Taurus Heater Fix!!

[Indyrider]

Backflushed my 98 Taurus heatercore as per FIREMAN's instructions (hot water etc..) Now my heater is blowing toastie warm (HOT!!) again!! worked like a charm Thanks FIREMAN!!!

[bbrumlow]

I have the same problem, but I'm a novice. Can you provide a step-by-step on how to do this? Please include a description for identifying the place on the heater core to "attach the garden hose".

THANK YOU SOO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP!!!

[volscot]

Anybody?? I'm in the same predicament and would like specific instructions. I feel confident doing the work, if I know what I'm suppossed to be doing.

For a 98 Taurus, would I disconnect the black coolant hoses going into the firewall and then put the hose into the hole in the firewall to flush with hot water? If that is not right, someone please correct me.

Thanks.

[volscot]

Anybody?? I'm in the same predicament and would like specific instructions. I feel confident doing the work, if I know what I'm suppossed to be doing.

For a 98 Taurus, would I disconnect the black coolant hoses going into the firewall and then put the hose into one of the holes to flush with hot water? If that is not right, someone please correct me.

Thanks.

[Indyrider]

On my 98 the hoses that go to the heater core can be seen pretty easily by looking at the middle of the firewall... follow the 2 hoses coming into the engine compartment till you find where they connect to another hose and remove the hose clamps.. this is where you put the gardenhose-- water flowing towards the firewall... your heatercore is under your dash you can't see it! I put my garden hose on both of the hoses alternating it back and forth from one to the other to make sure I got all the junk (sediment etc..) washed out. Also before I did this I had changed my thermostat. Good luck, I hope this helps!

[volscot]

I used the "garden-hose-to-flush-out-the-heater-core" technique last night and I now have heat in my 96 (not 98 as I erroneously said above) Taurus. I couldn't access the clamp/clip on the bottom hose going into the firewall because even my shortest pliers hit against the engine, so I traced both hoses from the firewall to the engine and disconnected there. I flushed probably a total of 15 minutes with the jet nozzle on my garden hose, alternating from one side to the other. It was after dark, so I would stop every couple of minutes and check the runoff on my driveway with the flashlight to look for rust-colored sediment floating away. After the water was clean (about 10 min), I flushed 5 more minutes for good measure. I put everything back together, refilled the coolant and went to get some gas. After the engine warmed up, I felt heat for the first time this season!

One side note, since I put everything back together last night my factory radio has been cutting out every once in a while. At first it was on for 10 seconds, off for 5 over and over. Then the "on" time started getting longer. I think it may be that some water got in the wiring somewhere, but I don't know for sure. The radio stayed on all the way in to work this morning, but cut out again when I went to lunch. Like I said, the time that it stays on is getting longer but I hope this isn't some new problem I've created. It isn't warm enough here for the water to evaporate quickly (low-30's overnight & upper-40's today), so the problem may just go away over time. If no one responds to this problem here, I'll post it as a separate message.

[Indyrider]

Glad to hear you have heat!! I didn't suffer any radio probs after flushing my core so I can't give any real advice...but it sounds like something got wet, hopefully it will dry out in time.

[breachless]

I have the same problem and I found a different and much easier fix for this (Don't know how long it lasts yet...) I was checking my hoses going into the heater core to see if both were hot and the outgoing hose was, in fact, cold. So, in a pitiful attempt to do SOMETHING, I thought I would squeeze the hoses where they are rubber right up against the firewall... Kind of like pumping the bulb on a fuel line for a small outboard motor for a boat. I thought this might dislodge anything stuck in the heatercore, and to my genuine surprise, IT WORKED! I have heat for now and it took only a matter of minutes.

I realize that whatever was clogging it up is still in there somewhere and will likely clog things back up again, but for now I have heat. It's worth a shot before you go and do all the work of flushing the heater-core (not that it's that hard anyway, but I live in an apartment and cannot do it there...)

Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions here and I hope I have been of some assistance.

[doggie]

I also have problem with my heater. It have never blow hot air out, unless I am running on the high way (2000 rpm up).
I just replace the heater core, the process is horrible (All the instrument panel has to be remove.). I am also replace the thermostat valve. Now everything still the same.
One thing that I know is the hose to my heater core keep cold, even the one to my radiator is too hot to touch.
Are there anybody has idea? Please help I am freeezing here.

[breachless]

I would say it's your heater core not getting any flow like mentioned above, but if it was just replaced, that is unlikely... Make sure you have enough coolant in your car: if you don't have enough, you don't get much heat at all, and another possibility is that you have air in your lines... from what I have been told, a good way to fix this is to run the car for a minute or so when the radiator cap is off... There may be a much more effective way to do this so if someone knows, post it here.

Hope some of that helps: living in Minnesota, I know EXACTLY what it is like to have no heat. Good luck!

[frag24]

just went to PEP Boys to have my cooling system flush coz coolant is turning brown. I taught that it would help my heating problem but still didnt work.
Do I have to do it directly on the heater core?

[breachless]

Yes. From what I understand, a normal coolant system flush doesn't do much for you heater core because you have to BACK flush it to get all of the sediment and crap that is clogging it up. Try the garden hose trick: seems to have worked for a lot of people here and is not that hard to do if you have a place to do it. Good luck.

[PDModel98]

Ok, here's my story. I have a 99 taurus wagon. I have had the heater core flushed multiple times and I have the bypass hose clamped off so all the radiator fluid is going through the heater core. I also have covered some of the radiator (like the big rigs do in the winter). Still no heat. The hoses going to the heater core are hot and the temp gauge never goes above 1/3 hot. Since I have covered the radiator I have heard the cooling fan go on several times.

There is some heat but it never gets hot. The faster the fan is on the colder the air that comes out of the vents.
Any advice?

[Indyrider]

Thermostat!!

[PDModel98]

That's the first thing I replaced....

Next!