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Heater Motor Removal and
Replacement
Replacing the heater motor in
your Capri is not a particularly fun experience but the job is not actually as
difficult as some people say. It is just fiddly and time consuming, as you have
to dismantle a large section of your dashboard to get to it. I would allow four
to five hours to complete the job.
Before you start you will need to obtain a new heater motor, which was
manufactured by Bosch. These are still available from
MWR Capri and cost around £50 + VAT or
alternatively you could go for a second hand unit from a Capri specialist.
Personally I think the job is too much of a pain to risk putting a second hand
motor in that may start squealing immediately. You will also need some
antifreeze to top up the cooling system afterwards.
First job is to detach the heater water pipes from inside the engine bay. The
two water pipes are connected to the heater on the back of the bulkhead near to
the exhaust manifold. You should undo the two hose clips as far as they will go
and pull the water pipes off. Raise them up and fix them in place so that no
more coolant pours out. There is a plastic cover and foam gasket around
the pipe fittings that needs to be unscrewed and carefully removed from the car.
That is the work completed inside the engine bay; now the fun starts….
Inside the car you need to start dismantling the dashboard. First remove the
cowlings that go around the top and bottom of the steering wheel and store in a
safe place. Next job is to remove both lower dashboard panels by undoing all the
self-tapping screws until the whole thing drops down. You will find that the
cigar lighter connector must be pulled off to allow the panel to come out. The
panel to the right of the dash can just be dropped downwards or completely
removed (by disconnecting the speaker fader and the hazard warning light
switch). My dashboard removal was made more complicated by the presence of
a graphic equaliser below the ashtray and an aftermarket fog light switch. Again
these were disconnected and care was taken to note which connector went where.
With these panels removed you should next remove the glove box from the
passenger side. This is done by undoing the two 10mm nuts located at the bottom
(usually hidden by the carpet) and unscrewing the three large posi-drive screws
from the inner top lip. Make sure you rescue all the washers. The glove box will
drop downwards and you can reach behind and disconnect the light (there is
usually a bullet connector on the wire somewhere nearby). The glove box will
then lift out of the car.
You should now be able to see the heater unit, which is sitting directly behind
the clock. However before trying to remove the unit you must first remove the
heater slider control and this is not that straightforward. To get to this you
need to first remove the instrument cover. Pull off the dashboard dimmer knob
and (original Ford radio only) remove the knobs from the radio. The two nuts on
the radio spindles should be removed allowing the plastic radio cover to be
lifted off. Next remove the four switches (fog light, rear washer, rear wiper,
rear heater) by putting your fingers up behind them and pushing them forward.
They should pop out of their slots quite easily and you can pull off each power
lead in turn. Bunch these leads together noting that each is different and
impossible to get mixed up.
Now you can remove the instrument cover by undoing the three self-tapping screws
along the bottom edge. The top of the cover has three horrible spring clips,
which can badly scratch the trim if you are not careful. Carefully prise the
cover forward and you should be able to release each spring clip with a flat
bladed screwdriver. CCI recommend that you remove and throw them away but I find
that this encourages your dashboard to squeak. With care and patience you can
get this cover out with the spring clips in place and without damaging anything.
With the dash cover removed you will now have free access to the heater slider
panel, which is located in place with two large posi-drive screws. Undo these
and push the unit back into the dash. Note that the power connector to the
heater switch must be disconnected and pushed out of harms reach. With a bit of
jiggling about you can get it down and out of its housing and dangling near the
floor. Note that it is still connected to the heater unit. Do not attempt to
undo the cables, as this will cause you all sorts of problems later.
If you put your hand on the top of the heater unit you will find the electrical
connections. Make a note of the colours and their positions, as it is possible
to refit them incorrectly. Disconnect these and push them out of the way. The
corrugated vent pipes can be pulled off the heater unit quite easily and I
recommend that you remove the short one on the left hand side completely. The
unit itself is bolted up to the bulkhead in four places using 10mm screws. You
need a decent socket with a nice long stem to reach these. The ones on the right
hand side are quite awkward to reach but it is possible to carefully undo them
making sure not to loose the washers.
Just in front of the heater unit is a black metal bar that hangs down and has an
electrical relay attached to it. I recommend undoing the bar and moving it out
of the way. It is fixed to the dashboard with a single self-tapping screw.
You are now ready to try and remove the heater unit. The aim is to slide it out
to the left and into the passenger foot well. Place an old towel in the foot
well to catch any fluid from the heater matrix. Watch out for the wire that goes
to the clock – this usually needs carefully lifting free and placing at the
back. By jiggling the heater unit about you should eventually be able to lift if
out. With a gently tug it will just pull forward and up over the clock housing.
This will allow you to move it leftwards and out.
Take the unit out of the car and tip it upside down to allow the coolant to
drain out. The unit is now ready to dismantle. Make sure you rescue the sponge
gasket from around the inlet port. This may be damaged and should be stuck back
into place prior to refitting.
Getting to the motor is not exactly a five-minute job either. You will see that
the heater case is in two halves that will separate. First you need to prise off
the two metal spring clips that re located at the back of the motor and lock the
two plastic halves together. With these removed you should gently try to prise
the two halves apart. I only managed this by breaking a couple of the plastic
fittings (I glued them later). When the two shells come apart you will find the
motor and fan will lift out (first disconnect the two wire / spade fittings
noting their orientation). The old motor will have a white plastic skirt fitted
that should be removed and transferred onto the new one.
Next big headache is removing the fan blades from the spindle of the old motor
and transferring them to the new one. It is only a push fit but mine wouldn’t
budge. I rested the blades in-between a partially opened vice and used a hammer
and punch to gently tap the shaft downwards and out. With this removed you can
simply push the blades onto the shaft of the new motor making sure that they
push on as far as possible.
Reassembling the heater unit is not very straightforward. You will see that the
air flaps and heater matrix are all free to move about as you try to reassemble.
Each flap has to be correctly located in a small plastic bearing. These actually
push out and I found it easier to transfer them onto the ends of the flap first.
The motor and fan sit in the unit quite nicely (make sure you have fitted the
old plastic skirt from the other motor) and should spin freely. Watch out for
the resister that gives the fan the two speed settings. This needs to be slotted
in place before reassembly. Bring the two halves carefully together and use a
small screwdriver to guide the air flaps into place. Before snapping the two
halves tightly together check that the flaps move correctly using the slider
controls. Then heave the two halves together snapping them in place. The two
spring clips need to be refitted. These are quite strong and are quite tricky to
refit unless you have a very small pair of long-nose pliers that can open them
up as you push. I had to put a few blobs of araldite on my housing to repair the
clips I broke during dismantling (the plastic has gone very brittle over the
years).
Don’t refit the unit until you have tested it working. I did this by placing it
as close as possible to the dash and reconnecting the power wires to the top of
the unit. You also have to reconnect the power lead to the slider panel as well.
Turn on the ignition and try the heater on full power. Hopefully you will get a
nice blast of fresh air. Check the motor works on both speed settings.
Refit the unit under the dash by first relocating the slider panel in its
housing. The four fixing bolts should be refitted (try some grease on them to
stop the washer falling off). The vent hoses should be refitted with a firm
push. Refit the top dash cover making sure that the slider controls still work
(there is some free play in the fittings to allow you to realign it). Take extra
care with the spring clips, which need working into place slowly with a
screwdriver. Refit the four switches and reconnect the wires to them. Refit the
nuts and dials to the Ford radio and replace the dimmer knob. Next refit the
glove box making sure not to forget to reconnect the lamp and contact switch.
All that remains is to refit the metal bar that sits in front of the heater unit
and refit the lower dash plastic remembering to reconnect the electrics to the
cigar lighter.
That should be everything completed on the inside. All that remains is to refit
the plastic seal to the bulkhead inside the engine bay and finally refit the two
hoses to the heater matrix pipes. Start the car and top up the radiator with 50%
water/antifreeze mixture using the radiator cap and not the expansion tank. In
the unlikely event that there is air trapped in the heater matrix you should
remove the air filter and disconnect the water hose at its topmost point. Allow
any trapped air to free itself before refitting.
This really is a time consuming job but well worth the effort. My new motor has
no squeaks and works faster and more quietly than before. Just take your time
and make sure that you label all the wires you disconnect. Make sure you have a
safe place to put all the screws and bolts and note carefully which ones came
from where. It is a good idea to take some digital pictures as you do it just in
case you lose your way or forget where things go. Good Luck !
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