heater valves disassembled

[shogun]

Have a look:
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/solid.jpg
Here how it goes
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/position.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/position2.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/release.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/pipe1.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/valve.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/pomp2.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/pomp.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/t10.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/divid.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/clean.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/air.jpg

And that is new
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040718/resolve.jpg

[zygoteer]

errr ... just maybe I ought to clean mine

[Jeff N.]

Humptydumpty apart, you can't put him back togethere again.

(AKA - it's a non serviceable part)


errr ... just maybe I ought to clean mine

[632 Regal]

new one looks a bit better

[SRR2]

Do you know, by any chance, how well this cooling system has been maintained over its lifetime? IOW, is the condition of this valve a result of only one or two coolant changes in the car's lifetime? It would be sort of interesting to see what the valve looks like from a car that's had new blue stuff every two years.

[shogun]

I do not mean complete disassembling, just clean that part. See first pic and this one
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/clean.jpg

[632 Regal]

ok I follow, thats a big difference!

[genphreak]

Gee, they're kludged but it looks like they'd still work.... (perhaps NOT)

How much the PO sucked u can tell from the cooling system, always.

Trouble with most is by the time they are this 'kludged-up' the shaft seals are gone and the solenoids have filled with coolant- over the space of a few years causing a terminal 'oxidisation+kludge' problem fixable only by replacing the solenoid (or more often the valve itself).

My valve body refused to divide very well (it is very easy to have it come off crookedly and thus break the shafts on the little valves) though I think mine broke in use as I noticed the broken bits before I it blew apart. See my previous posts on them for pics.

:) Nick

ps. If anyone has an old valve, PM me, I need one of those two little valves from inside to make mine work!

[uscharalph]

Have a look:
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/solid.jpg
Here how it goes
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/position.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/position2.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/release.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/pipe1.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/valve.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/pomp2.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/pomp.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/t10.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/divid.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/clean.jpg
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040618/air.jpg

And that is new
http://dd.jpn.org/BMW_HP/20040718/resolve.jpg
Mine were replaced by the PO. I wonder if mine looked like that?

[Torque]

What's the usual life span on those ? I have no record of mine being replaced by the PO (that I can recall anyhow).

[emw525E34]

How old was the valve that had that gunk ?. Curious. How about for people in Asia who NEVER used the heater, would it mean , forget this part or would we still need to replace it ?.
Thx.

[shogun]

I do not know how old the valves were in the pic. I think that can go fast if you use the wrong stuff. On the other hand I have here next to my PC a valve set which I replaced last year together with the aux water pump. I exchanged them all because the aux water PUMP was defective, not the valves. But I thought after 17 years I would send them in retirement. When I shake the valve housing, both valves I can hear moving up and down, so nothing stuck and they still work. I keep them as memory for a good workmanship.

emw: you do not need the valves and the aux pump, if you live in a always tropical country. Some people also eliminate them in other countries and just install instead of the valves a normal garden water manual valve. depending on weather they manually adjust them. Winter full or 3/4 open, summer fully closed.
There are cars without a heater in some parts of the world, and there are parts w/o a cooler somewhere in the world.

[Claude]

I do not know how old the valves were in the pic. I think that can go fast if you use the wrong stuff. On the other hand I have here next to my PC a valve set which I replaced last year together with the aux water pump. I exchanged them all because the aux water PUMP was defective, not the valves. But I thought after 17 years I would send them in retirement. When I shake the valve housing, both valves I can hear moving up and down, so nothing stuck and they still work. I keep them as memory for a good workmanship.

emw: you do not need the valves and the aux pump, if you live in a always tropical country. Some people also eliminate them in other countries and just install instead of the valves a normal garden water manual valve. depending on weather they manually adjust them. Winter full or 3/4 open, summer fully closed.
There are cars without a heater in some parts of the world, and there are parts w/o a cooler somewhere in the world.

Could the heating system function without the aux. pump ?

What's the main purpose of the auxilliary pump ?

Could an intermittent auxilliary pump be the cause of temperature instability inside of the car ?

[genphreak]

Hey Claude,


Could the heating system function without the aux. pump? Yes, only before the thermostat opens the cabin stays cold.


What's the main purpose of the auxilliary pump? To pump warm coolant to the heater core in the cabin- the main waterpump is either not good at maintaining a good flowrate or is just bad when the thermostat is closed. BMW consider the flowrate critical as the cabin's heating system is all thermostatically controlled. My guess is that some people in temperate climates who are not as discerning about creature comforts as the German autobahners BMW build these cars to impress, do not demand every detail and thus do not feel it to be of any real importance. They elminate the valves and aux pump like Shogun said.[/QUOTE]
After all, a lot of cars have been built without even the most rudimetary of heating systems- such as Shogun's own Deux Chevaux (Citroen 2CV). You have to have tremendous respect for anyone enthusisatic enough to own one of these as well as a few 750il Hilines, you could not own 2 automobiles that contrast more than these do.


Could an intermittent auxilliary pump be the cause of temperature instability inside of the car? Yes, but so too it could be other things- valves&pump/electrics/steppermotors/cabin thermostats- I'd start with the valve and pump :) Nick