97 Dodge Dakota heat problem

[Brandon32183]

I have a 97 dodge dakota V6, 3.9L engine. My heat inst working, I had a small leak in my coolant system. I had that repaired and flushed. I had a new thermostat put in. I got it back, it blew room temperature air for the ride home. But since then it’s been blowing nothing but ice cold air. My first guess was a bad heater core. My knowledge on the heating system is limited, what else could be the problem? The repair shop couldn't look at my heater core because in the 97 dakota it’s in the dash and it’s a pain to take out. Any ideas on what I could do to fix this problem relatively low cost since I’ve already spent $300 to this point with no hot air...

[inatalonIXLR8]

Was it working properly right before you did the coolant flush? If it was then the heater core should be O.K.

If you're not sure because at the time it was warm out, then I would say heater because they often crap out on these trucks. I got a cheap solution for you though. I'm not sure if the U.S. has Princess Auto down there or not, but I'm sure you could find one of these somewhere. It's an independant heater that you hook up to your coolant system (basicly a heater core that doesn't fit up under your dash). All you would have to do is disconect the original heater core under the hood. Run some lines to the heater in the cab, and hook up a fan in front of it. I'm going to do this set up myself for my girlfriends mom this christmas in her Mazda. It costs $100 Canadian for the heater and about $40 for a fan and lines.

Cheap, effective and ugly as sin!

[Brandon32183]

I'm in Pennsylvania and as far as i know I haven't seen a princess auto. Its been cold outside so I know its broken. I've been driving around in a fridge for the past few weeks and thats what promted me to get the coolant flush thinking that would solve the problem. I'm taking it to the Dodge dealership on wendesday and going to let them tinker with it a bit. Other then that information thats all i know, and thats why i'm here hoping someone can help me with an answer.

[inatalonIXLR8]

There's a few good write ups on this forum about trying to fix heaters. Just use the search engine.