Cooling Confusion???

[endless_limits]

I have a 1995 Eagle Talon Tsi AWD and I have been having a problem with the car blowing any heat for the interior. The car heats up according to the temp gauge but blows heat when it wants to most often it doesn't want to. I have checked and filled the overflow resevoir with about a 50/50 mix of coolant.

Yesterday I took it on a short 2 hour highway trip and it was blowing heat for a while on the way there but on the way back it wasn't.

On top on that the temp gauge was exceeding the max and after a short time would drop to 3/4 on the temp gauge but rapidly rise again. At speeds lower then 120kph or 75mph the car would continuely spike the temp gauge up. At higher speeds under 160kph or 100mph the coolant temp gauge would stay under the max on the gauge. Every time I slowed down the gauge would shot up.

I checked under the hood and notice one of the hoses that connects the block heater to the water pump was spraying a pin hole leak and the upper rad hose has a bulge. These two issues as important as they are to fix, to me don't seem likely candidates for my crazy coolant gauge problems.

The temp yesterday was -20 C or -4 F

Also the upper rad hose was hot to touch but not hot enough to scold. Also the radiator was cool on both sides. However both cooling fans were on during supposed overheating conditon.

I am completely confused with what the problem could be I would appreciate any and all help with this.

 

[HondaStylez]

You're most likely low on coolant or have a significant amount of air in the system. Start the car with the coolant cap off and let it get to operating temp and see if any air comes out.

 

[endless_limits]

I have only had this car for a few months and most of the time it has been at the body shop. I haven't had the chance to find all the problems or fix all the problems I have located yet, due to the neglegence of the previous owner(s).

It appears there wasn't much coolant in the system to begin with even though the resevoir wasn't completely empty. I filled the cooling system up and worked the air out of the system. Everything seems good now the temp gauge stay stable and the car has better heat, but not great it never has since i got it.

I have heat blowing through the forward defroster and barely any trickling out of the side vents. The centers blow cold no matter what setting the heating system is on. Could the heating ducts be disconnected or damaged for the center section?

Thanks for the help.

 

[nocturnal_breed]

If you notice to the right of the center vents there is a scroll type switch. One setting has a blue/ white look and the other has a black/ white look. For some ungodly reason known to man mitsu decided that they would install this so that if you wanted just cool air through the center vent you could turn it on. It took me a while to figure this out, but it was in the owners manual. Make sure the switch is to the black/ white looking pic and if that doesnt help check to see if the cable is connected correctly for that scroll switch. That should solve your problem.

 

[endless_limits]

I never got an owners manual with this car and I am learning as I go with this car. I'll give what you said a shot but if the cable is disconnected then I think I will have to wait until it warms up a lot or I will proably break some plastic pieces.

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.