HELP!! No heat in 94 accord LX

Hi,

My 94 Accord LX has no heat!! The fan works but it blows cold air. I was told it just needs a thermostat, which was removed by the previous owner. If I put in the thermostat, will it give me heat? I'm freezing here in New York. Also, can I put it in myself? If so, how?


Thanks.

PLEASE GIVE ME ANY SUGGESTIONS ON FIXING THIS PROBLEM.

same car ,same year, same problem I feel for ya though, ...its not that cold in Cali

there are two loops in cooling system, one it’s within engine, second one is through radiator. when engine gets hot and needs additional cooling thermostat opens and antifreeze will go through radiator (second loop). point all of what I said is to let you know that thermostat have nothing to do with you freezing your butt.:biggrin:


there're hoses coming off thermostat housing (not big hoses) and going toward firewall. those hoses supply antifreeze from engine block to heater inside of your car. one of those hoses has a valve before enter it cabin, this valve controls how much heat will be supplied to cabin, and you control this valve by turning temperature knob on HVAC control panel. when you turn temperature control knob it send electrical signal to small electric motor, then this motor connects to valve through cable and levers.

so here are some stuff that can cause heat problem;
1. temperature knob is broken and it’s just not turning the temperature control shaft.
2. broken valve and it broke in closed position.
3. broken cable, cable that pull lever on valve to open/close it.
4. broken motor.


here some things that you need to do to figure out what is wrong;
1. first I would check if knob is broken.
2. second I would check if valves opens and closes when you turn temperature control knob(assuming knob is ok). if valve doesn't opens/closes you need to figure out why its not opens/closes. I’d remove cable of the valve and try to turn valve by hand, if it doesn't move freely you need to replace it.

these two are fairly easy to check and most likely to be a reason for heating problem, especially first one.

next two are more complicated and I’d leave them to professional
1. if valve is ok, you need to check if cable moves freely. if it doesn't you need to check condition of motor before replacing cable.
2. you need check if motor works, check electrical connection first, then you need to check if electrical signal come to motor. if there is electrical signal and connection is fine but motor doesn't work it needs to be replaced.

Thank you very much for the suggestions. I will get around to doing some of it whenever the weather allows me too. New York's weather has been crazy lately. Until then, I will continue to freeze my butt, hands and everything else off.

okay, knob IS broken, but wondering if it's related to the leaking coolant? Timing of the two symtoms match.

okay, knob IS broken, but wondering if it's related to the leaking coolant? Timing of the two symtoms match.
its not related. i had knob broken on my 94 accord and i have seen ppl buy it at dealer when i was there buying something else.

temperature control doesn't turn very easy and knob is not strong enought to take it.

I have a similar problem. My knob is broken and I tried to turn the valve manually but still the heater doesn`t heat enough. Does anybody have any idea??

I have a similar problem. My knob is broken and I tried to turn the valve manually but still the heater doesn`t heat enough. Does anybody have any idea??

When you turn by hand can you hear the vent open and close? If you don't it could be that the cable is unhooked and you're only turning the knob.

I had the same problem about two years ago.... essentially the heater knob wouldn't turn... The tech told me the venting would need to be cleaned and graphite applied to where the vents open and close. They unhooked the cable from the temperature control knob to the apparatus which open and closes the vent and left the shield off (still cost $200.00 for them to do that, they wouldn't even look at it without my agreeing to pick up the labour cost)

... now I reach under the dash and push/pull the vent switch by hand, a bit of a pain, but works fine now. The dealer wanted an additional $500.00 in labour to fix it, so I said no thanks... I'll repair it myself next summer.

BTW for the Canadian's out there, there is a kit to recharge your air conditioner without converting the whole system, and it works fine.


Good luck.

Thank you I think I figured out the problem. My heating core doesn`t work, do you know where is it maybe I should change it

Thank you I think I figured out the problem. My heating core doesn`t work, do you know where is it maybe I should change it

I've never done that, but, I believe the heater core is under the dash, with hoses coming through the fire-wall. Last winter I replaced my blower motor, which is pretty much sandwiched between the heater core and the passenger side of the car, located up above the glove box.

Check in a Haynes or Chilton repair manual. I have both manuals and I prefer the Chilton, it covers the 4th generation accord years 90 to 93 and a few years of the prelude. Walmart has them, best investment for the DIY.

It will also pay to have a metric socket set with an extension from the socket to the rachet...it'll make the job easier for working under the dash.

I'll confirm the location of the heater core tonight after I check the manual.

Good luck

Thanks so much, the broken knob was indeed causing the valve to be stuck in closed position...thus no heat. Unfortunately it has nothing to do with the radiator not holding water/coolant longer than a day. That is probably a blown head gasket. I'm going to post for advice in the proper threat for that

Hey, you're welcome... half of the problem of any repairs is to figure out what needs to be fixed before tearing everything apart.

If it is a leak in the rad, try a radiator conditioner/sealant, (auto value/walmart), a pinhole could cause you to lose alot more fluid than you think... I've had a rad leak which I fixed this way 3 years ago and still have the same rad... only thing is when I flush the rad (every 50,000 km) I have to add the stop leak stuff.

If it's a head gasket you will probably see steam coming out of the exhaust pipe... harder to tell if it's cold enough outside that you would normally see the exhaust. And fixing one would probably involve doing some head work, which only a shop can do.

Run a new thread and see what others think.

Hi,

My 94 Accord LX has no heat!! The fan works but it blows cold air. I was told it just needs a thermostat, which was removed by the previous owner. If I put in the thermostat, will it give me heat? I'm freezing here in New York. Also, can I put it in myself? If so, how?


Thanks.

PLEASE GIVE ME ANY SUGGESTIONS ON FIXING THIS PROBLEM.

mtu, steps to check if you have a thermostat or a bad thermostat that is stuck open:
- wait until the engine is COLD
- start your car
- carefully open the radiator cap (be extreme careful when the coolant is hot)
- if you see the coolant moving, then you either have no thermostat or a bad one. In this case, just install one or replace the bad thermostat. After this, check to see if the heating problem still persists. If still no heat, the problem is somewhere else.

If however, you don't see any coolant movement through the radiator cap hole until the car is hot, then the heating problem is somewhere else like described in previous posts. In this case, either a bad heater core or something is wrong with the vent opening/closing mechanism.

Good luck.

I currently have an opposite problem to yours: I have too much heat. Last month, my radiator had a slow leak. I bought the Bars Liquid Alluminum and poured in. After 15 minutes running, the leak stops. Wonderful !!! ... but then after a month or so driving, the aluminum stuffs kinda block some passages in the cooling system. Now if I drive at high speed like 80 mph, the temperature gauge keeps going up. I have to set the heater inside to maximum to bring down the engine temperature. By doing so, it is too hot inside, then I have to open windows. Everytime like this, a mix of extremely hot and extremely cold air streams flowing in the car and I am getting sick of this. I am replacing the radiator and thermostat tomorrow. Hopefully the problem will go away. I am crossing my fingers. TO FOLKS WITH A SLOW RADIATOR LEAK, NEVER USE STOP LEAK LIQUID.

[. TO FOLKS WITH A SLOW RADIATOR LEAK, NEVER USE STOP LEAK LIQUID.[/QUOTE]

I've never used the liquid aluminum but I have used the regular Bars stop leak and conditioner with no problems. The regular Bars stop leak contains brown pellets that break down with heat and form a greasy brown liquid.

My Heater knob is stuck in the center all of a sudden(it was fine yesterday night), i.e while moving it from cold to hot it is stuck halfway. I can move it towards the colder side but not towards the hotter side. Blower if fine & i assume heater is also fine as i can feel little heat when in the center. Any idea want went wrong & any help how to fix it please

The regular bars stop leak is one of the best off the shelf products you can buy.
On top of that almost ALL auto manufactures put Bars stop leak in FROM THE FACTORY.

When dealing with a new engine, stop leak plugs up the small holes and fill the small gaps in the headbolts that can cause coolent drainage into the oil.

Saying Bars stop leak doesn't work well is almost like saying the clotting system is your blood sucks, they basically work the same way.

I think the message from blazinmiller is not relavent to my question.

My Heater knob is stuck in the center all of a sudden(it was fine yesterday night), i.e while moving it from cold to hot it is stuck halfway. I can move it towards the colder side but not towards the hotter side. Blower if fine & i assume heater is also fine as i can feel little heat when in the center. Any idea want went wrong & any help how to fix it please

Sounds like your vents need to be cleaned, I have the same problem. The dealer wanted around $850 cdn to fix it, of which $550.00 is labour. They were going to clean the vent then apply graphite to it, it's one of my summer projects. The quick fix was to have the wire/cable connecting from the heat control knob to the vent switch removed, and the plastic cover under the dash removed. I then reach under the dash and manually turn the vent and that works fine till I clean the vents.

good luck... look at a chilton manual to see the procedure of getting at your vents.

hondas have this problem. I cant describe where it is, but the air temp control valve gets stuck and/or just tough to adjust. The plastic knobs are just not strong enough for control lever, SO DONT FORCE IT! Youll do what I did and break the knob. Sorry not much help in repairing the problem I know, but I imagine some lube would help. Obviously mine in still stuck, I just manually go under the hood and put it on cold or hot
It's like the tire my tire that has a nail and needs air EVERY SINGLE day, for ...well too long. $5 would fix it but ...ya know

My 93 Accord knob broke as well. After the third replacement I repaired the sucker myself , hasnt broken since.

Basically I put the broken peices of plastic back together on the knob, wrapped the whole thing with fishing line (for strength) and then pasteres the whole thing fishing line and all with crazy gle (to keep it together). HAs worked like a charm.

i was reading and everyone's heater's knob is stuck, but mines i can turn all the way to heat but it just turns right back to cool the cool side. Any have this problem, or know how to fix it? i have a 94 accord.

i was reading and everyone's heater's knob is stuck, but mines i can turn all the way to heat but it just turns right back to cool the cool side. Any have this problem, or know how to fix it? i have a 94 accord.

Yup...Thats why there are so many broken knobs. You try to force it to stay and it eventually breaks. No clue but look into your PCV valve since that thing appears to be operated by engine vacumm.