I'm pretty sure that all heater valves are pretty much the same, but I was surprised when the heater valve that arrived today in the mail from FCP Groton was not the mostly metal inline style (MTC) with a butterfly valve shown on the their website, or the similarly shaped all plastic Scan Tech available from eEuroparts.com. Instead the valve is an AC Delco 15-5812, GM#88917621 with a plunger type valve arangement. It is all plastic with a large diaphragm on top of a roughly 3/4" tube. The inlet and outlet fittings enter the tube at right angles and are offset from each other. Anyone have problems making this style valve fit nicely in the space allotted? Anyone know anything about this style of valve compared to the original?

By the way, there is nothing wrong with the heater valve on my car -- it is the mostly metal with some plastic identical to the MTC valve shown on the FCP website for a 1990 740. I ordered a new valve as part of a wholesale replacement of heater hoses that appear to be in excellent shape as a preventative measure against catastrophic loss of coolant syndrome.

BTW date codes on some of the Volvo Hoses seem to indicate that some of them are original. They show no signs of swelling or cracking or other deterioration, but they are old.

SH