No Heat In 01' Kids Are Freezin!!

[combatmedic91]

FREEZIN' TO DEATH!!! heater wont work in2001 blazer,temp reading hot but no steam,leak HELP!!!

[JoshBarber]

Originally Posted by combatmedic91

FREEZIN' TO DEATH!!! heater wont work in2001 blazer,temp reading hot but no steam,leak HELP!!!

The end of your quote reads "no steam, leak"

Not sure what you meant by this....but...

If you're temp guage is reading hot, and youre getting no heat chances are its one of these three issues.

1 - You have heat, but the blower fan went so the only heat you get is whats permeating into the cab on its own (which could feel like NO HEAT)

2 - Your thermostat is stuck, and needs to be replaced.

or

3 - Your heater core is blocked and/or leaking and no hot coolant is getting to it.

Any of these sound likely to you?

[06camarodude]

To check the fan, simply start up the truck, open the hood, and tap the fan motor with the handle of a screwdriver, lightly, and if it turns on and stops working after you shut off the truck, that's the problem. If it doesn't work at all, it's probably not getting any power.

[JoshBarber]

Originally Posted by 06camarodude

To check the fan, simply start up the truck, open the hood, and tap the fan motor with the handle of a screwdriver, lightly, and if it turns on and stops working after you shut off the truck, that's the problem. If it doesn't work at all, it's probably not getting any power.

Wrong fan slick. Read the whole post before you give information that may confuse a situation further. It's the BLOWER FAN that I was suggesting they check. Which has NOTHING to do with the engine cooling fan you're talking about.

To return to my original statement...you can hear the blower motor if its working by just turning the fan on HIGH with the engine running. If theres a bunch of cold air blowing out of the vents you know its not the fan motor. In which case it's likely that its the heater core...or thermostat as I said.

My next suggestion if its not the blower motor, would be to feel the coolant hoses running into the heater core. see if they're both hot. If the leaving line is colder than the return line, chances are that its blocked or leaking somewhere. The cheapest easiest fix for this will be the thermostat...so cross your fingers.

[ericn1300]

Originally Posted by JoshBarber

Wrong fan slick. Read the whole post before you give information that may confuse a situation further. It's the BLOWER FAN that I was suggesting they check. Which has NOTHING to do with the engine cooling fan you're talking about.

hey Josh maybe you need to re-read his post, he said nothing about the engine fan and was only following on to your post. rapping the blower motor with a screwdriver handel is a good way to test the blower fan and get it working until you can replace it. got me thru some cold weather until my new one came in.

[ZL1power69]

Originally Posted by ericn1300

hey Josh maybe you need to re-read his post, he said nothing about the engine fan and was only following on to your post. rapping the blower motor with a screwdriver handel is a good way to test the blower fan and get it working until you can replace it. got me thru some cold weather until my new one came in.

i agree, nothing was said about the engine cooling fan. on my old 95 sometimes i had to hit the blower fan housing to get it to turn on because of a loose connecton on the fan side of the connector. doing that will get it going each time until the connection is actually fixed or motor is replaced.

[06camarodude]

Originally Posted by JoshBarber

Wrong fan slick. Read the whole post before you give information that may confuse a situation further. It's the BLOWER FAN that I was suggesting they check. Which has NOTHING to do with the engine cooling fan you're talking about.

To return to my original statement...you can hear the blower motor if its working by just turning the fan on HIGH with the engine running. If theres a bunch of cold air blowing out of the vents you know its not the fan motor. In which case it's likely that its the heater core...or thermostat as I said.

My next suggestion if its not the blower motor, would be to feel the coolant hoses running into the heater core. see if they're both hot. If the leaving line is colder than the return line, chances are that its blocked or leaking somewhere. The cheapest easiest fix for this will be the thermostat...so cross your fingers.

I'm not talking about the motor fan. The motor fan is not electric, in my truck at least, so that could wind up lethal. Open the hood, go to the passenger side of the car, there is a cylindrical motor sticking into the black plastic near the firewall, there should also be a 3 wire plug sticking into said cylindrical shape. . . TAP on the BLOWER FAN MOTOR. That's what I was suggesting. Do this while the vehicle is running with the heater on and the fan speed all the way up. Just tap it lightly, it should start right up. If it starts up, it's that motor that's bad, or something related, like wiring. If it doesn't, then you should use a test light on the wires leading to the fan to make sure the power wires are getting power and the ground is properly grounding. Also, be sure you check the relay and fuses for it, that's always the first thing I check.

I never mentioned hitting the engine fan, because in my truck, if I tried a stunt like that, I'd be dead. My 4.3 V6 has a mechanical engine fan. Thanks to those of you who stood up for me, I am just trying to help out, and I really don't feel like making enemies here before I make it into the double-digits (post-count wise, that is. . . lol) I hope my newly revised tip helps you figure out what's causing the problem, let us know if it works. My blower fan motor is bad, so when I start up the truck and it doesn't work, I pop the hood, tap on the motor with my ice scraper or anything else I have handy, and it usually starts right up. I'm replacing it Sunday, so it should be alright until then.

[ChrisGood]

Go pick up a prestone flush kit from wal-mart or any local auto parts place, install it and flush the core. The fluid causes all sorts of gunk to build up in the core. My jimmy was an 00 and the core clogged in 03 with 60k on it. Installed the back flush, flushed it, refilled with the good old green stuff and not a problem since.

[ericn1300]

Originally Posted by ChrisGood

Go pick up a prestone flush kit from wal-mart or any local auto parts place, install it and flush the core. The fluid causes all sorts of gunk to build up in the core. My jimmy was an 00 and the core clogged in 03 with 60k on it. Installed the back flush, flushed it, refilled with the good old green stuff and not a problem since.

Skip the do it yourself kit and get it done at a shop. Antifreeze is a toxic subtance and it's illegal to dispose of in the sewers, streets or storm drain systems.

Here is the EPA web page adressing the subject: http://www.epa.gov/msw/antifree.htm

[ChrisGood]

Originally Posted by ericn1300

Skip the do it yourself kit and get it done at a shop. Antifreeze is a toxic subtance and it's illegal to dispose of in the sewers, streets or storm drain systems.

Here is the EPA web page adressing the subject: http://www.epa.gov/msw/antifree.htm

again...

Where did I inform him to flush it into the sewers? The kit comes with a piece to allow you to direct the out flow to a container. Thanks for saving the environment but lets help the guy save 80 bucks. As well you can take the fluids to the auto parts store for proper disposal.

[combatmedic91]

thanks for all the info,kids are warm again!!,replaced the thermostat and flushed the radiator,good as new again!!

[combatmedic91]

thanks chrisgood,done the flush myself,was easy job,your better tha geico!!

[jsgold]

Originally Posted by ChrisGood

again...

Where did I inform him to flush it into the sewers? The kit comes with a piece to allow you to direct the out flow to a container. Thanks for saving the environment but lets help the guy save 80 bucks. As well you can take the fluids to the auto parts store for proper disposal.

Quick question, WHO takes back used anti freeze? No parts store here such as NAPA, Advance, Autozone, nor any others in our area. Do you know of any that do? I have about 8-10 gal. of used anti freeze that I am looking to dispose of. Only place I found is a place that picks up for garages, but they want a fortune to dispose of it.

[skyzend]

A word of caution ...

I've had similar problems on my 99.
A flush worked fine for about 2-3 weeks and then it started to clog up again.

I rigged a flush kit which would allow me to backwash just the heater core.
This ended up being a 10 minute fix which I used several times.

Summary,
When i flushed the entire engine cooling system, lots of stuff became loose and can never be totally cleaned from the system. Eventually these end up in the heater core and clog. I back washed these out several times at 3-4 week intervals and eventually never needed to do another ... thats over 3 years ago.

Advice!!! Blazers are notorious for sludging up if there is any air at all in the cooling system. Be sure the overflow is full of coolant always. If you notice that coolant is going down it may mean that you have either a leak or a bad rad cap (won't hold pressure). Without pressure in the system the boiling temp of the coolant will go down and the coolant will boil under normal operation (at a lower temp). With good pressure the boiling temperature actually goes up and the coolant will do its job and not boil at the normal temp... and not cause sludge.

Aside: A year ago I had to replace the heater core due to a leak ... nasty job and took a whole day. this involves removing the whole dash. I did it myself with good instructions on this site. The Chiltons etc manuals do not tell the whole story, the info here does. Good luck.

[ericn1300]

Originally Posted by jsgold

Quick question, WHO takes back used anti freeze? No parts store here such as NAPA, Advance, Autozone, nor any others in our area. Do you know of any that do? I have about 8-10 gal. of used anti freeze that I am looking to dispose of. Only place I found is a place that picks up for garages, but they want a fortune to dispose of it.

check with one of the quickie lube joints that does antifreeze flushes, they usualy have a machine that recycles it on site so they can resell it.