Any tips for replacing a heater matrix? (306)

[Danez 6 1 Cars]

I need to replace the heater matrix in my turbo diesel 306 (Coolant found in the passenger footwell, blower reeks) 
Looking at the haynes manual it seems simple enough if not time consuming a tedious. but I'll give myself a few days to do it. 

Just wondering if anyone here has done this and has any wise words before i start ripping apart the dash!

 

cheers

[calvinhorse 870]

Take your time, walk away if it’s stressing you out, get stuck in it not so bad

 

replace your brake light switch while you’re in there

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

CG cars in Leicester told me he could have a matrix out in 20 mins, take it there, hours labour at most to replace. 
 

took me about 7 hours from memory and it had a least one wood screw in it when I put it back together. 

[Danez 6 1 Cars]

12 hours ago, allanallen said:

CG cars in Leicester told me he could have a matrix out in 20 mins, take it there, hours labour at most to replace. 
 

took me about 7 hours from memory and it had a least one wood screw in it when I put it back together. 

2 and a half hour drive away.....tempting...

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

I've got a guide somewhere from when I did mine, I'll have a look in the next day or two & see if I can attach it to a reply (might be too big).

 

As said though, not to bad as long as you're not in a rush to get it done.

 

I did mine at the same time as an engine swap.

 

g

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

5 hours ago, Danez said:

2 and a half hour drive away.....tempting...

I’d take my comment with a pinch of salt as I honestly think there’s no chance, worth asking though! 

[Danez 6 1 Cars]

39 minutes ago, pug_ham said:

I've got a guide somewhere from when I did mine, I'll have a look in the next day or two & see if I can attach it to a reply (might be too big).

 

As said though, not to bad as long as you're not in a rush to get it done.

 

I did mine at the same time as an engine swap.

 

g

That'd be brilliant cheers  

Yeah I've got 4 days off work so no need to rush, plenty of brews will be had

19 minutes ago, allanallen said:

I’d take my comment with a pinch of salt as I honestly think there’s no chance, worth asking though! 

Just rung them and they quoted £360 plus vat 
Not too bad considering they're French specialists but I don't fancy spending that much to drive that distance

cheers for the heads up anyway 

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

£360 + vat for an hours work, can’t be bad!

 

Seem to think I broke the matrix pipes on mine where it comes out of the bulkhead, double pipe thing, very brittle plastic/clip affair

Edited October 19, 2020 by allanallen

[welshpug 1,657]

6 hours is book time from memory, which I have done one in, ac cars take a little longer but not much.

 

make sure you buy the right matrix, ah use BEHR, non ac used valeo.

[petert 586]

disable air bag

remove steering wheel

drop steering column

undo dash retaining bolts, inc those on firewall

pull dash backwards away from firewall

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

I'll have to check my other external hdd for it but it was basically a pdf print off of this guide & this guide from the 306 GTI-6/rallye forum.

 

5 hours ago, allanallen said:

Seem to think I broke the matrix pipes on mine where it comes out of the bulkhead, double pipe thing, very brittle plastic/clip affair

I damaged the matrix side of this on my new matrix forcing it through the rubber bung on the bulkhead but luckily I got it to stay together until the car was scrapped a few years later.

 

g

[Danez 6 1 Cars]

Cheers for the replies 

 

forgot to mention I have an immobiliser keypad. Is the best way to turn the car on, and then unplug the keypad while the cars running? 

[Danez 6 1 Cars]

6 hours ago, pug_ham said:

I'll have to check my other external hdd for it but it was basically a pdf print off of this guide & this guide from the 306 GTI-6/rallye forum.

 

I damaged the matrix side of this on my new matrix forcing it through the rubber bung on the bulkhead but luckily I got it to stay together until the car was scrapped a few years later.

 

g

Nice one cheers, a PDF of that second guide would be really handy as I can't get those images to load!

[Danez 6 1 Cars]

Found this recent guide with pics  

http://www.306gti6.com/forum/showthread.php?id=168346

Edited October 20, 2020 by Danez
added link

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

That's pretty good & should help.

 

I've attached a zip file both of the pdf guides I made when I was researching doing mine.

 

g

306_heater_matrix_change.zip

[Danez 6 1 Cars]

4 minutes ago, pug_ham said:

That's pretty good & should help.

 

I've attached a zip file both of the pdf guides I made when I was researching doing mine.

 

g

306_heater_matrix_change.zip

That's bloody brilliant that is, cheers bud

[Danez 6 1 Cars]

can’t get the bastard matrix pipes out 

 

any ideas? moving the little clip to the right and trying to pull them out but nothing budges 

even tried to use some cable to pull it out but nowt! 

 

[Danez 6 1 Cars]

never mind, immediately after posting that i managed to lever it out with a hammer handle 

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

6 hours ago, Danez said:

never mind, immediately after posting that i managed to lever it out with a hammer handle 

Yeah that’s the bit I broke, well done

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

6 hours ago, Danez said:

never mind, immediately after posting that i managed to lever it out with a hammer handle 

@Tom Fenton a man after your own with his multi function hammer  

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

12 hours ago, allanallen said:

@Tom Fenton a man after your own with his multi function hammer  

If you can't fix it then f*ck it....

[Danez 6 1 Cars]

Job done, new matrix in and it seems to be running fine. That old nasty smell has gone. The heater box had a puddle of coolant in it and one thing I noticed- when I took out the old matrix there were no o rings to be seen? The new one had some (between the matrix flange with the two 8mm bolts and the mating face on the bulkhead) So maybe the old one leaked because it didn't have any? 

Anyway there is a new smell....it's nowhere near as bad as the old one but it smells a bit like damp/maybe coolant? only when the heaters on. I really hope it's just some residue in the ducting that will eventually go away and maybe its just a new matrix smell. I also spilt coolant over the exhaust manifold so hopefully it's just some of that burning off too. 

We'll see anyway  

 

On 10/18/2020 at 7:51 PM, allanallen said:

CG cars in Leicester told me he could have a matrix out in 20 mins, take it there, hours labour at most to replace. 
 

took me about 7 hours from memory and it had a least one wood screw in it when I put it back together. 

Got really annoyed with the lower bolt that secures the heating unit to the floor in front of the gear stick, ended up taking your advice and a woodscrew worked wonderfully 

[Danez 6 1 Cars]

bit of a disaster this morning

After the heavy rain overnight i came to a big puddle of water (And possibly coolant) in the passenger footwell. 
What could this be? the fact that it rained really bad last night makes me think it surely a plugged drain somewhere? 

Even before this there was still a strange chemically smell which I'm not sure if it was coolant or not. 

I'll attach a pic 

 

Really hope i dont have to take the dash out again....

 

 

[welshpug 1,657]

doesnt look like coolant, does the car have a sunroof?

[Anthony 1,003]

Dip your finger in it and taste it - you'll soon know whether there's antifreeze or not.

 

I can't remember if 306's are the same, but I know on 205's if you don't fit the scuttle panel cover properly you get water in the footwell when it rains, so worth double checking that if it doesn't taste sweet.