Vintage Air system stopped blowing hot air

[rev2xs]

Hi all,

i was wondering, has anyone encountered any issues with the Vintage Air system refusing to blow hot air after a while? My system worked just fine initially, and now it simply refuses to blow hot air.

Is it the valve itself? I seem to remember seeing something on the forums at one point about this very topic, but after doing a few searches, i cant seem to find this post.

Its definitely not the thermostat, i changed it to a brand new unit and the problem persists.


Thanks, Tom

[beeman]

Most people replace the Vintage Air valve, not because of reliability, but because it can lead to overheating the engine in certain situations. So if you are using that valve, I'd change it anyways.

[OnlyAndy]

I had a Vintage Air heater unit in an old 52' Chevy PU hot rod and it worked very well. NOW I have purchased a new one to go into my 33' hot rod and looking at that valve,,, it looks so cheap I hesitate to use it. WHAT valve are the in crowd guys going too?

[beeman]

The overheating issue is specific to the LS Series I believe.

MyRaceshop, one of the forum sponsors, sells a nice replacement.

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

I know the earlier systems that shipped with the Gen I kits, there was a plastic arrow moulded into the valve showing direction of flow....and then a sticker with an arrow showing flow in the opposite direction. If you installed the valve the wrong way, the force of coolant flow would actually close the valve and shut the heat off. Before replacing the valve, I would try simply turning it around and see what happens. If you still have no heat, then you should be able to tell just by feeling the heater hoses.....if you have the heat on and the heater hoses are not hot, then that valve is most likely bad. If the heater hoses are hot, then you have an issue with the blend door inside the AC unit.

[rev2xs]

I know the earlier systems that shipped with the Gen I kits, there was a plastic arrow moulded into the valve showing direction of flow....and then a sticker with an arrow showing flow in the opposite direction. If you installed the valve the wrong way, the force of coolant flow would actually close the valve and shut the heat off. Before replacing the valve, I would try simply turning it around and see what happens. If you still have no heat, then you should be able to tell just by feeling the heater hoses.....if you have the heat on and the heater hoses are not hot, then that valve is most likely bad. If the heater hoses are hot, then you have an issue with the blend door inside the AC unit.

Thanks for the responses guys

The flow is definitely in the right direction as this used to work fine. So yea, like you guys have said, I think the valve is dead. Does anyone know where to get a replacement valve from?

Actually, just a quick question relating to the wiring of the heater control valve, can you Shane confirm how to connect it? Just to make sure i have it connected correctly. I think there is a green cable going to it. Just want to know what connector on the valve it should be connected to. I took off the connectors and forgot what orientation they go back on to.

[crash]

Thanks for the kind words guys...

http://www.myraceshop.com/Heater_Bypass_Valve.html

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Yes, the green wire from the VA harness should be hooked to the valve. Orientation of the wires should not matter unless it's marked on the solenoid as + and -.....it's just a coil like a relay coil, so should be able to hook power or ground up to either side and it should work.

As I mentioned in the first post, if the valve is hosed backwards, the force of the flow of coolant will actually close the valve....I have experienced this myself first hand. The valve had an arrow moulded into the body of it and a sticker on it with an arrow in the opposite direction, so I was not sure which way to install the valve. At idle the heat would work fine. Once engine RPM got up to 2000 or so, the additional force/flow of coolant was enough to force the valve shut and the heat would stop working. I flipped the hoses around on the valve and it worked fine.....since the force of coolant flow would be forcing the valve open and not closed.

Don't rule out the possibility that your blend door stopped working and may not have anything to do with coolant flow.