No Heat!!! Part II

[Hailley]

Hi and please help!
Bought a 93 3.o liter caravan in late July and the heat
was one of the best things about the car... until
yesterday (and coincidentally today the temp outside
dropped into the teens...)

I have all fan speeds, but it just blows cold air!!
Read Cory's post about air-lock and how a core is $50
from AutoZone. Whereabouts under the hood does
the core go? Is there a fuse or another 60 cent
solution I could try first? Where are the dingdong fuses...
(no owners' manual...)

help help help ahhhm freeeeezunn!!!
(=

[coryjl]

hailey sorry but you have to pull EVERY BIT OF THE DASH OUT to get at the heater core....then you have to disconnect the a/c lines that connect to the firewall...then you have 4 nuts on the fire wall that you have to remove to take the whole heater core box out....I know its expensive but its well worth the money to take it to a shop! I have taken many dash's apart but this is the only one where in both case's I have had to cuts screws because I cant get to them to take them out!!!! 6 hours to get top of dash off!!!! Goto autozone and get a flush kit..theres 2 heater core lines on your fire wall find the output side and hook the flush kit up to it and flush the ever livin heck outta it...but I would also say get a flush that you add to your coolant prestone make's a good one but stp makes a 2 part kit that works great! Add that to your coolant then let it run for 15 mins and flush your system then drain and add coolant. If this doesnt work wait till your engine has cooled 100% and take radiator cap off start and go to the water neck and see if any bubbles are coming up if so I hate to say it but you have no heat because of a blown head gasket I have only seen this twice on the dodge and plymouth vans. So cross your fingers...good luck

[yogi_123rd]

A couple of Sanity Checks:
1. Have you tried putting in a new thermostat yet? If your car has a temperature gauge, see if the engine operating temperature is running lower than normal. This is a sign that the thermostat is running open all the time. You'll notice this especially in cold weather rather than the summer months.
2. If the coolant level drops too low, the heater will also stop working.

[roonie]

unless you spend good coin for a quality thermostat then your getting junk.the poor thermostats only open 1/ to 1/4 inch.trust me ive done the test on the bench with a few.out of the few ive bench tested,most of them start to open at 214 degrees which is a far cry from 190.you gotta spend the money these days.thats my life lesson ive learned!hope this helps everyone.

[roonie]

sorry thats a missprint........its 204 not214

[roonie]

oh and also if you want a good way to flush the core.......take the van to a car wash .....unhook the hoses to the core and stick the pressure wand in and shoot water into both sides/pipes back and forth.i did that and now cook myself out inside my 96 caravan!

[vinniep]

ok i have a 93 voyager, the heat is driving me crazy. when the car warms up it has luke warm heat. when moving it gets a little warmer. changed the termostate,flushed the core, fluid is full in both,and checked the cable to the door. any help .................PLEASE

[coryjl]

vinnie after the vehical has cooled for a long time pop the radiator cap off and then start the car see it theres any bubbles coming to the top of the neck!.... if so you have a bad head gasket:/...another thing to look for is 2 vacume lines should be 1/4 inch or so and gray one end should be connected to the power booster and on the other line one end should be connected to a valve on your heater hoses. Also check and make sure that valve is working!!

[vinniep]

coryjl thanks, i'v had the cap off and did not notice any bubbles but i will have to double check it. as for the valve i also change it, both hoses seem to be warm. i will check those vacum hoses. thanks again.

[Hailley]

Dear Cory and Vinnie-

You guys are geniuses!! I love the good ol' suggestions
I find here like using a carpenters' clamp to force airlock
out, and using power wash to super-flush a coolant
system...

Well, there's good and bad to everything. I'm thinking
I have a blown head gasket-- before I found your
replies the temp needle went all the way up and so
I popped the hood-- nooo cooolant!! Filled it up and
now I have heat, but green stuff is leaking front
and center behind the bumper...

That would likely be head gasket, right?

Any idea what labor is on that? Seems like it might
be easier than six hours with a drill to get at the
heater core, so in a way I guess I'm lucky as long
as I can limp the van for a while...

Will re-read the head gasket check in the post.

thank you for all your help troubleshooting--
looks like I need some more of it.

[Hailley]

p.s. thanks Roonie and Yogi, too...

I went out to check the head gasket by taking the
radiator cap off but didn't read the instructions right...
will have to make sure the car is running while I check.

will try again here in a few minutes. It's looking better
and better, though. Not much fluid had leaked out
since this morning, and overnight total i maybe lost
about 12 oz. if that.

let's hope.

thanks again!

[QWESTER]

Hi H,
Try using a radiator leak sealer from AutoZone or similar place if you really have a leak. You may only have seen overflow due to overfilling or an airbubble that expanded as the car heated up.

no fuses are involved in your problem. On my 89 the fuses are on the left just near the hand brake release. there is a little door you pop off by prying outward at the bottom and snap back in when you are done. FYI the fuse block is rotated 90 degrees ccw from the picture in the factory service manual which i have for 88 and 89 caravan.

good luck

qwester