Plastic junction piece which connects to the thermo housing cracked. Whats it called?

I was just trying to check out the condition of my heater hoses and I literally placed a hand on the heater hose and that plastic junction box with the actuator on it crumbled into 10 pieces. Good thing it didnt happen on the road :greensmok

Does anyone know what its called or where to get it?

Im thinking dealership.

Thanks!

http://www.imgsync.com

Re: Plastic junction piece which connects to the thermo housing cracked. Whats it called?

A working picture would have been nice, but if it has a vacuum line coming out of it it's more likely than not the heater control valve. AutoZone has them for $25. Or you could leave it like it is, vent temperature will increase a little bit.

Re: Plastic junction piece which connects to the thermo housing cracked. Whats it called?

fixed, thanks!

Re: Plastic junction piece which connects to the thermo housing cracked. Whats it called?

Your picture didn't make the transition from hyperspace. Can you re-post it. I think you are talking about the heater valve but I may be mistaken.
Blue

Per your picture (seems to be ficksed,) it is the heater control valve. I believe it's aftermarket, I think I replaced one some time ago with a metal part (wasn't the original application - I think it was a Chevvy part, but I think plastic is highly overused...) and it may also be safely bypassed/eliminated with a little creativity (cf. My copper heater line mod. No heater control valve.)

Re: Plastic junction piece which connects to the thermo housing cracked. Whats it called?

Looks like heater valve...I just bypassed mine completely. They always crack.

Either that or maybe you could get a copper valve? Maybe one that just closes off one of the lines? That would be less of a mess then that thing.

Re: Plastic junction piece which connects to the thermo housing cracked. Whats it called?



ISTHIS A HEATER CONTROL VALVE? THIS IS FROM A 92

@XJCHURCH - Yes, it are. I do believe they're set up differently between RENIX and HO (and were eliminated entirely sometime during OBD-II, after 1996...) but that is a heater control valve.

The purpose of the thing is to shut off the flow of hot coolant through the heater core when not needed - like when the aircon is on. This is why it can be readily deleted - all it really does it reduce the load on your aircon and keep your vent discharge a bit cooler. I'm toying with an idea to put a cable-operated bypass valve in, I just haven't worked on it very hard yet.

Re: Plastic junction piece which connects to the thermo housing cracked. Whats it called?

Yep, thats it guys!

So what exactly are my options here? Bring the part to autozone and ask to compare it to metal chevy factory ones? I dont have trouble fabbing something up with copper but where would that leave the vaccum activated valve?

Thanks guys!

Plays For Jeeps said:

Yep, thats it guys!

So what exactly are my options here? Bring the part to autozone and ask to compare it to metal chevy factory ones? I dont have trouble fabbing something up with copper but where would that leave the vaccum activated valve?

Thanks guys!

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Nowhere - it's not strictly necessary to engine function. If you don't use your aircon, or don't have aircon, you don't really need it at all (the R134a systems tend to chill more, so they deleted the heater control valve shortly after they started using the new refrigerant.)

I haven't had a heater control valve on my 88 for years, and I've not had any trouble. If I still had the P/N for the one that I used in my 87 (the Chevvy part,) I'd give it to you. But, that seems to be lost in the Mists of Time (and the last three moves...)

Re: Plastic junction piece which connects to the thermo housing cracked. Whats it called?

^Excellent, sounds like I can just make a piece up that connects the four of those hoses and shouldnt have any trouble.

You sir, are the man!

Plays For Jeeps said:

^Excellent, sounds like I can just make a piece up that connects the four of those hoses and shouldnt have any trouble.

You sir, are the man!

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Not so much "connects the four" as just figuring out which hoses are connected to which when the valve is open, and joining them.

The heater control valve is a sort of "bypass" valve - when it's closed, it's a U-turn in the system for coolant from the engine. When it's open, it allows coolant flow through the heater core. So, it doesn't have all four hoses connected together all the time - it connects the two off of the engine (one off the water pump, one off of the thermostat housing) when it's "closed," and allows through flow when it's "open."

I do not believe the heater core is picky about flow direction, so it should not be any trouble whichever way you connect them. If you don't use the heater at all, you can just connect the two on the engine side of the valve using a union - but I highly recommend you blow the coolant out of the heater core if you do (and then cap the heater core nipples.) Letting coolant sit in there will end up with you having the core corrode out, and you'll have to replace the wretched thing...

Re: Plastic junction piece which connects to the thermo housing cracked. Whats it called?

Visit this link. Newer vehicles don't usually have a heater valve anymore, but here's what some people think about the lack of one:

http://www.eurekaboy.com/f250/heaterhose.htm

Re: Plastic junction piece which connects to the thermo housing cracked. Whats it called?

The heater control valve Renix vs 92 up is different. When converting to open system it becomes apparent the Renix valve is not helpful. And when installing the '92 up, adapters are necessary for the different sizes hoses and connections to the heater core.

I found out the hard way the flow path is important and can make a 25* difference in heat output, FWIW. I don't see why, but warm is nice in January.

Re: Plastic junction piece which connects to the thermo housing cracked. Whats it called?

Well I called around and autozone has plastic heater control valves for $21 and I figure I can have them pull the plastic jeep valve and then have them compare it to any metal chevy valves they have.

They owe me a favor seeing as I bought some wheel bearings from them only to find that although the 4 boxes were marked with the same part number the 4 bearings in the boxes were all different sizes! That was a good waste of a half day.

Plays For Jeeps said:

They owe me a favor seeing as I bought some wheel bearings from them only to find that although the 4 boxes were marked with the same part number the 4 bearings in the boxes were all different sizes! That was a good waste of a half day.

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I'm surprised they even had boxes with the right markings. I usually avoid Autozone as the counter guys (at least around here) have no clue and usually come back with the wrong part. I prefer the NAPAs around hear as they are actually helpful and know their crap.

lawsoncl said:

I'm surprised they even had boxes with the right markings. I usually avoid Autozone as the counter guys (at least around here) have no clue and usually come back with the wrong part. I prefer the NAPAs around hear as they are actually helpful and know their crap.

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I find that to be true about Autozone and NAPA, except on the weekends. They seem to have the dumbest, laziest guys on hand, at least at the one that's 1/4 mile from my house, I have to drive about 20 miles to find a good one, and they usually tell me the part is available at the other store:gonnablow