Does any one know how to get the heater valve that is mounted on the fire wall to work? I read some posts about a valve that is mounted at the water pump but this one is not that kind. I had the valve reworked by CD (the name at the time). It came back all nice and shiny but it has been a long time since then. I am just now getting the truck to the point were I am trying to get things like this to work. I don’t get any flow of hot water through the coils. I have removed the valve and I can get water to move from one connection to the other but it is not a healthy flow. It is more like a leak. It looks like the valve may be stuck. Can anyone give advice on getting the thing to work? The truck has a deluxe heater installed.
Ranco Heater Valve Wow , those are really nice . They're kinda delicate tho' so I'd try mounting it and running some coolant through it to see if that helps , coolant is very slippery . I take it you've looked through the frame and when you turn the knob you can see the cam is making the full swing from open to closed ? . If it's not leaking , the next common trouble is the cam not moving far enough to unload the diaphram . For those who don't know what we're talking about here , the hot water valve in the heater of 50's vintage GM's and Ramblers , etc. have a temperature controlled diaphram in them connected to a capilary tube that goes over into the heater core so the heat out put stays constasnt , even when you get off the highway after a long run , the heater doesn't suddenly roast you as the coolant heat soaks... The primary failure mode is the rubber diaphram rots away and begins to leak , lucky for us , NAPA still carries the diaphram and it's cheap . kinda tricky to install and the valve's frame is made of sheet metal and you have to unbend some tabs to open it up , easy to wreck if you're rough with it or hurry . the good thing is : if you break the tabs off , you can solder it back to-gether . Ranco was a Scottish company..... More useless trivia but you can add these uber-cool things to most any old car's heater for VAST improvement .
The knob turns 360. This does not result in much movement to the part that is attached to the diaphragm. Wish me luck as I will try to take it apart tonight.
Before you take it apart , see if you can't work on it as the knob shouldn't rotate 360° . maybe the stiff spring is gone missing...? .
I have removed the valve assembly from the truck and I have it held gently in the vise. The rod that operates the valve will not move. Does the valve seat move to the front of the truck to open or does it move towards the rear of the truck? This rod passes through the frame and has a groove in it that a metal clip is supposed to fit into. The metal clip thing is broken and this allows it to slip out of the groove. The part that connects to the knob has a stop on it that when you turn the knob counter clockwise keeps you from turning it past that point. I assume that this is the closed position. With out the knob attached it will turn about 180 degrees. I do not see anything that prevents it from rotating 360 degrees when the knob is attached. When you turn it clockwise it compresses the large spring. But I don’t see any movement other than that. I have sprayed some oil into the coolant inlet and outlet ports in the hope that it will free up the seat. I can blow into one of the ports and it leaks air but no fluid will flow. There is no leaking coolant so I think the diaphragm is OK. As I said in the first post CP has worked on it. I wanted to take some pictures but SW has the camera with her. Oh well.
I must say , if Chevy Duty was paid to fix it , you really should send it back so they can warranty it... I'll have to dig my old one out of the garage and have it handy before I write a comprehensive post on how it works , might be a few days .
I dug into my parts this AM and found the other valve I had. The valve is open in the forward position. I managed to free up the one I took off the truck so if I can get the clip thing off the other valve I may be in luck.
I got it. I looked at the thing after I got off work. Fixed up the clip thing, got it all back together, and decided that the knob could not turn enough to open the valve. I took the stop off and turned it one turn. The thing works. Thank you Nate.
please post pics when you can!! i'm really not sure what pieces you're talking about or even how to distinguish between regular and deluxe heaters. thanks!! jon
Pictures Take a look at these. https://talk.classicparts.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=447&ppuser=5950 https://talk.classicparts.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=449 https://talk.classicparts.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=448 https://talk.classicparts.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=447
I have the style of heater water cut off valve at the water pump and it leaks when opened so I have it shut off, any idea where to get a replacement all the parts houses look at me and laugh as they have no part number to go by thanks in advance for the help
Search this forum for heater valve. There was a thread that I found that will have the information you need.
thanks for the pics! still don't think i understand them, but it usually takes me a while (after i've been square-eyed staring for a few hours, it starts to make sense) thanks again! jon
Std. Hot Water Valve SOURCE Amazingly ,this part wil be found in yiur hardware store ~ it has plain old pipe threads on the part that scres in and is 5/8" hose barb IIRC... Solid brass is what you want here . NAPA and others sell nifty inline hot water valves designed so you can easily attach a Bowden cable to them and operate the hot water to heater from inside the cab....
