ever seen such dirty heater valves?

[shogun]

http://www.7-forum.com/forum/showthread.html?t=44167&highlight=heizungsventile

[Jehu]

Is he saying they can be succesfully cleaned if you're getting the code? That was the only code read when i had them check last week when they put the alternator in.I've had warm air bleeding in with the a/c since i took ownership.I was planning on just buying a new one,$140 ish..

[shogun]

Is he saying they can be succesfully cleaned

Well that was actually me who posted the pics on the German board :D

I found them on a Japanese E34 repair info and the guy there cleaned them and it worked again.
Give it a try.

[Jon K]

Whats the symptom of dirty valves?

[Jehu]

I'm not sure if mine are just dirty or otherwise busted but with the A/C on i was getting warm air mixing in.Evidently the valve isn't shutting when its told to and allowing hot fluid thru to the heater core when it shouldn't.

[shogun]

Hmm, that is a good question.

Maybe:

bad/wrong coolant

no coolant at all, just using water with high iron content etc

coolant too old and never changed

use of the 'miracle' coolant leak stopper

blown headgasket and oil in coolant (?)

any other ideas?

[Paul in NZ]

dirty vave symptoms....
pretty much a heater that wont do as its told but mostly a heater thats sometimes wamer that what you want.

[Dash01]

http://www.7-forum.com/forum/showthread.html?t=44167&highlight=heizungsventile

Erich, thanks for posting the pictures. Do you know if the rubber seals in the heater valves can be replaced separately, or is it necessary to buy the whole valve as one part?

I think my heater valve must be as dirty as the one in your pictures, because I found parts of the rubber seals in my old heater core.

[shogun]

Cleaning the heater valves
E34 BMW Heater Valve Rebuild - symptoms heat on one side, low heat on the other side
E34 BMW Heater Valve Rebuild on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/56874416)
New rubber gaskets for the heater valves you find on the internet, just search for: BMW Heater Control Valve Repair Kit E32


http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q390/meenaveen/Cooling%20Sysyem/IMG_2014.jpg
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q390/meenaveen/Cooling%20Sysyem/IMG_2016.jpg
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q390/meenaveen/Cooling%20Sysyem/IMG_2027.jpg

A word of caution
While it may seem practical to replace the guts of the control valve, remember that the water comes in via hoses attached to those black plastic pipe fittings. Often you may discover that the plastic connectors on the heating system auxiliary water pump had cracked. If you got lucky in that, it was in your driveway and you discovered it before any real damage happened. Had you been driving you would have dumped all your coolant with catastrophic results. You cannot see the stress cracks -often covered by the attached hose- but they are there. Given the alternative costs of replacing head gaskets or worse, I am replacing all the older plastic on a regular basis like heater valves, aux water pump, radiator.

[jfs356]

Yes, the hairline cracks are impossible to see, but I was lucky to find the crack in my unit in my driveway soon after noticing a few drops of coolant from the heater valve auxiliary pump. The plastic inlet/outlets will fail after after time, after multiple heating/cooling cycles. Good item to get at salvage yard, if not already taken.