Replacing the E30 Heater Core and Valve

[Melon]

Back of the head to the bottom aluminium line.
Top aluminium line goes to the radiator.

[bbkhine]

which hose to connect to heater valve

Appreciated if you can advise me on which hoses that the heater valve (PART#: 64 11 1 386 707) be connected to, either to the hose coming from the back of the head or the hose coming in from coolant reservoir. Both heater valve and heater core hoses are all metal in my 1990 BMW 325i. Those hoses were bypassed by previous owner and I just replaced them with a new heater valve and heater core. Thank you in advance. Sorry..I am new the forum.

[ak-]

Day 2, 100*F weather, no leaks.

[mbonanni]

My ball valve style fix is still going strong, was less than $10 to do. Just have to manually open/close if you want to use AC. However my car currently doesn’t have working ac soooo

[ak-]

you dont want to put jb weld all around so it doesnt leak?
i did the same to a valve but didnt feel comfortable putting it in the car. knowing my luck it would probably leak still.
let us know if its leak free

No because that gap is normal - inside is where it leaks. If it leaks, it's going to get into the internal workigs of the valve's coil, plug, wiring, and all anyways.

[efficient]

you dont want to put jb weld all around so it doesnt leak?
i did the same to a valve but didnt feel comfortable putting it in the car. knowing my luck it would probably leak still.
let us know if its leak free

[ak-]

So the heater valve in my car finally starting pissing itself all of a sudden, and being the stereotypical saggy baggy pant adult e30 owner that I am, I just couldn't justify paying $250 or whatever insane price this valve costs, yet my pants don't sag far enough for me to by-pass the heater so I DIY fixed it.

As posted above, 4 rivets are what hold these two pieces together and eventually they stretch a little bit causing some separation/play - giving the pressurized coolant the path of least resistance to follow and leak on out. Mine had some play in it.

I drilled the rivets out, opened the unit, and found a cylindrical metal piece that presses against a black rubber gasket so coolant cannot pass through. It is pressed against this gasket with the force of the 4 rivets outside.
Seeing how this part isn't supposed to be serviceable, I RTV'd the gasket before putting it back together for good measure.

I used machine screw and nut hardware to replace the rivets for better clamping force that wont fatigue over time. You need screws that are 1.25" in length.
Don't get mad at me because they aren't metric, the selection at Lowel's sucks and I almost left empty handed. :p

Hands were dirty and I couldn't take pictures of the internal sorry!







The gap between the black and white pieces of the valve is normal.

[HippieKitten]

Lost some screws

Anyone know where I can find more of the screws that mount the heater core and go to the E clamp? I dropped one and cannot find these particular ones anywhere!

[iPee]

I RTV'd the crap out of it and it seems to have held up fine at the track.


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[superj]

Will having the heat off make it worst since the valve is shut closed the coolant will build up more pressure at that point. My thinking was if I had the heat on it will help relieve some of the pressure since it will flow through the heater core instead of creating a big bottle neck at the seams.

Or will it not make a difference at all?



Apologize for the beeping

pressure is equal in a system so it will not hurt to close it. turning the heat on will only relieve some of the temp from the coolant, not relieve system pressure as system pressure is what keeps the coolant from boiling.

[D.Martijn]

Anyone noticed that the centre console get quite warm? I'm not sure if it also got this hot before I replaced the core and valve. Just wanted to make sure.
It get warm on the left side and the middle at the little tray.

[iPee]

Well this is frustrating, the new part is still leaking at the seams. Drove it for 200km and was wondering why the coolant kept dipping in the reservoir. Although it is not as bad as the old/original unit that came with the car I'm still a little disappointed. I have all new pipes and o-rings as well. Can I put RTV or silicone around the seams as a temporary fix. I have track day coming up next week and doubt I'll be able to replace it in time.

Will having the heat off make it worst since the valve is shut closed the coolant will build up more pressure at that point. My thinking was if I had the heat on it will help relieve some of the pressure since it will flow through the heater core instead of creating a big bottle neck at the seams.

Or will it not make a difference at all?



Apologize for the beeping

[mbonanni]

Replacing the E30 Heater Core and Valve

No problem, got the return label for Turner ready to go, figure if someone needs it ill sell it, but yeah. The diaphram in mine broke as I took it apart, so thats a mystery as well. Id like to know if it really needs to be there or not

[iPee]

Thanks for the offer, but at full price I could just buy my own. I probably will go that route. I wonder when it broke, I haven't driven it since last October and the A/C still felt fine then.

[mbonanni]

Replacing the E30 Heater Core and Valve

I just went through replacing my heater valve, I was hoping there was a rebuild kit for it like other models but there is not. When I was emailing the gentlemen at blunttech and asked if the valve works without that grommet/diaphram he replied with

"Ive never had one apart but I do know that itll constantly throw warm air without that grommet as hot water will be leaking non stop" Sooo prettymuch no ac and no aux fan, heater all the time.

I bought the wrong part when doing mine so I have a brand new plastic inlet heater valve for sale if you're interested, but asking what I paid because I can still return it for a refund.



I didn't want to wait fir the new part so I just bypassed it for the time being with a valve like the post above