Veero 1 Posted June 29, 2006 A colleague at work has a 306 cab and a small leak from the heater matrix. I dont think hes particularly great with a spanner and at all costs would like to avoid paying a garage vast sums of money to change it for him. So roughly how many hours would a garage charge/quote to change a heater matrix? I vaguely remember someone mentioning a garage saying 20+ hours labour. As a stop gap hes wondering about Radweld and his mum said to put an egg in. Presumably the heater matrix is exactly the same as the main radiator so if it is just a pinhole then Radweld (although not an ideal solution) might fix it, but if he did use an egg how should it be administered? Scrambled, poached, engine hot or not?? Also I did a search and found nothing specifically on the 306 other than it's a pain, but also someone said Radweld particles are too big and use Bars Stop Leak or something (comes in a small grey bottle from the 'Frauds) instead. If anyone has changed the matrix on a 306 how long has it taken and do you literally have to remove the whole dash? Cheers Veero Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TSL 333 Posted June 29, 2006 A colleague at work has a 306 cab and a small leak from the heater matrix. I dont think hes particularly great with a spanner and at all costs would like to avoid paying a garage vast sums of money to change it for him. So roughly how many hours would a garage charge/quote to change a heater matrix? I vaguely remember someone mentioning a garage saying 20+ hours labour. As a stop gap hes wondering about Radweld and his mum said to put an egg in. Presumably the heater matrix is exactly the same as the main radiator so if it is just a pinhole then Radweld (although not an ideal solution) might fix it, but if he did use an egg how should it be administered? Scrambled, poached, engine hot or not?? Also I did a search and found nothing specifically on the 306 other than it's a pain, but also someone said Radweld particles are too big and use Bars Stop Leak or something (comes in a small grey bottle from the 'Frauds) instead. If anyone has changed the matrix on a 306 how long has it taken and do you literally have to remove the whole dash? Cheers Veero Never used an egg. (What's the difference between an egg and a wank? You can beat an egg!!!) Regarding Radweld, I have heard this can block the internals of the matrix if the Radweld is not shaken properly/ the car is not fully heated up once the Radweld has been poured in. I have changed these in the past on other cars and it is relaively easy. 20 hours seems excessive. Could I suggest 5 hours? A Haynes workshop manual will let you knoe how hard this task is and confirm exactly what is to be done. Good luck. PS if you go for the egg, make sure there is plenty pepper in it!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
inferno 1 Posted June 29, 2006 (edited) in my experiance so far, the leaks are likely to be caused by hardened rubber seals on the join inside the car. out of 6 matrix's only one was due to a faulty rad unit. therefore the egg or similar treatments r unlikely to work. its a full dash out job. 10 hours is a general guide book time, i have got my time down to around 4-6 hours on a good day, my first one took around 12 hours Edited June 29, 2006 by inferno Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beastie 1 Posted June 29, 2006 (edited) As a good general rule of thumb there's only one liquid which is appropriate to run in the cooling system: Coolant. I've seen loads of cars over the years which have had various types of radweld, wondarweld foodstuffs etc. added to the cooling system. I have honestly never met anyone who is pleased in the long term that they put it in there though Honestly - if you have any brown bread, eggs, or even condoms lying around the house then you might do much better getting your leg over and then having a nice breakfast together instead of putting them in the radiator edit: Yes people even put condoms in radiators. It is supposed to be an US army trick from WW2: The condom is said to be carried towards the leak and then fill the gap when it gets there Edited June 29, 2006 by Beastie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miles 331 1 Cars Posted June 29, 2006 When I did my 306 with A/C it took me 8 hours, Not bad for the first one, as even the local Pug dealership said it's a nightmare job but really it's not that bad at all, well I know the 205 dash take 30 mins to remove inc tea, If you need it done let me know, But I bet the car's in Exeter Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Veero 1 Posted June 30, 2006 When I did my 306 with A/C it took me 8 hours, Not bad for the first one, as even the local Pug dealership said it's a nightmare job but really it's not that bad at all, well I know the 205 dash take 30 mins to remove inc tea, If you need it done let me know, But I bet the car's in Exeter Yes unfortunately the car is down here in deepest darkest Devon. I was sceptical about foodstuffs, but have heard it loads of times before, old wive's tale style "ohhh put an egg in there and...." etc. Thanks for the advice guys. If he wants to do it himself can someone jot down quickly what is the approximate way to go about it? (I've never taken a 306 apart) Veero Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jim205GTI 3 Posted June 30, 2006 ah the old egg trick they proved this worked on mythbusters ( discovery programme ) i was suprised jus cracked an egg poured it into the rad when the engine was running and bingo the leak stopped..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
benje 0 Posted June 30, 2006 After doing this job on my old 306, few pieces of advice, 1) Make sure you got the right tools!! 2) Make sure you have the time to do the job, as I had to rush mine in two days and ended up fooking the airbag, and pipe 3) I would seriously consider disconnecting the heater matrix, and circulating some radweld it (Just the matrix) Dunno how you could do this, some sort of pump arrangment 4) Good luck Ben Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bono 0 Posted July 5, 2006 Good luck with this, i have taken the dash out of my 306 a couple of time but i hate it as its such a big job. when my matrix went i just bypassed is in the engine bay Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Veero 1 Posted July 7, 2006 (edited) Ah right. Well that would be fine for summer I guess but as winter comes no doubt hell want heat. Anyway more pressing matters. Whilst concetrating on some skirt and not the road he's run into the back of a post van! Doh!! Anyway he's crumpled his bonnet and radiator, broken the fan and cracked the cowling and (hurrah) written off his gay lexarse lights. Fortunately it was slow speed and the T-bar on the van was above his bumper and the wings are fine I think. It's a P reg so Phase 1 I assume. How much difference is there between Phase 1 and 2, as in would a bonnet and lights etc fit? Cheers Veero Edited July 7, 2006 by Veero Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
