FTO AUSTRALIA

My car is steaming up constantly on the windows.

There's also a smell of coolant in the cabin and it's quite strong when the fans blowing.

There's no moisture on the footwell in the passengers side though.

When they go do they usually leak into the cabin?

I checked my radiator hoses and the overflow and nothing is leaking there.

Could anything else be the culprit or am I up for a new heater core?

I had same issur, pipes leak over front of the heatercore and build up moisture and the fan blows it up thru all the ducting. Its only going to get worse. Youll need to bypass your core and get some new pipes.

Demisterman in the uk make brass aftermarket ones instead of having the sh*tty plastic ones that are sh*tty and break.

Ok well the car has just run out of coolant very quickly.

How can you tell if its the water pump is gone?

Need replies asap please.

Dripping from directly under timing belt covers.

Ok heart attack has been avoided.

There's a considerable amount of coolant in the passengers well.

Ill pull the dash apart tomorrow and fingers crossed its just a hose.

Thanks for the help dude.

Dont take the dash out brother, just degas the aircon with a screw driver lol, take the evaporator out and slide the heater core out sideways.

Saves you having a rattling dash and fiddling around for hours trying to plug everything back in.

If you want to drive around without a heater its very easy just to get a brass connector, unplug the 2 hoses from the heatercore which are located behind approximately the battery, and join them together with the brass connector.

Any guides on how to do this?

For bypassing the heatercore or the evaporator/heatercore removal?

I can link u the guide just need to know which one.

I've figured out how to bypass it but the evaporator/heatercore removal is tricky.

I'm looking at everything and know what they are but it's the whole removing them bit that's stumped me.

Cheers

Shhtuart wrote:I've figured out how to bypass it but the evaporator/heatercore removal is tricky.

I'm looking at everything and know what they are but it's the whole removing them bit that's stumped me.

Cheers

Whole dash comes out.

2nd time I've had to say it this week, no it doesn't.

Just pull the evaporator & pull the heater core sideways out of it the heater assembly.

Got degas the AC & undo the lines from the engine bay side of the evap unit, but dont have to remove the dash. Evaporator is only held in by 4 x 14mm nuts inside, then you just have to loosen up the heater assembly enough that the heater core lines pull back through the firewall.

Bennoz wrote:2nd time I've had to say it this week, no it doesn't.

Just pull the evaporator & pull the heater core sideways out of it the heater assembly.

Got degas the AC & undo the lines from the engine bay side of the evap unit, but dont have to remove the dash. Evaporator is only held in by 4 x 14mm nuts inside, then you just have to loosen up the heater assembly enough that the heater core lines pull back through the firewall.

Well sorry prez,

OP - depends what's more painful for you - degassing the AC or removing dash.

bass_twitch wrote:

Bennoz wrote:2nd time I've had to say it this week, no it doesn't.

Just pull the evaporator & pull the heater core sideways out of it the heater assembly.

Got degas the AC & undo the lines from the engine bay side of the evap unit, but dont have to remove the dash. Evaporator is only held in by 4 x 14mm nuts inside, then you just have to loosen up the heater assembly enough that the heater core lines pull back through the firewall.

Well sorry prez,

OP - depends what's more painful for you - degassing the AC or removing dash.

Or in your case, the painful part was not having booked that extra nights accomodation

@ bass twitch, ive done this twice now? did you not read my posts?

Here is how you do it, WITHOUT removing the dash.

Replacing your heater matrix WITHOUT REMOVING THE DASH.

You only need some simple tools for this job but you will need to depressurise the air con system as you remove the air con evaporator. This is best done professionally but I was okay because mines had no gas in it anyway!

Tools you need are:

Pliers, preferable long nosed ones
10 & 12mm sockets
Long extension and flexible joint for socket set
10 & 12mm ring spanners
Cross headed screwdriver

Where to start is the first hurdle as it seems like a daunting job but you should manage it in about 3-4 hours.

First remove the centre armrest, undoing the two screws under the ashtray and the two inside the armrest. Put this away somewhere safe. Next remove the centre piece from around the gear stick and put it somewhere safe. This can be tricky so take your time so as not to break it.

You now need to remove the rest of the centre tunnel. This is done by removing three screws from either side and the two outer ones from under the clock binnacle. You will need to disconnect the electrics as you go obviously.

Now you need to remove your glove compartment. This is done by squeezing in the sides so it drops down then removing the two screws you can see. The grey rail it sits on can also be removed by undoing the bolts and screws you can see but there is another 10mm bolt at the bottom outer edge of the dashboard. On mine this allowed me to wiggle the support rail off.

Now you can remove your evaporator through this gap. To release the evaporator there are two 12mm nuts which need undone top and bottom and two electrical connections. The evaporator is still held in place from the outside at this point so you need to look under the bonnet. There are two 10mm bolts holding the hose connections in place as well as a rubber outlet pipe. The 10mm bolts are on a diamond shaped piece just behind the battery and the rubber pipe is about 300mm (a foot) down under the water pipes for the heater. This just pulls off.
Returning to the foot well you can now slide the evaporator out by pulling gently from the bottom and rotating it as you pull. Good, now put that all to one side

To remove the pipes from the heater matrix you need to look under the bonnet at where they enter and they are held on by clips. This is where the long nosed pliers come in handy as the clips are tucked away under brake pipes and space can be limited.

Return to the inside of the car and you can see where the heater matrix sits. You are now one screw and a couple of nuts away from your goal. The matrix sits in a white box held on with four 12mm nuts. The two in the passenger foot well are reasonably easy to get at and should be removed completely. The two on the drivers’ side are a bigger pain to reach, especially the upper one, but these should just be loosened as they do not need to be removed completely. Once this has been done the whole unit can be gently levered out from the passenger side bulkhead. NOT REMOVED but just brought out enough for the matrix pipes no longer to be sitting through the holes in the bulkhead. On the unit, between the two matrix pipes you will find a plastic hinged clip holding the matrix in place. This can be removed by loosening off the screw and lifting it out of its pivot hole. This hinge piece has had a lot of heat over the years so it will be brittle and may well break. If it does it is no big deal. Now you can slide/ wiggle the heater matrix out and replace it with that nice new one.

As they say in all the best books, fitting is the reverse on the above. As I said, it can be time consuming but if you go about it in an organised way then 3-4 hours should be sufficient.

For some reason, postcount on this forum doesn't reflect users knowledge on the actual car itself anymore

silverGPX wrote:@ bass twitch, ive done this twice now? did you not read my posts?

Sure I read them,
Doesn't mean I paid them any attention. You're normally trolling or some smartass comment.

Anyway, good to see you contributing something worthwhile
Ironically, this comment doesn't

Getting back on track...

I've joined the two hoses that run behind the battery into the matrix through the firewall.

I used a 19mm watering system hose joiner from bunnings

I found that demisterman site from the UK and I'll order one tonight.

As for the case of dash removal or AC degass, it's winter and being in Melbourne I'm doubting the AC will be on until october/november so if worse comes to worst I'll go the AC option.

Thanks again for the help!

Just for future reference;

Heater Core / Matrix,

With both matrix & pipes - http://www.demisterman.co.uk/Mitsubishi ... %20set.php

Just the matrix - http://www.demisterman.co.uk/Mitsubishi ... matrix.php

Just the pipes - http://www.demisterman.co.uk/Mitsubishi ... matrix.php

The pipes and matrix just cost me $160AUD shipped. Very pleased, I thought i was up for a lot more.

He isn't shipping anything until the 11/6/12 due to stocktake.

Didn't feel like going for the Magna one? Which is the same?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/MAGNA-HEATER ... 500wt_1413

Bennoz wrote:Didn't feel like going for the Magna one? Which is the same?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/MAGNA-HEATER ... 500wt_1413

LOL

Why does this not surprise me?

I'll stick with the brass ones, much longer lifespan than plastic. The next owner is going to have a nearly brand new FTO