Heater Tap Vacum Stays On ?

[AussieHolden]

Hi Guys

Well booked my old VR in for the cooling system to be checked and it needed a new radiator and heater core. When I went to pick her up the mechanic told me that the heater tap was stuck in the off position due to the vacum not turning off when you moved the dial to heat so he had to disconect the vacum and just rely on the inside flap to stop the heat which it doesn't.

So what's the cause has anyone else had the same problem as this ?

[Brett_jjj]

I think theres a little plastic vacuum tap/switch if you look under the drivers footwell just up from the foot rest near where the copper heater coolant pipes enter the heater core.Theres a white plastic lever thing there that is supposed to switch the vacuum on and off when the heater is turned on/off.It can get out of adjustment and it doesnt work properly.Someone else might be able to tell you more about it.I have read posts on here where people have had similar problems to yours and this has been the cause.

[AussieHolden]

I think theres a little plastic vacuum tap/switch if you look under the drivers footwell just up from the foot rest near where the copper heater coolant pipes enter the heater core.Theres a white plastic lever thing there that is supposed to switch the vacuum on and off when the heater is turned on/off.It can get out of adjustment and it doesnt work properly.Someone else might be able to tell you more about it.I have read posts on here where people have had similar problems to yours and this has been the cause.

That's the vent flap nothing to do with vacum control from what I have seen under there and was shown to us by the mechanic.

[Dangerous Dave]

does your old VR have climate control or just basic heater controls ??

[AussieHolden]

does your old VR have climate control or just basic heater controls ??

Basic set up no climate controls.

[hako]

Brett is correct - the white plastic lever thing turns the vacuum on/off to the heater tap - if you look closely at the operation of the white lever, you will see it presses against a black butoon....the white lever must press the black button in to apply vacuum to the heater tap (this turns it off).
EDIT...I've attached a pix of the end of the white lever pressing against the black button.

[wamboin23]

from what i can gather, the problem is the opposite, theres always vacuum at the tap.

sounds like the valve is faulty.

[hako]

The way it should work is that if you disconnect the vacuum from the heater tap the heater will be on....and hot water will flow thru the tap. If you apply vacuum to the heater tap, the tap turns off and no hot water flows.
Your first post said that the mechanic disconnected the vacuum to the heater tap - doing this means the heater tap is always on. If the heater tap is faulty and you want to turn it off, you need to wire the tap shut. This is getting very complicated!!

[AussieHolden]

Ok guys I will have another look tomorrow afternoon afterwork at least I know what to look for now and it being black would explain why I didn't see it the first time.

One of the reason's taking it for a flush was because there was no heat from the heater when needed for the early morning's.

you should have seen the heater core it was bulging out on one side the mechanic had trouble taking it out.

[undar8ed1]

If you had all this work done then why didn`t the tech just put a new tap and vac hose in would of cost you a whopping $30, these tend to perish and fail.

[savage1987]

Ok guys I will have another look tomorrow afternoon afterwork at least I know what to look for now and it being black would explain why I didn't see it the first time.

One of the reason's taking it for a flush was because there was no heat from the heater when needed for the early morning's.

you should have seen the heater core it was bulging out on one side the mechanic had trouble taking it out.

I bet your dodgy mechanic charged you an arm and a leg to do that core.. as for not seeing the switch the first time, very few people seem to know it even exists.

If you had all this work done then why didn`t the tech just put a new tap and vac hose in would of cost you a whopping $30, these tend to perish and fail.

Because the tech involved seems to have no idea what he's looking at with a VN/P/R/S, and would have ****ed up the job for sure and simply not fixed the problem.

[MrWooFarkinHoo]

Hi guys, got same prob with my Vr - actually went to holden today to try and buy new vacuum switch (black plunger thingy) and guess what - no longer made or available from Holden. Problem with mine is good vacuum going in to the switch but when I activate it less than half of the vacuum available out of it to close the heater tap in engine bay - To test it take the hose off the SIDE of the black vacuum switch and see how much vacuum you have (with engine running), put it back on, set your cold/hot dial to hot and remove the hose from the bottom of the vacuum switch and push the plunger in with your finger and see how much vacuum you have. If it sounds the same you have a problem with the vacuum hose to the heater tap or the heater tap diaphragm is sticky.
Hope this helps.

[AussieHolden]

I bet your dodgy mechanic charged you an arm and a leg to do that core.. as for not seeing the switch the first time, very few people seem to know it even exists.

Because the tech involved seems to have no idea what he's looking at with a VN/P/R/S, and would have ****ed up the job for sure and simply not fixed the problem.

No he did not charge me an arm and a leg to do the core.

It's not a switch it's a shut off valve and the reason you don't see it the first time is because it's all black and sitting behind part of the center console.

He's not a tech I never mentioned he was he's just a Mechanic a very good one I can trust and he F**k'ed nothing up at all on the car he's done a top notch job that I would expect he even cleaned up after the work that most don't even bother to do.

The problem with the shut off valve was it was stuck due to the hardend lube on the shaft a simple clean is all it took to get it working again and all is now good.

savage1987 it's not good to make comment's like you have done without getting the fact's it's made you look silly for your sake I hope you were drunk when you made that post.

[savage1987]

savage1987 it's not good to make comment's like you have done without getting the fact's it's made you look silly for your sake I hope you were drunk when you made that post.

No, it hasn't, it's made me look like I have seen PLENTY of shocking jobs and price tags from ALL SORTS of mechanics done on VN-VS because they simply do not give a shit about the car they are working on.

Obviously you have a decent mechanic, good for you, I have not come across one so I stopped wasting time looking and learned what I needed to know - the reason my cars are both totally self built.

The only thing I could possibly look a fool for is the assumption you had NOT found one of the 0.05% of decent mechanics that exist today.

I was not drunk at all in any way when replying to your post, more just annoyed that I have provided a fairly extensive writeup a couple of times before on how to fix this EXACT problem, but still people can't be ****ed using the search button. Granted the forum search feature is a bit shit (well total shit at the moment) but I really am not willing to keep every write up I do so I can copy-paste it in to every thread like this that comes along.

By the way, apostrophes are not needed in 'comment's' or 'fact's', you've made yourself look a little silly.

Sam

[Brett_jjj]

No, it hasn't, it's made me look like I have seen PLENTY of shocking jobs and price tags from ALL SORTS of mechanics done on VN-VS because they simply do not give a shit about the car they are working on.

Obviously you have a decent mechanic, good for you, I have not come across one so I stopped wasting time looking and learned what I needed to know - the reason my cars are both totally self built.

The only thing I could possibly look a fool for is the assumption you had NOT found one of the 0.05% of decent mechanics that exist today.

I was not drunk at all in any way when replying to your post, more just annoyed that I have provided a fairly extensive writeup a couple of times before on how to fix this EXACT problem, but still people can't be ****ed using the search button. Granted the forum search feature is a bit shit (well total shit at the moment) but I really am not willing to keep every write up I do so I can copy-paste it in to every thread like this that comes along.

By the way, apostrophes are not needed in 'comment's' or 'fact's', you've made yourself look a little silly.

Sam

Hey savage,I told this guy where the problem was likely to be and he replied with some crap about his mechanic showed him this and that and that the part I mentioned did not have anything to do with the vacuum and would not be the problem .. Why bother posting on here about a problem if you dont listen to what people say.It looks like we ended up being right anyway,and if the so called mechanic fixed it properly he would have fixed this part.You say he did an excellent job.What a joke.He sounds bodgey to me.Most mechanics are,which stuffs it for the few good ones that are around.

[AussieHolden]

This has gone off topic keep it on topic keep personal comment's to yourself.

savage1987 got his fact's wrong by making false comment's claiming I was ripped off and that my mechanic was stupid etc etc which was not helpful to me or anyone else. Does he know how much I paid to have my core done no he does not as I made no mention of any price's in this thread.

If you don't have nothing helpful to offer then don't comment to member's threads that they were ripped off etc etc you will just come off as an idoit .

END OF THREAD.

[savage1987]

You clearly have missed the point. Did you even go and investigate that black switch that Brett_jjj and myself suggested?

We are trying to help you with your problem here, if you aren't interested then you shouldn't have asked.

Sam

[Troy711]

Closed by request.