92 Cav 2.2 4 cyl

My mom just got one yesterday and on the way home the heat went. My dad and i replaced the thermostat and it had some heat but now just cold air. From reading through hear i am kinda leaning towards flushing the system as i found some gray stuff in the reserve tank. If you use Prestone Flush what is the proper way of going about with regards to the garden hose?

Other than that right now no major problems am gonna do a tune up over the weekend for her oil filter plugs wires pcv valve air filter etc but the alternator and drive belt have been replaced and the body is in great shape inside needs a little work seeing how the windows were ice and it melted inside and you have the waterry smell. Also the car already has Stant radiator cap and fuel tank caps. Any help would help alot.

My mom just got one yesterday and on the way home the heat went. My dad and i replaced the thermostat and it had some heat but now just cold air. From reading through hear i am kinda leaning towards flushing the system as i found some gray stuff in the reserve tank. If you use Prestone Flush what is the proper way of going about with regards to the garden hose?

Other than that right now no major problems am gonna do a tune up over the weekend for her oil filter plugs wires pcv valve air filter etc but the alternator and drive belt have been replaced and the body is in great shape inside needs a little work seeing how the windows were ice and it melted inside and you have the waterry smell. Also the car already has Stant radiator cap and fuel tank caps. Any help would help alot.

Pop the drain plug out of the rad and just run the hose though the expansion tank opening and you can even fill it with just water(and/or the prestone flush) and run the car for say 30-45 mins and then drain the water and fill with coolant.

is the blue light next to the ac supposed to come on when the heater comes on because it does and i did not know if maybe that was ac and it was trying to override the heater?

is the blue light next to the ac supposed to come on when the heater comes on because it does and i did not know if maybe that was ac and it was trying to override the heater?

When you have the heat directed at only the windsheild the AC compressor kicks in. It does this to dry the air and clears the glass quicker. It should switch off when you put in on the windsheild/floor split if the light is stil on press the A/C button, if it doesn't go off then seomthing is happening that shouldn't be.

ok i was wondering. it doesnt say anything in the manual about it so i was wondering. i hope to get that system flushed tomm and unblocked.

my dad got it back yesterday because we couldnt get the plug out and the mechanic said we would not have been able to do it anyway because its all aluminum solder type stuff and it mite get blocked again it might not so thanks ill postin soon again anyway

Just pull the lower rad hose and forget about using the plug.

he unblocked it but its blocked again

ok i checked it out no coolant apparently i am guessing it circulated through the system and it needed some so i put a bottle in < gallon> to bring it back up and there was some serious heat and then it went back to being lukewarm then i took it for a ride and got up to about 65 i heard a pop then some serious heat then when i got home it was gurgling. There is no coolant on the floor some smoke but thats from the coolant i spilled filling it up. I am wondering if maybe it is finally unclogged or is that air in the system. Its the first time we heard it gurgle. We did not get it flushed yet but it will need it since there is some nasty crap in there yet. Any suggestions let me know.

finally got it going real good tonight. MY dad and i found out from inspecting hoses that the previous owner had electrical tape over them and there were about 5 holes in them so we put new ones in then put some coolant in now major heat

...From reading through hear i am kinda leaning towards flushing the system as i found some gray stuff in the reserve tank.Gray stuff in the expansion tank could also mean that the prior owner added sealer to the coolant because of some kind of leak. Take a VERY close look at the motor-side of the radiator in the bottom corners... that's where Cav radiators usually start to blow out.

If you see some of the same gray stuff oozing out of, or packed in between the radiator fins, it is probably a good idea to replace the radiator. Use a hand mirror and flashlight to get a good look at it! It is not easy to see just standing in front of the car and looking down.

Remember, radiators are designed to let air flow all the way through them, so if you cannot actually see through the radiator, it might be wasted. The best way to test this is to use the same mirror and look through the entire radiator from the inside out.

For what it's worth, we bought a brand new radiator at:

http://www.radiatorbarn.com

Your radiator will cost you what it cost us for our '91 Cav - around $109. It's a good investment.

Unfortunately, that might also explain your weird heating issues... maybe a gunked up heater core. The only way to know for sure is to backflush the heck out of your heater core... Good luck!

no it has heat now. The mechanic said the radiator was good and he said to it was probally some kind of sealer in it.