Last winter I came to realize the air volume of both the front and rear heaters were a bit weak. I wasn't sure if this was just a characteristic of the Delica, but crawling under the van to check out the rear system I had discovered that all of the foam tape insulation between the heater box/blower enclosure and the body duct-work, as well as the A/C coil enclosure had deteriorated to the point that there were huge gaps allowing blowing air to escape. When the fan was running I cold feel warm air blasting from the gaps. So, while I've got the coolant drained I thought it a good time to remedy the situation as well as clean up the entire assembly. I removed the heater box/blower assembly by first disconnecting the two electrical harnesses and coolant lines and then the three fasteners that hold it to the body.
View attachment 2731
After I had it out I peeled off the remaining foam tape from both the blower as well as around the ducting on the body. I also removed the blower motor/fan assembly and what I think is the thermostat little coil thingy, and then sprayed out the whole enclosure with a hose. Go easy on the fins of the coil as they are quite fragile and will bend.
View attachment 2735
I didn't want to disconnect the refrigerant lines to the A/C in order to get to the foam tape between it and the body ducting, so I just loosened the bracket securing the lines to the underside of the body and then removed the three fasteners that hold the enclosure to the body, which allowed enough room to clean it up and R/R the foam tape. While I was in there I also carefully sprayed and vacuumed out both sides of the coils. The inside, in particular, had a lot of deteriorated foam stuck to the fins.
View attachment 2732
View attachment 2733
I also discovered the flappers had a foam backing that more or less melted when I touched it, but the only way to replace it would be to split the two halves of the blower enclosure by removing the screws and clips that fastened it together, which was more than I wanted to take on, so I just cleaned off the remainder of what was there and left it as-is. I don't feel it will significantly affect the function of the flaps.
I decide not to use the same type of foam weatherstripping as it had been originally assembled with, but instead I found a rubberized adhesive tape of a similar dimension.
View attachment 2736
View attachment 2741
The cover to the duct-work controls had a slightly more narrow dimension but it was no problem to cut the adhesive tape down to make it fit.
After everything was cleaned up and new weatherstripping tape applied I put it all back toether and the fit is nice and snug with no gaps. Can't test it yet, as there is not battery power to the van but it will undoubtedly result in much more air volume to the rear.
View attachment 2742
Next up...the front heater!
