Heater control valve disintegrated

[Saab84mw]

Has anyone had issues with a heater control valve falling apart, disintegrating, or just melting?

I was towing my camper this weekend after coming off a pretty tall bridge engine started running hot pulled over to the side of the road and found it leaking from around the control valve reached down to see if I had blown a hose and the Control valve fell apart.

I had replace this valve and every plastic part in the heater hose lines about three years ago all those plastic parts are basically deteriorated so when I tried to mess with them they just broke into pieces.

Anybody have any solutions to these issues with these plastic parts on the heater hoses under the hood or are they just getting too much heat from the engine and destroying them because the temperature under my hood is pretty hot?

Thanks for any help.

 

[454cid]

That's an SUV thing, the trucks don't normally have them. Is it too close the exhaust? I've never had the plastic valve, but I've had a few plastic fittings and they've never been an issue.

There are steel valves out there, but you'd have to browse them by Google, or other means.... they won't be listed for your Suburban.

 

[andy396]

If you live where it doesn’t get too hot you could just omit it. It’s there just to help the A/C get as cold as possible.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Has anyone had issues with a heater control valve falling apart, disintegrating, or just melting?

I was towing my camper this weekend after coming off a pretty tall bridge engine started running hot pulled over to the side of the road and found it leaking from around the control valve reached down to see if I had blown a hose and the Control valve fell apart.

I had replace this valve and every plastic part in the heater hose lines about three years ago all those plastic parts are basically deteriorated so when I tried to mess with them they just broke into pieces.

Anybody have any solutions to these issues with these plastic parts on the heater hoses under the hood or are they just getting too much heat from the engine and destroying them because the temperature under my hood is pretty hot?

Thanks for any help.

I replace them every 2-3 years on my Express van along with the rubber sections of the rear heater hoses. The plastic control valve under the van just gets cooked due to its proximity to the exhaust and cats.