Heater/Aircon Gurgling Under Dash

[Lamby22]

Hey guys,

My VR commodore has started to have this problem over the last week or too.. on take off, around corners etc.. I can hear water/air gurgling/swooshing from behind the stereo somewhere.. i've taken all my panels out and i'm certain it's coming from there.

I've read through topics on here but threads were filled with mixed responses so wanted to see what advice I could get myself...

The brass pipes next to drivers left leg are hot even when the rod is pointed to the cold position.. is this normal?

 

[wamboin23]

i reckon you will find the heater box is full of water.

jump underneath the car, and above the transmission, left hand side, front, there is a drain pipe from the heater box. there is a small strainer in there that gets clogged up.
an easy way is to get a long cable tie etc, and jam it up there to try and clear it. but to do it properly you need to open the heater box, and clean it out properly, which can be quite a big job.

 

[Lamby22]

Okay sweet, will add that onto the list of things to check lol... any more ideas guys?

 

[accentstencil]

If the above is not the problem then you possibly have air in the cooling system causing the gurgling sound.

 

[D3V14NT]

As far as it still being hot when it's set to cold, check out your heater tap and make sure that when you turn it to cold that the levers, etc behind your heater controls are moving back far enough to depress the little button that closes the heater tap.

 

[Lamby22]

accentstencil: whats the correct way to bleed the system then to get the air out?

D3V14NT: Cheers man.. where abouts is the heater tap located? Is there a way to force it to close so I can test if it's the heater making the gurgling/swooshing sound?

 

[Lamby22]

Alright.. the levers etc.. behind the heater controls are now depressing the little black button that closes the heater tap.

However after this, the water is still swooshing/gurgling around... once the car cools down ill test it again.. if the pipes are still going hot after this am I looking at a broken heater tap?

 

[djvass]

Where your thermostat is the should be a little brass pcs on top of the cover while car is up to temp open the valve with a screw driver just enough for water to flow out when you don't see anymore air bubbles you should have no more water noises. Does this happen on start up as well?

 

[Lamby22]

Hey mate yeah it does it on startup too why's that?

Alright I'll try that valve idea too.. do I need to have the heaters cranked on while I do this?

 

[accentstencil]

Hey mate yeah it does it on startup too why's that?

Alright I'll try that valve idea too.. do I need to have the heaters cranked on while I do this?

Yes you do. Get it to normal operating temperature when bleeding.