2ohm one so the motor will run a bit slower: couldn`t say which will give nearest to the original low sppeed but I`d have thought 4.7 cos it is quite a lot slower (quieter) than on high? Maybe get one of each and see which you prefer, they`re both ok. (The power shouldn`t exceed 10w in either case, and they are rated in free air not with a cooling fan so a 10w R should be more than adequate. The wattage of a resistor is to do with how much power it can dissipate before failing, it`s not that it`s more `powerful`as such (sorry if you knew that :oops: )
Hi Steve that's great thanks for letting me know! I might just get one of each like you said, both cars need doing so I'll put one in each and see what the difference is??

Thanks also for clarifying about the wattage, I didn't know how much goes through the resistor or if it would just fail immediately if it wasn't high enough!

Cheers
Danny

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Fri May 01, 2020 9:51 am
by Goz
Glad this was useful to you Danny

re the resistor. i managed to measure the resistance of the original at 2.2 ohms, so that is what i used for the replacement. as Steve says a 4.7 ohm resistor would just make the motor run slower

the original mounting board seems to be made of crumblyium and disintegrates when you touch it, so i just made a plate out of ally and passed wires out through rubber grommets. mainly because thats what i had lying around. you can by the proper insulating board from electronics suppliers if you look around

please let us know how you get on and post any pictures for reference

Re: Heater repairs Mk2 GL

Posted: Fri May 01, 2020 11:06 am
by stevemarl
Goz wrote: Fri May 01, 2020 9:51 am i managed to measure the resistance of the original at 2.2 ohms, so that is what i used for the replacement
That`s really useful for future reference, thanks.