Gentleman Driver

Yes, his car makes mine look like a salvage yard resident... well it may be considering all I have had to do to it!

How can I tell if it is the HCV, anything particular to look for? It looked fine when I checked it... oh well, guess I'll find out anyway when I get back and run the coolant back through it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TOO ALL!!!!!

Jason Judd

If it is the heater control valve, there is an upgrade that a few of the 968's have done. It involves using an Audi/VW hcv I think...which is metal, rather than plastic.

Check the 968 boards and you can find out for sure.

PorscheDude1

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Merry Christmas!

Gentleman Driver

OK, finally got a jack and stands from my friend who was out of town and got out there to check out the issue... After 30 minutes of braving wind-swept rain and diminishing light to jack the car up (trying new methods mind you to see the best way...), and then removing the bottom plastic pan, I started to pour in distilled water to diagnose the problem.

Water immediately started flowing onto the ground so I jump underneath to see where it is coming from... had nothing, was just going everywhere! So I pour more in and then take a flashlight and look from the top. Low and behold it is indeed the Heater Control Valve where the water is flowing from! Needless to say I was kicking myself for spending all that time and effort getting the car in the air, especially because it is outside on asphalt.

SO, I should have heeded all of your advice and just poured water in to see if it was the HCV without all of the hassle...

Now, since I know what it is, where can I purchase the upgraded metal HCV?

Thanks again!

jpk

It's kind of hit-and-miss to find the metal valves. Basically, any heater valve that opens when vacume is applied will work. Most parts places spec the same two piece plastic valve for Audi/VW apps as well.

I think it was the 5 cylinder Audis that used the vacume heater valve, so look for a 1990-ish Audi 90 or 100 application. I found a Visteon valve for a '79 Ford LTD which is working pretty nicely in my car; it's still two pieces, but it's brass crimped around the plastic half so there's no issue with a glue joint failing.

You can try poking around online before pestering your local parts store guy; rockauto.com is a pretty good site for that since it has pictures of most parts.

ehall

I believe the valve in question is used on 928's. Ask on the 928 board, for the part #. Otherwise, send me a pm tomorrow and I'll look up the part # for you. You might also ask on the 944 turbo board. We've discussewd this before, but it's been a long time.

RajDatta

Why not use the factory piece and change it every 60K. I prefer the factory part and have made it a service item now.
Raj

ehall

as easy as it is to get too on a 968, that makes good sense.


Make sure to get ALL of the air out of the coolant system. Hot air will blow the new one pretty quickly.

BerndCF

What about this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/74671...#ht_544wt_1248

FRporscheman

I used this write-up to convert both of my cars to a metal HCV. It fits nicely and works flawlessly.

http://www.clubstuttgart.net/showthread.php?t=358

Beware, NAPA sells a metal one and a plastic one under the same part number! So if they hand you a plastic one, just return it and try again, either at a different NAPA or just come back later. If they insist that you tell them a year and make, then tell them it's for a 1988 Audi 5000.

http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPage...n=Heater+Valve

Gentleman Driver

I am going this route as it requires no modifications and the part is $19 from Pelican... I will just make sure to get all the air out of the system this time. Also going to purchase the Heat Shield from RS Barn, anyone done this upgrade also?

Any recommendations on what to change while I am doing this? The surrounding hoses look fine, but are cheap too, just don't know how big of a hassle they are to change...

And finally, do I have to remove the Oil Filter in order to do this maintenance? I don't really want oil going all over my engine again, just went through this and cleaning it up...

Thanks!

PorscheDude1

May as will change the hoses if they are original. Bleeding the cooling system can be tough.

FRporscheman

I just did this job, and I removed the oil filter. It made it so much easier... Replacing the hoses is your call. There are plenty of reasons to change them now, but they are probably going to last a good while longer.

Gentleman Driver

Just finished replacing the HCV with the OEM part... was a pain in 30 degrees and snow on the ground! I ended up removing the old HCV with the connecting hoses as they had worm-driven clamps and then installed the new HCV outside the engine bay (on the ground). I wanted to replace the hoses, but what I ordered from Pelican was wrong, thought I researched well... also replaced the original HCV clamps with worm-driven ones also.

When re-installing everything, including the Oil Filter, it seems as though the filter, the HCV, and the hose that goes to the Heater Core are closer than before...

Anyway, next step is how to best bleed the air out the system? I have filled it back up with coolant (yay, no leaks!), and rented the Pressure Tester from Autozone, but quite frankly I don't know how to use the thing...

I have read the suggest method of bleeding the air, seen on page 1 of this thread, but I have also heard that using the Pressure Tester helps... any suggestions?

P.S. Is the "heater lever" cited in the method on page 1 just the HVAC heater? Confused... (obviously)

Thanks again!

PorscheG96

Yeah turn the HVAC to full heat which opens the HCV and allows coolant into the heater core. Open the bleed screw, fill the coolant resevoir until coolant comes out of bleed screw, close bleed screw and start car. I'd continue letting the engine run while making note of engine coolant temp and checking to see if the heater is blowing hot air. If the air is still cold when car is to operating temp then open the bleed screw again and top off coolant when you're done.