Heat, or lack of...

david-b · #1 10-22-2006, 06:26 PM

Hey all;
Replaced the thermostat the other day as in my last thread. When it was broken, (always open), the heat when I turned on the heater in the car went on pretty quick. Quicker than usual. Now that it's changed, I had no heat today, and it was COLD!! Let the car warm up and still no heat. Drove about 7 miles each way and all it did was blow cold air.

Going to check fuses when I go outside, but it's really cold right now. Any other ideas?

xavier3jr · #2 10-22-2006, 06:34 PM

check coolant level if not heater coil and there a bitch to replace. gota take the dash off...

Thor06 · #3 10-22-2006, 06:37 PM

So let me get this straight. Broken thermostat = you got heat in the car. New thermostat = cold air. Is that right? I dont know man, sounds to me like you've got some air in the system. That blows though...

blk_srt · #4 10-22-2006, 10:06 PM

For the record its a heater core not heater coil. Check coolant level. Check engine temp when warm and see if it stays cold, over heats or is perfect

david-b · #5 10-23-2006, 12:48 AM

I don't know what the deal is. I'm extremely pissed right now becauase it's about 30 degrees right now and all I had was cold air coming home. It's f-en cold!!

I realized that after I changed the thermostat that night, the heater worked. Actually, it was too hot then. So it started this monring with not working.

Coolant level is fine. Again, it's about a 80/20 mix of water and coolant, but I don't see that that would make a difference.

Engine temp is perfectly fine. Gauge itself still doesn't work, but logger shows normal temps across the board. I know sometime heat take a while with the little engines, but it never comes on, no matter how warm the car is on for today. This is sucking bad because I believe we're getting some snow tomorrow and it's going to be cold again. I need this fixed asap!! Thanks

gthompson97 · #6 10-23-2006, 01:36 AM

Sounds to me like the heater core took a shit on you. Pretty weird that it's so coincidental with you servicing the cooling system though.

david-b · #7 10-23-2006, 09:54 AM

How much am I looking at for a heater core? How hard are they to install? Right now its 32 degrees and I have to goto work. Burrrr.

Thor06 · #8 10-23-2006, 12:30 PM

IIRC, heater cores themselves arent much more than like $20-$30, but they are a pain in the ass to replace. You have to completely rip the dash off which can be a time consuming feat. My buddy managed to get his off from the 1g in like 3 hours but I have heard that doing one in the Cavy takes ~6 hours just to get the dash off. Just get a Haynes manual so you know where all the screws are and go to town. I have to do it in my Talon too, not because its bad but to save on weight. It wont see another winter ever again so why have that extra shit in there? I have never heard of a heater core taking a dump and not losing coolant though, I think your problem is in the engine bay.

david-b · #9 10-23-2006, 12:45 PM

Do you think because I have more water than coolant that that would affect the heater? It's mostly water. I'm going to drain it all and refill with 50/50 and see if that fixes it. Autozone has the heater core for $130. More money than I want to spend.

david-b · #10 10-23-2006, 10:20 PM

Ok, so I talked with my dad this evening. He asked if a piece from the old thermostat fell in when I took out the parts. I said I didnt think so, but then I thought about it.

Is there a little like fan blade on the stock thermostats? IIRC, I think (when mine was still in one piece) there was a little ^ facing toward the front of the car on the end of it. I didn't see it when I took out the thermostat.

So he thinks that something may have fallen in. Also, he asked how the heater system works. I personally dont know, even thought Im looking at the book right now. He said he remembers that older cars used to have the coolant go through like a "side" piece where the heat from it would warm up whatever and then goto the heater core, like right before the firewall. Is there something like this there? I'm going to try a flush, but I have NO time at all for awhile, till possible saturday.

blk_srt · #11 10-23-2006, 10:24 PM

coolant travels either from the rad through the motor back to the rad or through the heater core back

gthompson97 · #12 10-23-2006, 10:33 PM

The coolant travels from the radiator, through the motor, through the heater core, and back to the radiator I believe. I don't think that not having enough antifreeze would cause the heater to not work because the more water, the lower the boiling point so technically the more water you have, the warmer it *would* run if there was no thermostat to "monitor" the water temp.

I'm kinda stumped on what your problem is, but you're sure that it's full of coolant? Maybe you have air in the lines, or like an air lock or something like that like Dustin said?? But I haven't ever heard of that in our cars, or ever to be honest.

david-b · #13 10-23-2006, 10:44 PM

It's full. Resivoir is full. Over flowed some too. I have absolutly no time to do a flush this week, and possible not next week too. It was snowing when I came home today!! So cold. Have no gloves neither.

Anyone have that little fan piece on theirs? Just open the cap and see if it's in there. That piece is bothering me. Like I think that that's causing the problem but IDK.

gthompson97 · #14 10-23-2006, 11:01 PM

I don't know what you mean by fan piece, but I have a brand new thermostat in the pickup outside, I'll go take a pic really quick and show you what mine looks like. But if you're talking about something stuck inside the housing, then that's NOT supposed to be there.

david-b · #15 10-23-2006, 11:44 PM

I wish I had a pic of what I was talking about. I was serious like a little fan. It was like a ^ The open side was facing toward the front of the car. the pointy part was connected to the thermostat. I know what the new ones look like. I still have the box right next to me from it. Wish I wouldve taken a picture of it long time ago.

POST REPLY TO THIS THREAD