New heater valve question

[Fiat1980spyder]

I have a new heater valve and i figured reading through txts that the pipe would need some bending my question is the seal, the seal i received such as many of you is ODD. Now i bolted this to the heater core and popped the tube out the firewall no pressure on valve bolts flat from what i can see. Unfortuntly i went to flush the system with a little garden hose so very little pressure and no i did not tape the hose to the tube just fitted over and the other side is disonected so water is free to fall on the ground. I decided to to make sure everything was ok and the seal was leaking i pulled it out rechecked bend and see if it was flush and studs are solid so bolted it up and again it did it tried this 2 more time and no good. Also no crack was found in heater core when it was pressure tested.

My question is, is there any other seal i can use besides the one sent? I tried a O ring on the side that goes from the valve to firewall and seemed to work ok
Could i use O-rings for the seal? anyone try this??

[baltobernie]

I'm sorry I don't what "ODD" means, but the correct seals are available from IAP, Vick, etc.

[Zippy]

I'm sorry I don't what "ODD" means, but the correct seals are available from IAP, Vick, etc.

Probably not an acronym at all. It could mean odd. Some Fiat parts are pretty strange....
IDK for sure WIM. TPA, WUTI, MIGTOPN. Not an IAP number.
Sorry I can't help with your problem. I hope to never have to replace that part of my car.




IDK: i don't know
WIM: what it means
TPA: That's the problem with acronyms
WUTI: we use them indescriminately
MIGTOPN: Maybe its the gasket type or part number
IAP: International Auto Parts

[baltobernie]

VICK P/N 43-7672 AFAIK REQ. 2PCS

[Fiat1980spyder]

Yes odd is not stated as a acronym, i just mean its odd.

Ok so i figured i would give it a try and use o-rings anyway and it worked great no leaks. The valve is the new style valves they use on the fiat spider http://www.international-auto.com/index ... sid=854235 part number 8998.

Had to test fit part a few times because the angle changes using this valve compared to original valve. I eneded up drilling the stud holes 1 size bigger using a 17/64(.265mm) drill bit and marking where the tube exits the firewall and at that marking crushing the tube a little with the vise. It gave nough clearence so when i would test fit and tighten that the valve was not making too much pressure with the top of the firewall hole. Then had a kit of o-rings and used 7/32 inner dia. 11/32 outer dia. 1/16 wide seals for the studs (2) and 9/16 inner dia. 3/4 outer dia. 3/32 width o-ring for the main supply.
Basically used these because the seal would sit in the valve and stick out bout 1/16inch which i figured was enough to seal once tightened.
Then th only tricky part was putting the bigger seal in the valve and not letting it move while carefully assembly to heater core to I put a light coat of vaseline on the underside where it would make contact with the valve and then put seal on the valve and put a small layer of silicon on the sides of the o-ring to keep it in place and on the rest of the flange. Then slide the little oring over the studs and made sure they go all the way back where stud meets heater core and gently menuvered valve in place and tightened bolts, pressure tested system no leaks after an hr so looks good to me.

The car is a turbo car and i guess because of the turbo it would warp those factory seals that you would get from iap or another supplier. Thats why i decided to go and figure a better way to seal the system so far so good but i will update in a month or so to see if they withstand the test of time.

Oh also while i was removing the valve i found it hard to get the nut which was (facing the heater core side in which the valve is inserted) bottom right nut. I ended up getting a dremil and removing a little bit of plastic material for the socket to enter a bit easier.

[Lex]

Mine just came in the other day too(that back order took forever lol), had kind of the same issue, figured I just didnt get things tight, and I didnt, dremil away a little plastic did the trick for me. As for the proper fit into the firewall resizing the hole was a most to even get it on for me. So you're not alone.

[Fiat1980spyder]

even after making a bigger hole does the tube stick upward engine side of the firewall??? Mine is a little i might take it out on day and get someone with a bender to bend it the right way.

[gchocevar]

Hi,

When I replace my heater core I noticed there was a plastic insert in the heater core tube of the long metal tube, flange side. It was all busted up so I removed it. When I used the new gasket from IAP, it worked for the valve to heater and valve to the short tube. However, I always had leaks on the flange long tube. I remembered the plastic insert. What solved the leak problem was to build up the rubber gasket with black silicon on both sides just around the water ID (not on the rubber flange of the gasket). When I replaced the new formed gasket leaks were solved.

Maybe the new tubes work with newer gaskets...

Good luck

[Fiat1980spyder]

Yea i guess whatever works for that particular system its not like they had very good quality control on fiats back in 1980's i am sure the holes in my firewall are a little off from the ones in yours, even a mm off could make the tube put pressure on the side of the firewall and make the flange not seal. A big reason i used O-ring was because i can see if the part seated to the flange, also in my opionion honda had it the best when they started O-ringing most of the parts on the engine, durable and long lasting practically no need for silicon unless its to hold the oring in the spot. Also the those gaskets from IAP i had experience with putting silicon and putting it together with no leaks and a while later it would leak because it was just a tiny bit of silicon holding it from leaking and at some point the silicon broke and leaked once again. But thats just my experience i am sure 100's of pp can say those IAP gaskets work like a charm. So far so good with the O-rings so hopefully it holds with no problems.

[gchocevar]

The extra RTV I used is holding, but another one of the named gaskets didn't hold from the valve at the heater core. The rubber gets pretty deformed. I am going to try your o-ring trick. How is yours holding up?

[Fiat1980spyder]

Have to admit i drove is the other day in 20 degrees and not a drop of antifreeze, Its turbo and had to start it since i haven't touched it in a month or so, so why not take a ride, god bless who ever had to drive these cars as an everyday car back in the day.

[RoyBatty]

Have to admit i drove is the other day in 20 degrees and not a drop of antifreeze, Its turbo and had to start it since i haven't touched it in a month or so, so why not take a ride, god bless who ever had to drive these cars as an everyday car back in the day.

Driving in the cold is not the problem with having no anti-freeze.
It's the time you are parked. When the untreated water in your block and radiator freezes and expands.
This can crack your block, head or radiator. The expansion plugs in your engine might save you. But even having to repair one of those is not a good thing.
Get some anti-freeze in your system.

[Exit98]

Hey Roy,

I think Fiat1980Spider meant that he had no coolant leaks since his repair, not that he didn't have anti-freeze in the system.

god bless who ever had to drive these cars as an everyday car back in the day.

I bought a brand new 1972 124 when I was 25 years old. It was my one and only car, winter or summer, rain or snow. I owned it during the gas crisis starting October 1983. I got good gas mileage but the car only held 10 gallons or so, so I still had to sit in the interminable gas lines. It was cold that winter. The Fiat took forever to warm the cockpit. I had a big old wool army blanket on the driver's seat. I'd sit on it and wrap it around me. The door latch would usually freeze so I had a piece of rope attached to the passenger side headrest to tie the driver's door shut till it thawed out.

It went real good in the snow. The skinny Michlien radials cut through the snow and gave decent grip. The only time I had problems is when the snow was deep as it would drag down the low-slung car. Following in the tracks of other cars on the highway was scary, since they were all wider that the Fiat and you'd find yourself slewing back and forth from trough to trough.

Many memories. The good ones far exceed the others.

[RoyBatty]

Ahhh, thanks for the clarification.

Sounds like you had some fun in your Spider.
I'm driving mine almost 2000 miles a month right now as it is my main commuter for work.
My experience so far has led me to the conclusion that these cars are on a par with my old early 70's Camaros for durability, reliability and maintainability.
I must be getting real sick as I am now shopping Craigslist in the local areas for the ever present $500 Spider parts car.

[Exit98]

HI Roy,

I never heard of Ione Calif. so I just looked it up. Wow, you sure have some great roads west of you. A few years ago my son was a wildlife fire fighter based in Eldorado National Forest. Around 2005 or so. Though they sent him south to fight the big fires in the San Bernadino area that year. He loved it out there.

Where do you commute to, Stockton, San Fran.? Nice part of the world.