TR7 Heater, why is mine so crap

[Edward]

Hello Casper, My original heater core provided excellent heat. When I replaced the core with an aftermarket replacement the heater never worked as well. I think your problem might be faulty or incorrect temperature thermostat as your temperature gauge should read higher.
Regards, Ed

[PeterTR7V8]

A big welcome to the forum!

Get yourself an inexpensive infrared heat sensor & take a reading of your thermostat housing. It should get up around 95C/205F. If your gauge is reading 1/4 at that temp then replace the sender. If it isn't getting up to that temp then change your thermostat. TR7 thermos have a 'foot' on the bottom that affects the flow rate/direction & quite often they are replaced with normal thermostats that don't work as well. Check this thread... http://www.forum.triumphtr7.com/topic.a ... C_ID=13036



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[HowardB]

If its anything like mine it should be able to keep you warm with the hood down in autumn/spring without any difficulty

[Dave Dyer]

Hi Casper,

All the TR7's I've owned over the last 26 years (Theres been 12!) the temperature gauge has always been around the quarter mark, so I wouldn't worry about that bit, but the lack of heat could be a blocked heater core, its like a small radiator thats plummed into the cooling circuit, you could disconnect the 2 water hoses going to it and put a hose pipe into one of the heater pipes and see what the flows like comming out of the other pipe!

Or if your sure your car is running at a low temperature, then maybe the thermostat is missing, someone might have removed it to 'cure' an overheating problem, especially if you've just bought the car!

Cheers, Dave

[John Clancy]

Agree with Dave, the TR7 heater gauge only ever gets around the quarter mark. I did have one gauge that sat around the half way point but it was just the gauge or sender unit (or combination of both) causing this anomaly.

When I first had my TR7 the heater was crap. Didn't even blow out luke warm air so you're doing better than I did at first. Had a replacement about 12 years ago that managed luke warm air but that one leaked immediately and was replaced by the present heater which is bloody hot!

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[busheytrader]

Temp gauge 1/4 mark was normal when I had a 2.0L engine and the heater worked great.

The original heater would be 33 years old now so a good flush and backflush would do no harm. Taking off the fresh air scoop at the rear of the engine bay enables you to get at the hoses.

As per Peter a cheap infra red sensor (Maplins do them cheap in the UK) is a good idea.

These are very useful at chasing round hot or cold spots in the cooling system. Just point it at a hose or thermostat housing.

Adam





TR7 V8 DHC Jaguar Solent Blue. 9.35cr Range Rover V8, Holley 390cfm, JWR Dual Port, 214 Cam, Lumention, Tubular Manifolds, S/S Single Pipe Exh, 3.08 Rear, 200lb Spax & PolyBushes all round, Anti- Dive, Strut-Top Roller Bearings, Capri Vented Discs & Calipers, Braided Hoses, 4 Speed Rear Cylinders, Uprated Master Cylinder & Servo, AT 14" 5 Spokes or Maestro Turbo 15" Alloys, Cruise Lights, S/S Heater Pipes, Replacement Fuel Tank. No Door Stickers. Mine since July 1986, V8 from 1991

[jeffremj]

IIRC, the 2 seater TR7 heater system is exactly the same as that for the old Austin Princess 5 seater, so is more than enough. It should be very hot!

[UKPhilTR7]

Have you thought about changing if for a new smaller heater system that has A/C like they sell in places like carbuildersolutions?

[Beans]

Agree with the rest, TR7 heater is more then adequate.
Maybe the previous owner disconnected it because it was leaking ?

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[FI Spyder]

Although my temp gauge reads 1/4 to 1/3 the heater puts out plenty of heat, even in November. Your heater core is probably partially plug with gunk. I've seen pictures of some pretty plugged ones. When I had mine out for foam replacement I flushed it with CLR solution. Pretty strong stuff that you owuldn't want to leave too long in unless it's pretty ugly.

http://www.jelmar.com/CLRbasic.htm


TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra