Replace Heater Matrix - WITH A/C

Firstly, anyone following this guide do so of their own free will. This guide was based on how I personally changed the heater matrix without having to disconnect the A/C system.
If you bend or rupture a pipe on the A/C system and get a face full of gas and oil... please don't come crying to me!

Please use appropriate safety equipment... like goggles!!

So, I have successfully changed the heater matrix WITHOUT having the air conditioning system disconnected. It's a bit of a faf, but reasonably easy with a little care and some common sense!

The hardest part to get over is the air conditioning pipes sit behind the window wiper mechanism and also stops the unit being pulled straight out.
So, inevitably, some parts need to come off!

Everything I took off went in to a plastic Chinese tub. Then, things like screws don't get lost, and I know if I've put everything back on at the end!

To start, we need one of these:

[image]4225[/image]

Firstly, remove the wiper arms, the scuttle plate/cover, coolant expansion tank, the plastic strip that runs along the bulkhead, wiper motor/mechanism and finally the HCV.

This will leave you with something that resembles this:

[image]4226[/image]

[image]4227[/image]

On the left side of the engine bay, you will see a rubber mount (almost underneath the screen wash bottle top) which holds the two air con pipes. Pull the lower one out of the rubber, then from the plastic clip further along.

[image]4231[/image]

Also, I disconnected the electrical plug from the air con pipe. The other end of that wire was plugged in on the right side near the fuel tank evap purge unit. I unplugged it here also so I could remove the wire totally out of the way.

Remove the two small pipes from the heater matrix and remove the four screws which hold the black plastic cover (that the pipes come through).
Lift up the black cover, but at the same time, you want push the heater matrix pipes so they push through, leaving the matrix behind.

Now, deep breath because this is the 'iffy' part.... GENTLY manipulate the air con pipes so the heat exchanger unit can be pulled out but allowing the pipes to clear the bodywork above. An extra pair of hands at this point to help manipulate the pipes is a good idea.

After a bit of jiggery pokery, you should hopefully end up with something like this:

[image]4228[/image]

[image]4229[/image]

Phew, we can breathe now. We can see the lovely little heater matrix hiding in that dark hole. Pull the top of it forwards, towards the front of the car, then lift it out.

Out of interest, I had a look in the hole and found this:

[image]4230[/image]

Hmm, that's what has been evaporating and making my windscreen mist up!

It's easy to reach in there, so grab a hand full of kitchen roll and give it a damn good clean!

Put everything back together but in the reverse of removal, again being very careful with the air con pipes. Bend them too much and you'll end up creasing/rupturing one!

I took the opportunity to give the moving parts of the wiper mechanism a squirt with lubricant as they were starting to sound a bit dodgy.

When all back together, start her up and wait for the coolant to warm up. Pop the heater on hot and wait for the heat to come through.
A little squeeze of some coolant pipes may be necessary and don't forget to check the coolant level too!

This is absolute and utter nonsense.
You shall not be able to remove the matrix from behind the aircon heat exchanger as the piping of the matrix itself shall not allow it to be cleanly taken out irrespective of how careful , intricate and super human you are.so all of this post is absolute and utter rubbish ,DO NOT DO IT!
Best way is to remove the aircon pipe from the heat exchanger-use either ford special tool for disconnecting pipework or make your own from a standard water bottle plastic cap made into a round clip and inserted by a pair of pliers and up the joint below the flange of the connection which is push-fit , then when finished ; regas the system.
This is the only way , believe me I tried-being a mechanic for the last 25 years- and there is no other way!

Sounds conflicting, the above post was (I assume) written out of completing the task in the order described which must mean that it can be done?

pumarian said:

[post]361063[/post] This is absolute and utter nonsense.
You shall not be able to remove the matrix from behind the aircon heat exchanger as the piping of the matrix itself shall not allow it to be cleanly taken out irrespective of how careful , intricate and super human you are.so all of this post is absolute and utter rubbish ,DO NOT DO IT!
Best way is to remove the aircon pipe from the heat exchanger-use either ford special tool for disconnecting pipework or make your own from a standard water bottle plastic cap made into a round clip and inserted by a pair of pliers and up the joint below the flange of the connection which is push-fit , then when finished ; regas the system.
This is the only way , believe me I tried-being a mechanic for the last 25 years- and there is no other way!

Click to expand...

Jeez, I think someone needs to wind their neck in a wee tad!
I didn't see anyone else on here having a problem with this post... Being a 'mechanic' for over 25yrs gives you the right to register on here, trawl through posts that are years old and slag off the contents? Unless of course you are better than us..?!

This forum has members that do like to work on their own cars and are not afraid to try. So if anyone who can do something without the need to use a mechanic and succeeds at it... good on them!
And if they have managed to do something that you can't do then you have my commiserations. Nothing is impossible!

red said:

[post]361094[/post] Sounds conflicting, the above post was (I assume) written out of completing the task in the order described which must mean that it can be done?

Click to expand...

Yes Red, obviously it can be done as the pictures prove!

pumarian said:

[post]361063[/post]
............. believe me I tried-being a mechanic for the last 25 years- and there is no other way!

Click to expand...

And appear to have failed!!

Both are right - it can be done but it does need you to massage the pipes a bit.

I've an air con machine and the tool so far far more preferable to recover the gas, disconnect the pipes and do it with space.

On your driveway if you're stuck and don't want the expense of two visits to the AC man then yes, bend the pipes a bit. Obviously with all appropriate warnings that if something fractures you're going to injure the planet and potentially yourself if you breathe any in. While not toxic on its own its heavier than air so any you inhale will displace oxygen in your lungs, not pleasant.

Ditto the advice about making a tool out of a bottle cap and pliers - that will also work but no mention of recovery of the gas first. Dangerous for yourself and also illegal to deliberately vent.

All said - you may have success doing without any damage so while I don't particularly agree with the tone of the second post I do think its worth saying for yourself and the planet, proceed with the appropriate knowledge.

To All concerned..
Please do pay attention as the least I want to do is to offend or be rude to anybody here on these forums.
Please also note that I am also a mechanic of over 30 years experience, although I no longer perform except on my own driveway and only work on my own vehicles these days.
Allow me to explain the real difficulties with this suggested method and I do have reservations as to how this is at all possible since I tried 3 full days trying to ;
1-remove the plastic cover on top of the whole matrix/exchange unit without dismantling the parts and short of totally destroying it there is no chance at all!
2-Having destroyed the plastic cover above and unless you take the piping off the top of the heat exchanger,it`ll not come out
since the space underneath is far too small and there are a couple of lugs scraping against the face of the unit if you try and wriggle out of the place which is basically impossible and it beat me with all my experience and patience and would like to know who did it without destroying any part of this unit.
Therefore,my advce is basically this;Buy a Ford aircon pipe dismantling tool( around £40.00 plus VAT from Ford)get the aircon gas retrieved properly,then do the job ,since there are no short cuts as suggested.Apart from this post above I have seen nothing to convince me any better as I did search far and wide to find a similar article..
Once again my apologies for anybody who may have been offended but having triued for 3 days and not succeeding a bit of frasturation had to have creepped in.
Good luck to All.

Sorry..a final point..
I also tried and failed on bottle caps and pliers...it`ll not work and forget about the you tube video on this .The Best policy;" Pays the money and takes the choice."get the proper pipe release tool from Ford...please to save your sanity,

Sealey have equivalent tools, you only need the white and blue from this set to do a full Puma worth of pipes -

http://bit.ly/2oR242c

Pumarian... My response wasn't intended how it may have sounded, but it annoys me when people claim things are not possible when it is quite easily proven otherwise. Surely looking at the pictures proves this doesn't it?

So, how can I be so sure about this...? Probably because I was the original poster. This job was undertaken on my old '98 Jewel Green Puma.

The reason I attempted this myself...
I started to get misting inside the windscreen which was greasy when wiped and almost impossible to dry off, so needed to be fixed irrespective of anything.
At the time I was working 6 days a week (Mon to Sat) with a daily commute of 50miles each way, generally leaving at around 05:00 and returning home after 18:00 if I was lucky. My outgoings were greater than what i was earning especially with having to fill the petrol tank every 2 days or so. I didn't have the luxury of knowing anyone with any mechanical knowledge nor could I afford to pay someone to fix it either and there was little time to have the car off the road so I attempted the job myself.

This was not a job where I just ripped everything apart without any care. I knew (and still know) the legal and environmental implications if I had ruptured a pipe!
I took my time and was VERY careful in how I moved the pipework to avoid bending and kinking. If I would have had ANY thought that I was going to stuff something up I would have left it any found another solution**.
The plastic cover was removed without damage but obviously needed sealing again after refitting.

Yes, I agree that in an ideal world the A/C system should have been properly degassed and the pipework correctly disconnected but due to my situation I had to do what I had to do.

** I could have just disconnected/bypassed the HCV and gone without heating until I got it 'properly' fixed but I didn't have that much knowledge of the Puma at that time.

Hi Cherryvimto,
I must admit that having worked on it for 3 days and not able to do what you say have been done, may have crept into my first post as unadulterated frustration for which I apologise.The hardest part was to be able to move the top seal of the opening along the aircon pipes which at the end had to be cut...Also to try and slide the heat exchanger and the cooler from that hole was impossible as the outside pipe of the cooler was in the way or the lugs inside the hole was in the case of the exchanger so both failed when the aircon pipes weren`t dismantled first.You may have been lucky or magical with your hands if you have managed to do it but it did take at least 5 years off my life and exhausted my dictionary of expletives.