Rob, our heaters have a constant engine water flow through them,
they are always hot.
One of the controls [hot/cold] shuts a flap, which stops the
incomming air passing the heated unit. If yours is hot, or
moderately warm, the foam seal on that flap is shot. [It is on
almost all of them]. This in one of the things to replace, if you
pull the thing out. The fresh air will then be [almost] outside air
temp.
You can not fit a cock, & shut the water off, as this flow is from
the rear of the head, through the heater, to the water pump. If you
stop this flow, overheating of the rear of the head is certain. You
can bypass the heater, as I have done, but the flow must be maintained.
One of the other things, is to put strips of neoprene rubber between
all those plastic bits, that rattle, or squeak. A 7 is a much nicer
car with out the dash noises.
Hay, FI Spyder, that global warming is not doing much of a job, this
winter. We had 15 consecutive mornings with frosts this year. I know
you lot won't be impressed wirh our -2C [about 29F] minimum, but for
me, that's positively arctic. I spent 6 years of my life in the high
tropics, where it NEVER dropped below 23 C, even on the coldest
nights. That's about 73/4 F, if you think in F.
Hasbeen
PS. If buying a complete unit, the price sounds pretty good. Just
one of the valves in the thing costs over A$600.00 in Oz, say
$500 US.
