Vintage Air Heater Control Valve...Extremely Hot....HELP

[Coursey]

I just installed a Vintage air system. The wiring was also replaced with American Auto Wire.

The problem is that with the key on and the car not started the heater control valve is getting extremely hot.

It doesnt matter which side you plug in the wires it gets hot either way.
What is the problem?

[Twentyover]

Are you sure there's a problem?

This looks like a solenoid controlled water valve. The solenoid will heat up as it's operating, just like an incandescent light bulb, it's a by-product of the operation of the part. If it's not popping a fuse, I guess I'm not understanding the problem.

[Bad Bowtie]

On one build i did I had the same issue and thought i had the wiring incorrect, but rechecked wiring and even swapped the wires as you did and i still had the hot solenoid effect. If i remember correctly the solenoid would get hot even before the water had a chance to heat up. I figured that it must be the operation of the solenoid and we have had no problems with it so far. I would be interested to hear from other V/A installers if this is common to the heater valve.

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[Coursey]

Not sure if it normal or not. That is what I am trying to find out.
It was getting so hot that it was trying to smoke some wire loom that was touching it. That just didnt seem right to me.

[KUL FIR CHICK N]

Hi Coursey,

It is normal for the valve to get hot. It is a normally open valve, so it is only powered in max A/C mode or when the system is turned off and the ignition is still on. According to your photo, it is installed correctly. It may get a little hotter if you have not filled the system with coolant yet as the coil gets some of its cooling from the engine coolant. This is a very reliable valve and I can remember only two or three failures with around 50k units in the field.

If the actual wiring to the valve is melting the insulation, you may have a problem. If the hot solenoid coil is causing something else to melt, you should probably check to be sure that whatever is melting is rated for under-hood service.

If you have further questions or concerns, please feel free to PM me.

Ryan Zwicker
Dir. Engineering
Vintage Air, Inc.

[Bad Bowtie]

Thanks for the clarification Ryan, I did forget to mention that mine was only hot during key on situation and as far as i know there have not been any issues with the valve. I will be installing another Gen IV system on another Camaro soon so i expect the same results

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