Unless you insist on putting sticking plasters on a 20yo HU, then the right Incartec harness plus 21st century after-market HU is the way to go Imho. Via Bluetooth you can make phone calls, play the music on your phone, and get satnav directions, all fully integrated, and DAB

I'm just a bit wary of putting in something that the blowers might not like, Richard.? The other option I just thought about is to put my borehole camera into the heater core temp sensor hole for inspection, and maybe then rinse out that way?

Drains are clear, I think. Certainly the "flowers" above the gearbox are, or can a blockage develop internally? I poked it with a length of plastic tube anyway, and I didn't get covered. Anyway, I think the issue is not with the a/c, it's the heater core, I think.
It doesn't smell sweet/ like coolant, although my sense of smell is rubbish, it's more of a "burning plastic" type feeling, more than a smell.
I changed out the pollen filters today, which were damp and a little black in places, after less than a year. Both fans are working full bore.
So, can anyone think of a way to clean /rinse the matrix short of stripping it out.
Prior to changing the rad the "feeling" getting bad wd often coincide with a hevac service book symbol. But in nanocom there wd never be any fault reported. Does hevac have a max temp on the heater core? I wonder if the core being "too" hot wd throw a service book error and at the same time that extra heat was burning something off?

I get a vaguely nauseous/ "not fresh air" smell coming from my HVAC. I think it's more heat associated than with the AC, which makes me think that the outside of the heater matrix might need a rinse. I redid the o rings in the summer, but was on AC for months, and only recently started to require heat. It was quite unpleasant at first, and is becoming less noticeable now. I have no reason to think the matrix is leaking. I'm not too hot on the HVAC anatomy, but does anyone know of any good ways to clean the outside of the matrix? There are various "bombs" available on the market - anyone found a good one? If i wanted to do a more physical clean is that going to be a dash-off job, or is there a pathway to getting an aerosol solvent directly into the heater box via one of the vents?

Bin the HU, put the right harness in, and an after-market stereo, and never look back...

Sorry, i know this has run on a long time.... Fuel pressures: now that the filter's sorted I did another test: 26 psi at idle ( not fully warmed up though), 32 if I pull the vacuum line, and 48 if I block the return ( perhaps I did a better job than last time). So that says to me that the fuel pump is OK (phew). Is that normal for the FPR too?
I suppose I can run the same test on my 4.0 if no-one else has their data to hand. I think I'll go clean the injectors next

Trickle charge overnight, to be sure?

Does the battery have a good charge? Cd it be that the alternator has stopped charging properly since you changed it?

Sure, it cd very well be something like fuel pressure that causes it, but whatever it is, be it that, or injectors etc it only happens at 60+. Running fuel temp is normally 30-40 degrees, mainly driven by temp of fuel in the tank, heated a bit when it arrives in the engine bay, and cooled by ram air. The heating of the fuel rail after shut down is driven primarily by radiation from the engine, rather than ambient temp. My engine was running over 100 before I reworked the cooling system, yours was probably a good 5-10 degrees cooler with the super duper Direnza rad. Anyhow it's definitely a thing, I have sat and watched the fuel temp rise on nanocom to 60+ degrees, 15 mins after shut-down and it will not restart. If I restart in the 50s ie less than 15 mins, or waiting longer for the fuel rail to cool off then there's no re-start issue.

V possibly I have no issue any longer, fingers crossed

Well, I got the filter off, finally. Pulled every trick in the book... and didn't burn anyone/ anything. In the end I put an induction coil over the fuel union (with an extinguisher close to hand) and heated it until the canister was hot to touch (I bottled it, the induction heater will make it red hot in seconds) - nada.... Dremelled out one side of the nut on the filter housing - nada... induction heated the nut again, and slowly, reluctantly the union then came undone. I chopped open the filter and it was predictably crispy and black. So hopefully this will help the fuel pressure. Also, having replaced the rad the cooling system is running 5+ degrees cooler. That means the rail takes less heat once the engine has turned off - at 60 degrees+ on the fuel rail it will fail a restart. After 15 mins of standing the fuel rail temp was approaching 60 degrees, but now the heating up process should take longer, or maybe not even get there, as the block cools down.
I'll keep my eye on it. I also have a reflective fibre-glass wrap to add to the fuel rail if necessary.

Well, my compressor will work as soon as i turn on the ignition if there's insufficient pressure in the tank, so the compressor works to fill the tank. Then it's the tank drives the change in ride heights. So I'm guessing you very likely don't need those other bits plugged in if you just want to test the compressor, unless the ECU looks for all appendages to be properly connected at start-up. Maybe check on Nano too to see if it spits out any faults at ignition II ?

Again Chris? You definitely need to stay in your P38 more

Do you have the all the height sensors in place/ working? I'm guessing you can/ should hook everything up first and then use the relay as the fail-safe (ie either in or out ) to let the EAS fill up the tank and go from there/ see what happens. Hopefully someone will come along who's done it, although that may be more likely on rr.net as any coilers here are called out as heretics :o)

i know the thread's about the 3 amigos, but are you at all worried about your 3.2mpg fuel consumption, Strange? I thought no-one cd be worse than me

I put some expandable pliers on the top - they "just" wiggle out with a twisting motion ? Maybe I was lucky, but I've had to cut several bolts off this vehicle (since it lived by the sea at one point ) but these sensors came out ok - just a whole load of dirt holding them in, the sensor is stainless, although the hub rusts a bit. I suppose it partly depends if the sensor boot is still intact

sounds painful

What does nanocom say? Wabco ecu discards the errors each turn off of the ignition, hence you get a new life each time you go for a drive

I know Richard's hammer comment was in jest, but I found that it was better to remove the sensor and cage, de-grease the hole, and get some emery paper down the hole (wrap the paper round the cage, insert, and twist the cage), before greasing the cage and pushing the sensor into place. PO had banged one of mine and damaged the sensor tip, which then meant it cdn't self-gap, and it definitely won't if it's so tight it needs a hammer blow to move.

BTW, If anyone has broken the air bleed nipple off their rad that then runs to the expansion tank and wants the top plastic tank off my rad give me a shout before I bin it. I've uncrimped it from the aluminium body to inspect the internals (1/4-1/3 of the top channels clogged with Radweld/ similar). The tank is just mounted on a rubber gasket and then crimped on to the body, so with patience i suspect the tanks could be swapped succesfully

ebay seller called supeedghost, supplied in 3-4 days. Decent price £135, but it takes a bit of persuasion to get in the mounts (alloy top mounts a few mm too narrow, but can carefully be spread open), bottom hose neck angled too sharply upwards ( i think) and so v hard to mount the bottom hose. Top mount welding cd have been better, too. Drain plug is non-standard thread (but plug supplied). I got it because I couldn't find the Direnza one either. It works, just takes an hour more faff than it wd have done otherwise. If you use him as a Plan B shd Direnza not come through then it cd be worth checking supeedghost still has stock, I think there was a message saying "last one" when I bought, and now the listing price is £999 !!