Heater Matrix Splitting and Resealing?

[306Puggy]

Okay, I'm somewhat dumbfounded now. I bought some replacement coolant pipes for my heater matrix incase I broke the current ones when I removed them from the matrix pipes. Now I've got the matrix I can see that I can unbolt the radiator part of the matrix from the pipes instead of screwing around with the matrix pipes in the bulkhead so I am going to do it that way. Will I need sealant when I put the two parts back together?

[Parksy87]

Don't undo the seal on your new one, the bulkhead connection isnt really a problem, take the metal retaining clip off, the is an arrow on the top of the tab showing which way to push it, push the connection towards the bulkhead then press the tab then pull the pipes off. Dont lose the o rings!!

Pair of water pump plier or sumthing to break ends of the pipe sticking through the bulk head, then u can undo the join on the old matrix and get a bit more movement to help get whats left of the pipes out.

Once out chop the middle of the bung that goes through the bulk head (just the bit between the 2 holes, put your new matrix into the blower housing, wd40 or fair liquid around the new pipes going through the bulk head and give it a gentle wiggle as you push it through.

On the bulk head once you blower housing is secure with the 2 10mms, place the o rings into the holes and they should sit on a lip make sure they aren't kinked and you should be able to slide the pipes from the engine back in without to much trouble.

[306Puggy]

But that is the problem, my current heater pipes had to be stuck in with instant gasket as they are from a 1.6 auto which has a different matrix as I couldn't find DT pipes and Peugeot wanted 130 quid for them. Obviously I don't want to disturb them because if I do I will have to fit the new pipes which would mean dropping the engine mount off and removing the manifolds whose gasket I have just replaced. I've heard of people splitting the matrix, is there any good reason not to? If it is just a case of some instant gasket to seal it then I would rather do that.

[Parksy87]

You could split and re-seal the joint and hope its sealed properly, fingers crossed it will be ok, otherwise once ug got ur car back together and running it would be a nightmare if it sprung a leak when the coolant system got a bit of pressure in it

[306Puggy]

Heh, theres no way I would put it back together before running it first to make sure that it wasn't leaking! But do I need instant gasket or not? What do people usually do?

[306Puggy]

Just to quell any rumours of splitting the heater matrix from the bulkhead pipes causing a leak, it doesn't. I don't know why it was the accepted wisdom that it does because there are two O rings between the bulkhead pipes and the heater matrix which would seal the join. I ran the engine and checked whilst the dashboard was still off-no sign of any leaks. I would highly recommend this method unless there is some reason to replace the bulhead pipes otherwise you would just be causing yourself extra work.

[cwspellowe]

I concur, I split the pipes off my new matrix and connected them to the existing bulkhead connector, never had any issue. Just make sure you don't crack anything as the plastic is brittle as hell.