Heater Matrix

[jonny8ball]

Hi fellow stagea owners I NEED YOUR HELP!!! My stagea was steaming up alot and had a bad smell coming in from the vents then i noticed a wet patch on my passenger footwell OH NO! water was coming in from up in the well!! Im sure its the heater matrix which has gone, so im wondering if any of you guys can tell me do i need a stagea matrix or will any of the skyline or any other nissan ones fit and if so is it a huge job to fit it or can anyone have ago at it?

Any help will be gratefully apprectiated thanks.

[Tangles]

hey your heater core has gone by the sounds of it

go into the engine bay and disconnect the hose that goes into the firewall above the turbo heatshield, just under around bonnet height. probbaly best if I take a photo to show it.

I have heard you can use a 300zx heater core, I ordered one months ago for $220 and have never seen it (better check my visa card actually) so i cant confirm.

My local radiator peeps have quoted me $450 to rip out the dash and put back together, plus the core which is $500 from japan with new brass fittings

[mitchy_]

it's a biatch of a job!

i took mine out of my R33, and even with no intentions of putting the dash back in, it was quite a job.

you basically have to remove the entire dash, and everything in the way of the core...

[Stinky Rooster]

dunno about a skyline one fitting, although the dash is a very different shape, but heater cores are pretty much the same regardless of make or model aren't they? You will only be restricted by inlet/outlet size, and what will actually fit in the hole left by the other one.

as for it being a hard job? To be honest, not really. It is a long, involved and fiddly job, but there is nothing that is very technically demanding about it. Same as everything else, if you take your time, pay close attention to how things come apart, and bag and label everything you take off, then you will be fine. I do recomend that you have a digital camera on hand to take photo's as you go - this can be an invaluable tool when it comes time to reassemble.

[Stagea_Neo]

Ditto on what Stinky Rooster said.

I've done this on an R31 Skyline and VC Commodore, except had A3 pieces of paper

on the garage floor with bolts laid out in position relative to the dash position.

Took 5-6hrs taking my time on a Saturday with a few ciggie/drink breaks in between.

Do it yourself take your time and save $$$$.

[jonny8ball]

Thanks for all your help guys! Ill let ya know how i get on once i get a heater matrix form japan!

[kgleeson]

Looked into this and was told by a well known Skyline tuner in the UK that the heater Matrix will come out into the passenger footwell. They reackon no more than a couple of hours to change !

Don't shoot the messenger as I have not done it myself yet.

[bernardshorty]

hey guys didnt ska <cy> go into good detail on this topic when he changed the one in my car before i owned it. i remember reading his post just a thought it maybe worth looking at .cheers bernard .

[Tangles]

Looked into this and was told by a well known Skyline tuner in the UK that the heater Matrix will come out into the passenger footwell. They reackon no more than a couple of hours to change !

Don't shoot the messenger as I have not done it myself yet.

YEAH, I have heard that in an auto you can get to the heater core thru the glovebox area, but need to disconnect air conditioning and regass afterwards.

[Ska]

I got one out of a R34 GTT, worked fine, took me 4 days all up and was a BLOODY NIGHTMARE of a job................

[unique1]

yes i can say taking the dash apart is a killer of a job, finding all those damn screws and clips is a job in itself Good luck, dont forget there is a couple of screws in the demister vents and they are hard to see unless u look through from the outside of the windscreen. These 2 bolts prevented me removing the dash for a day as i couldnt work out for the life of me what was holding it on

[petethepom]

Ive just taken my heater matrix out by removing the glove compartment then the a/c unit.

Its easy.You will have to get the a/c unit regassed. you can give the a/c unit a good clean as its out, mine was quite mucky.

http://www.skylineowners.com/forum/showthr...ighlight=heater

[petethepom]

Christ! I've just realised this thread is two years old!

[KiwiRS4T]

That's OK - this job still comes up sooner or later for most people!