Reprinted from i Saluti, July 1999,
from the Alfa Digest
The Incredible Exploding GTV6 Heater Valve
by Doug Sedon
Has anyone found a fix for the new GTV6 heater valves that seem to be manufactured poorly and/or incorrectly? I tried to install two in this car unsuccessfully. The first fell apart in my hands as I installed it and the second waited until the car was back together and then exploded upon operation. It seems that the two halves of the heater valve are not crimped together properly. Does anyone have a fix for this?
I had a similar problem in February. My fix is still working. From the archives...
I finally got a heater control valve installed in my �86 GTV6 that does not leak!!! No, it�s NOT an Alfa part. After much research, I determined that the closest match I was going to find was a heater valve from a �79-�82 Mazda 626. Well, this thing works well with only minor mods:
- The center-to-center dimension between the mounting holes is ca. 1/16 inch longer on the mazda heater valve - drilling out the holes with a 1/4 inch drill bit allows you to fit the bolts closer together (still small enough holes for the stock nuts/bolts to be used).
- There is no recess in the mazda valve mount for a rubber O-ring-type gasket�a careful application of RTV copper assured a good leak-free installation.
- When mounted to the heater core, the inlet for the coolant hose of the factory valve faces the fire-wall of the car, the mazda valve faces the floor. At the very least, you need to fit longer hose, but I found the kink in the hose at the valve, due to tight spacing, was not to my liking. So, I fabricated a copper �U� tube from flexible 1/2 inch copper pipe�the trick is to use a pipe-bender to achieve the tightest possible radius. Hook one end to a short piece of hose to the valve, the other end to the hose that goes to the engine.
- The cable operating the valve has to be cut, as the attachment point of the cable is in a different location.
- When I hooked up the cable with the heater control to the �off� position on the dash, the dash knob now only travels half-way to fully open the valve�the mazda valve has a shorter arm-travel-motion. Not a problem, but might offend someone�s aesthetic sensibilities.
- There is no provision to mount the micro-switch for the 2nd tropicaire fan, if your car is so equipped. I was able to mount the micro-switch with industrial-strength double-stick tape to a ca. 1/2 inch thick shim, with the shim double-stick-taped to the side of the HVAC center-housing, so the Mazda arm actuates the switch as required. This was actually very easy - it took only about 15 minutes to figure out that 1/2 inch was the proper shim-size needed, and where it needed to be mounted to ensure proper activation.
As I haven�t seen the configurations of the Spiders, Alfettas, Montreals, etc., that the Alfa part is used for, I don�t know if the conversion would be as easy, but it�s worth a shot, when you can only get new leaky valves from the factory. This Mazda valve also might work where the right angle valve is called for, because from what I can tell, the inlets on these will point down to the floor when installed anyways.
This page hosted by 
Get your own Free Home Page