Megane Heat Exchanger

[ratm]

RENAULT MEGANE 1.4e

I've had this car for a couple of months now and have tried everything I can think of to get the heater to blow hot air. It gets warm with the fan off but as soon as I switch the fan on the air cools to luke warm or cold.
I've tried flushing and bleeding but to no avail. The water passes through it OK but a mechanic suggested that it could be passing from the inlet to the outlet without going through the veins of the core. So even though the water travels through, the core could still be blocked.
What I would like to know is has anyone replaced one of these on a Megane and if so is it a major job?
Any help would be much appreciated. THANKS

 

[al-yeti]

genrally speaking the easiet HEATER MATRIX is what you mean, to replace is a ford escort i maybe wrong, and that can take a couple of hours, i would say diy might take you the whole day , its cheaper doing diy as some might charge £400, or less maybe.

Buy a haynes manual which will explain how to remove your centre consol if you have one, and how to pull the dash off, after that it gets easier, but it is a mission of a job.

 

[ratm]

Thanks for the reply Al
I already have a Haynes and I'm still not sure if this is worth doing because I don't know if it'll solve the problem. I won't know if the matrix is blocked even if I remove it and that means having to buy a replacement and fitting it just to see if it works and it seems like a major job.
I was hoping someone else out there might have had a similar problem and could advise me on the best way to go about sorting it.
Also if I replace the heat exchanger matrx and it doesn't make any difference what then?
THANKS AGAIN

 

[jonnyfishing]

I don't think your matrix is blocked if the supply and return pipes are hot and the heater works without the blower. I would look to the operation of the direction/diverter flaps of the heater for the fault.

 

[ratm]

Thanks Jonny
I've checked the flap and it's fine.
The weird thing is if I tap the heat exchanger unit while the engine's running it seems to warm up a little. I thought at first it was sludge or an air lock but I'm not convinced because when the engine's off and it cools it reverts back
I'm stumped