Many months ago I repaired & replaced my radiator which of course meant replacing all the coolant too. Since this event I have never had warm air from any of the cabin vents. I naturally assumed that the system just had an airblock and needed bleeding.

The workshop manual details a simple procedure to do this which involes removing the upper hose from the heater core at the bulkhead, raising it 4"and filling the system slowly until coolant is seen escaping from the exposed hosebarb. Easy eh.

The ambient temp in PH has actually been pretty cool for a few weeks now and I have wanted warm air on a few occasions. So, I had a couple of hours today to have a look. The bulkhead xonnections for the heater hoses are a totally pain to get to.. but I managed to remove the upper one to go through the bleeding/filling properly. Then I saw this insert stuck into the heater hosebarb!! ...

that cream coloured insert is a bit rubbery - there is certainly no way thro for any liquid - i tried a small screwdriver down the centre but it is blocked.

Obviously that would explain the lack of heat but I'm puzzled by that blockage. I am about 70% sure that I did used to get heat from the cabin vents ....before the radiator was removed but obviously I couldnt have..if that blockage thing was either fitted...or left in there from the factory....

I realise that in UK there is no way that a car would leave the factory with a non-working heater ...but in PH it is entirely possible. Several cars here are not even produced with heater matrixes - so no provision to heat the cabin at all .... cooling / aircon only. There is a possibility that it might be something that is done for the PH market.

This is a long shot..but..anyone seen a heater hose inlet like that before?

.next chance I get I will remove the other hose and see what that one looks like too.

Then its dilemma time! ... do I attempt to remove the bung? ... pull it out? in order to get hot coolant flowing ..and heat? If I do that I have to hope that it is a REAL heater matrix ...and that it is sound and will pass water properly without leaking.

Wish I knew the answers .... I really would love to have heat available right now.....

Mine is wihtout these plugs. Never have seen sutch things

It's not a wierd thermostat is it?

I was wondering the same.

Could you post your VIN and I'll have a look for you.

Similar item on Europe spec. is 922001HP0C so obviously some kind of thermostat.

ohh..yeah..good point ... i guess it could be - it seemed to be totally bonded to the metal .. I gave it a little tug but it didnt seem to want to move or come out of there

VIN is .. TDBNLJWT31A13945

is that the part no. for the whole heater matrix? ...or the little unknown part in the end that might be a t'stat?

edit - Amayama lists that part no. as an expansion valve for the aircon system .... so something not right with the numbers there...

... one other thing I noticed is that the hot coolant flow FROM the engine goes to the LOWER heater matrix barb. The one in the pic is the upper one..and is connected to the return line back to the engine. Traditionally I would have expected the hot flow to go to the upper one ...so that as it was cooled in the matrix, it would tend to flow to the lower one naturally. Not sure how relevant that would be tho.. given the flow rate.

That rubbery insert might be some kind of one-way non-return valve also .... in which case flow direction would be critical. Lots of unknowns...