Mercury Sable Heating Problem

[fordfool]

Until you get rid of those factory metal lines, its always gonna need some attention. New hoses, plastic t's and a good heater core flush and I was good to go. I had flushed the core five times before and never had very good heat. Those metal lines corrode over time and rust and crap builds up it them. You think that you flushed them out, but its only temporary.

[poetrylvr1338]

Rod
We were fortunate enough to figure it out before we had a problem. I took the car to a friend of mine who owns a car repair business. He told us that the heater core was probably plugged and needed to be flushed separately. We were told by the people who flushed the radiator that it included the heater core and engine block, but when our friend flushed the heater core hoses, he said that the hoses and overflow were packed with rust. Once he got that rust out, the heat began working. We were delighted, because my daughter has a 2 and a 5 year old and driving with no heat in Norwest Ohio in the winter is not a good thing!

[Fordhcw]

If you are unable flush the heater core and have to replace it, you need to know that the labor is what makes the heater core replacement expensive. The heater core is actually a very inexpensive part. If you can follow detailed instructions, then you should have no problem with replacing this cheap part.

[poetrylvr1338]

I thought I posted a reply about the heater core on the '98 Sable, but I must not have completed it correctly. We found out about the flushing the heater core with minimum pressure prior to doing it, so we did not damage the heater core. As for the length of time before it was flushed, you are probably right. The car was given to my daughter by her church, and although they did do basic maintenance on it for her prior to giving it to her, they did not have the equipment to flush it. When the heat went, we looked at the radiator and it was filthy, full of rust and dark brown antifreeze. The same for the heater core. When it was flushed, the rust inside of it was just gross. But, hey, how can you complain about a free car! She is a single mom with 2 kids and was grateful to have a way back and forth to work and day care that did not include taking many busses! Thanks for your responses and concern!

[woodsman1942]

I have a 98 Ranger 3.0-problem is-heater will get hot when first started and let idle, but then gets cold at highway speed, bring to stop and let idle and it heats up again. It has new water pump-new divertor door-new thermostat and cooling system was flushed at Ford Dealer. When idling it will get hot enough to run you out!

[roudy]

Thanks to All. After reading everyones comment I decided to just flushout the heater core without removing it and it solvied my problem of no heat. I was plesenty suprised. I used a preston flush kit for 3.99, it contained a pressure reducer and other connecting pices. I removed both hoses off the heater core and connected the water hose to the outlet side of the heater core. At first all I say was slow moving rusty slug, 3 min later it was clear. Connected up to the heater core inlet side and flushed it again going the other direction. I also decided to flush the rest of the system out since I had the heater core hoses off. I was really dreading replacing the heater core... Thanks again.... 1998 Mercury Sable 191,000 mi.

[dbilagody]

I Replaced heater core, thermostats, and coolant. Water pump in good working conduction. But my heater was still blowing luke warm and cold air. What I did was pinch the by pass line with Part # 77-4002 Hose pinchers from NAPA

The heater in my car went from 80 degrees to 110 degrees. This is from the vent and not in the cab of the car. Now there is a big difference. Sure hope this helps somebody with the same similar problem I had. Ooooh don’t forget to remove the hose pincher as the weather warms up (Summer time)

I was told that the Mercury/Taurus was over engineered, and that the reason why the heater is the way it is...COLD...

Here is a link on the Hose pincher tool
http://www.tooltopia.com/otc-tools-4...aign=nextag_r1

[JohnT396]

All, the heater core is NOT that big of a deal to replace and definitely worth the time and effort. There is a sticky note at the beginning of this forum that links to a process where you do not have to remove the whole dashboard. I think it took me 3-4 hours and for the first time, that's pretty reasonable. If I remember right, the biggest pain was getting the hose clamps off the heater core in the engine compartment. I ended up cutting the clamps with a Dremel tool and was able to reuse everything except the clamps. Good Luck..