Reason For Removal of Rear Heater By many? (1 Viewer)

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Another option would be to install a shut-off valve (don't use brass) on the outbound heater line so that if it did start to leak, it can be easily shut down.

What if the inbound heater line fails? :doh:
 
Mine was disconnected when I bought the car about seven years back. Eventually I removed the hard lines, on the diesel versions the exhaust and heat shields were in the way, they came down easy enough past the transmission once the heat shield was lowered, they were rotten as old pears!

As mentioned once the heater is removed you get a lot of space, and a switched power supply to boot.

Regards

Dave
 
You'll be hating life if it springs a leak miles for nowhere. Bypass it now in your driveway were it's easy to work on, instead of on the trail

I don't work on things because I feel like they might break in the future. I have inspected all the lines and the unit and they look brand new. Plus I live in San Diego so corrosion has not been an issue.
 
ih8mud has made me neurotic about this. I replaced my radiator as PM a couple months back and watch my temp gauge about as frequently as my tach.

it's the mud OCD, just always go back to "if it ain't broke"........leave maintenance to maintenance such as changing oils, brakes, etc.
 
[QUOTEie, post: 11062077, member: 6"]I don't work on things because I feel like they might break in the future. I have inspected all the lines and the unit and they look brand new. Plus I live in San Diego so corrosion has not been an issue.[/QUOTE]

Can you actually see the hard lines all the way through to the heater on the gasoline versions?

I see where your coming from about MUD OCD but, when the same fault occurs on hundreds of the same model, then forewarned is forearmed. Driveway, sunny day, OR side of road at night, pissing down with rain, kids screaming in the back, oh and no cell signal?

Regards

Dave
 
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[QUOTEie, post: 11062077, member: 6"]
I see where your coming from about MUD OCD but, when the same fault occurs on hundreds of the same model, then forewarned is forearmed. Driveway, sunny day, OR side of road at night, pissing down with rain, kids screaming in the back, oh and no cell signal?

Not arguing with this exactly, but taken to the extreme there was a guy on here who just bought an FZJ80 and was planning on a cross country trip to which someone replied he shouldn't do it unless the head gasket was replaced first.
 
Keep the heater.
 
I've only had my rig 13yrs and I've used the rear heater twice...when I flushed the coolant system. I might remove it someday. I live in the anti-rust zone, so that helps. Spending too much time reading everything that could go wrong will cause you to leave your rig in the driveway and only use public transport.
 
I've only had my rig 13yrs and I've used the rear heater twice...when I flushed the coolant system. I might remove it someday. I live in the anti-rust zone, so that helps. Spending too much time reading everything that could go wrong will cause you to leave your rig in the driveway and only use public transport.
But if you don't live in the anti -rust zone, you will wind up using public transportation if you don't do many of the things you read about here.

Some poor guy had the rear differential housing rust completely through last week. :(
 
[QUOTEie, post: 11062077, member: 6"]I don't work on things because I feel like they might break in the future. I have inspected all the lines and the unit and they look brand new. Plus I live in San Diego so corrosion has not been an issue.

Can you actually see the hard lines all the way through to the heater on the gasoline versions?

I see where your coming from about MUD OCD but, when the same fault occurs on hundreds of the same model, then forewarned is forearmed. Driveway, sunny day, OR side of road at night, pissing down with rain, kids screaming in the back, oh and no cell signal?

Regards

Dave[/QUOTE]

groupthink, mud ocd, every car is a different animal, some have been maintained, some abused. Treat each vehicle as an individual and repair as needed. Making generalities about stuff like this is normally not warranted. I don't see the logic in removing a working device just because you are fearing it "might" break based on bunch of internet opinions. If you don't like it or need it than that logic makes sense but not because you are expecting it to fail. That is just insane. Furthermore bypassing via the firewall on the road would not be a major hassle off road. This is not something that is going to leave you stranded unless you are just not paying attention to your vehicles temp or the smell of coolant coming into the cab. A broken interior heater in most regards is not going to leave you stranded if you have some basic tools, supplies and mechanical apptitude carried with you.
 
I kept my rear heater, but also replaced/bypassed the hard lines.

I was able to run 5/8" heater hose down the firewall, along the frame and into the rear heater bypassing the hard lines completely but retaining the rear heater.

This is another option if you wish to keep it, it was quite easy to do.
 
Another option would be to install a shut-off valve (don't use brass) on the outbound heater line so that if it did start to leak, it can be easily shut down.

Why not use brass?
 
I kept my rear heater, but also replaced/bypassed the hard lines.

I was able to run 5/8" heater hose down the firewall, along the frame and into the rear heater bypassing the hard lines completely but retaining the rear heater.

This is another option if you wish to keep it, it was quite easy to do.

I like this option! How many feet of 5/8 heater hose is required?

Thanks!
 
I like this option! How many feet of 5/8 heater hose is required?

Thanks!
I think I bought 16ft of it, had quite a bit left over. Could probably get away with 12ft?
 
@1973Guppie

You have not answered my question "can you see the hard lines all the way through to the heater on the gasoline versions?"

The reason I asked is it seems that failure is from outside in as opposed to inside out, so maintenance is not the issue. I was not saying remove the heater unless you have no use for it (I live in Southern Spain), but pointed out there is some space to be had if needed.

This problem of corrosion in this particular area is not generalising, it is a common failure point and should be addressed by either, replacing or at least dtopping the heat shield (if you have one), and checking them out thoroughly.

Something else worth noting, if you do get a leak it is under the seat area of the floor pan, so the smell wafting backwards as you drive, you may not smell it. Given you may be an avid gauge watcher this too is not going to help, the 80 gauge is 'dumbed down' so a rise in engine temperature will happen before the gauge moves.

I am not trying to rock your boat but, 48 years under a hood teaches you a thing or two and preventative maintenance should never be underestimated.

Regards

Dave
 
Not arguing with this exactly, but taken to the extreme there was a guy on here who just bought an FZJ80 and was planning on a cross country trip to which someone replied he shouldn't do it unless the head gasket was replaced first.

Please tell me I was not that person as that IMO is a little OTT. Checking the heater lines is perhaps 20 minutes of your time and could save you at best a side of the road repair, at worst some pretty major engine repairs. It is true we all have different opinions (which is good), and our individual vehicle use may colour our thoughts, just never underestimate the grief that can be saved by a little time under the hood, consider this if you will for one moment.

You have lifted the hood on a Sunday morning, just checking around before going out on a trail (enter destination here), you have checked all your levels and give one of your battery terminals a little tug, and find it is loose, out with a wrench and all sorted. what if you had not checked?

You are now out on the trail with your buddies, all having a great time when the loose battery terminal comes off, up come the dash lights and you see them (assuming you were not carefully negotiating a difficult turn with a 1000 metre drop on one side), you switch off and reconnect the battery..call it done right?

Possibly not, the alternator will often be wrecked by trying to charge a battery that does not exist, so the alternator is toast, Not a big deal if your 80 is diesel, just carry on, but on your gas motor it will not be long before the electronics needed to keep it running give up. You are stuck miles from anywhere, no problem your buddies will get you out, now not only is your great day out ruined but so is your buddies, and when you do get home you have to shell out for a new alternator! of course it could have been worse.....no really it could. You have a second battery used for the winch, the loose lead was a positive and fell on the earthed battery retaining bar, causes a short and the car catches fire!

You see how a little PM can save you, your buddies, and your pocket a lot of trouble?

Have I made that sound extreme? A few years back I was out on a trail with IIRC correctly seven other 4 x 4's, all great. One driver has a problem with his CB antenna, he needs an allen key to sort it, I am the only one with the tools, no big deal and it is sorted. A couple of hours later a different driver gets a puncture, a cattle syringe through the sidewall, HE DOES NOT HAVE A SPARE WHEEL FFS!!!

We are probably two hours from a town but it is a Sunday pm and, if I had not been there with a tyre repair kit he would have had to leave his car where it was, of course he would have lost some sleep worrying if someone would strip his car of the HD bumpers, winch and all the other goodies he had paid out for, a spare seemingly very low on the list?

I am not an alarmist, and would never assume for one moment that a MUD member would go out on a trail without a spare, but have witnessed stupidity beyond belief.

When I first got my 80 I joined up to MUD, within a few posts I was warned about a common failure point being the big end bearings (on diesels) and they should be inspected/replaced, WTF is someone winding me up?

I trained as a mechanic back in 1976, back then big end failure was the result of lack of maintenance and certainly not specific to any particular vehicle. I checked it out and found this on my own car: BEB just observations

The advice of a 'mudder' had saved me a lot of money, would I have heard the bearings knocking or would I have had the standard rod through the block scenario, who knows but seven years on and the engine had covered a further 80,000 miles without issue.

Sorry for the long winded post, but you can only offer advice, it is up to the individual owner to decide whether they act on it.

Regards

Dave
 
I've only had my rig 13yrs and I've used the rear heater twice...when I flushed the coolant system. I might remove it someday. I live in the anti-rust zone, so that helps. Spending too much time reading everything that could go wrong will cause you to leave your rig in the driveway and only use public transport.

agree, I feel my time is better spent figuring out what tools to bring and supplies to fix most thi
@1973Guppie

You have not answered my question "can you see the hard lines all the way through to the heater on the gasoline versions?"

The reason I asked is it seems that failure is from outside in as opposed to inside out, so maintenance is not the issue. I was not saying remove the heater unless you have no use for it (I live in Southern Spain), but pointed out there is some space to be had if needed.

This problem of corrosion in this particular area is not generalising, it is a common failure point and should be addressed by either, replacing or at least dtopping the heat shield (if you have one), and checking them out thoroughly.

Something else worth noting, if you do get a leak it is under the seat area of the floor pan, so the smell wafting backwards as you drive, you may not smell it. Given you may be an avid gauge watcher this too is not going to help, the 80 gauge is 'dumbed down' so a rise in engine temperature will happen before the gauge moves.

I am not trying to rock your boat but, 48 years under a hood teaches you a thing or two and preventative maintenance should never be underestimated.

Regards

Dave


I will agree with you that internal corrosion is not a factor of weather patterns but of user maintenance. If someone maintains the vehicle by changing the coolant at regular intervals you will not have that type of corrosion. Of course I can't see the inside of the lines silly. I don't have air flowing rearward in my closed cab wagon so no idea what you are speaking of there. I know I can smell coolant if there is a leak, I always do, even at the smallest amount. Hell I can smell mexico gas being burnt when it is going down the road or the smell of a classic car burning gas with no smog apparatus. I have a scanguage unit so I can see the real time temp.

The point is you are still talking about removing a working piece of equipment that was installed by toyota engineers and does what it is supposed to do. I don't agree with removing parts "just because" you think they will fail as a blanket statement. Like I said each truck is different and should be treated as different, diff region, diff maintenance records, diff abuse history. Kind of like women.
 
diff abuse history. Kind of like women.

?????


Anyway, on one hand I want to bag on @Dave 2000 for going overboard, but as he explained his reasoning and how small things snowball into others' problems, I cannot disagree either.

Especially because we just spent a week with about 12,000 of my "closest" friends on the Hot Rod Power Tour. I drove a 59 Studebaker Lark and carried all my own tools and a few spare parts. We observed folks with more $$$$$$$$ than brains and saw folks with $50K to $200K cars that did not know how to drive them, did not have ANY idea how to work on them, as well as people that shouldn't have been driving....period.

I typically always follow the Boy Scout rules and that is to always be prepared. I am also prepared to help others out of my way so I can continue to enjoy myself and not be stuck behind someone that relies on the goodwill of others.

I'm quirky that way. (Pronounced OCD)

Speaking of which...I need to change my rear heater lines and I have not got around to it. Are the replacement metal lines available? It appears to be a giant PITA to replace them, as if I may need to remove the exhaust to make that happen. I am concerned that if I replace them with hose, the exhaust will melt the hoses. Any thoughts here?

I'm in the rust belt, and yes, they rust on the OUTSIDE, and NO, I cannot see the entire length of the lines on the petrol versions. They are partially obscured by heat shields.
 
@BILT4ME

You got me right there mate, I do tend to rattle on a bit, having the OCD way of thinking has meant not only reducing the possibility of a breakdown but having the ability to repair at the side of the road,. I am driven by this OCD to try and educate people and lead by example, yes it does sound somewhat condescending but it is about helping people at the end of the day, and certainly not telling them how to run thier rig.

I can with absolute honesty state that only ONE of the many car's in my 48 years of dtiving has needed to be taken home on a breakdown truck....................and it was my 80!

A nasty noise coming from the gearbox/transfer, the car was still driving but I did not want to make it worse.

OCD rocks....most of the time. :D

Regards

Dave
 
SNIP
I'm quirky that way. (Pronounced OCD)

Speaking of which...I need to change my rear heater lines and I have not got around to it. Are the replacement metal lines available? It appears to be a giant PITA to replace them, as if I may need to remove the exhaust to make that happen. I am concerned that if I replace them with hose, the exhaust will melt the hoses. Any thoughts here?

I'm in the rust belt, and yes, they rust on the OUTSIDE, and NO, I cannot see the entire length of the lines on the petrol versions. They are partially obscured by heat shields.

Yeah, one can go overboard. I don't think you really want to R&R the rear heater lines in most cases. It's usually bypass them in place. Not sure you can even get the old ones out without a lot of trickery and hacking. I do believe you may need to drop the tranny/TC to install new. The hoses replacement option involves routing away from the exhaust, so it is an option.

I would certainly listen to Dave2000's advice, even if I wouldn't always take ito_O

The issue of melting heater lines is real enough, but tends to apply depending on your environmental operating conditions. If you haven't thought about them, you probably should take a peek at them next time you're underneath it all. A good look-see will tell you , more or less, how great a concern they should be.
 

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