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Need help with Heat it’s cold in Michigan

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RayGe13

Probationary Member
11
1
Feb 16, 2020
Taylor, Michigan
I recently was given a 1997 Eagle Talon TSI AWD for free it sat in my buddies garage since 2010. I got it running new battery ,brakes,clutch master cylinder. My problem is I get heat after the car warms up but it quickly goes away. I’ve replaced thermostat and radiator. I’ve flushed out the heater core and it flows nice. Upper radiator hose get hot but lower is ice cold. any ideas guys?
 
If I remember correctly that is normal for all 2g eclipse and talon 420a and 4g63t. My lower radiator hose is cold too, that is the inlet hose for the coolant to the engine. Heat rises and cold is more dense that is why it is at the bottom. Does you temp gauge stay in the middle of its range? If it goes above or below then you have a problem.

Can you specify for us what you mean by you get heat but it quickly goes away?
 
I recently was given a 1997 Eagle Talon TSI AWD for free it sat in my buddies garage since 2010. I got it running new battery ,brakes,clutch master cylinder. My problem is I get heat after the car warms up but it quickly goes away. I’ve replaced thermostat and radiator. I’ve flushed out the heater core and it flows nice. Upper radiator hose get hot but lower is ice cold. any ideas guys?
Could be the heater control wire is not connected, cut or broken. Sounds like it's not controlling the temp at the heater core.
 
Pretty sure I did. I let it run with the cap off till it got up to temp. Put the cap back on and drove it for about 15 minutes let it cool and open the cap. It was full.
 
Could be the heater control wire is not connected, cut or broken. Sounds like it's not controlling the temp at the heater core.
Isn’t the temp control cable driven? It blows hot when I get moving it cools in about 15 seconds. It’s like I’m not getting coolant flow. Bad water pump?
 
If I remember correctly that is normal for all 2g eclipse and talon 420a and 4g63t. My lower radiator hose is cold too, that is the inlet hose for the coolant to the engine. Heat rises and cold is more dense that is why it is at the bottom. Does you temp gauge stay in the middle of its range? If it goes above or below then you have a problem.

Can you specify for us what you mean by you get heat but it quickly goes away?
Gauge stays in the middle never overheated yet but it is also between 10 and 40 degrees outside where I live during the winter. If I start my car and let it warm up to normal operating temp and get in my car and turn the blower motor on it blows hot for a few seconds and gradually get cold over a span of 10-15 seconds.
 
Isn’t the temp control cable driven? It blows hot when I get moving it cools in about 15 seconds. It’s like I’m not getting coolant flow. Bad water pump?
Yes it's cable driven and I meant "cable". It's just Mitsubishi call it "heater control wire".
As you said you checked the flow in the heater core and the thermostat, could be the coolant temp is still low, bad water pump, too much air in the coolant lines or the temp knob/cable is not working to control the temp at the heater core.
 
Depending on the condition sounds like you got a killer deal my friend!
Right rear of rocker is rusted out and bottom of driver door. Front strut powers have a couple minor rust holes. Other than that she’s solid. Had to take rear wheel off in his garage because the brake was seized up but I drove it home. The the clutch master cylinder started puking into the car. But what could I ask for for sitting for 9 years? Lol can’t beat free. Lol
 
What your describing sounds like typical clogged heater core to me, you might want to buy a drill powered water pump from Harbor freight and run a half gallon or so of CLR or some type of rust remover through it for half hour or so, then flush it with water until its clear and then refill it.
 
I
What your describing sounds like typical clogged heater core to me, you might want to buy a drill powered water pump from Harbor freight and run a half gallon or so of CLR or some type of rust remover through it for half hour or so, then flush it with water until its clear and then refill it.
I have already tried that water was running freely threw heater core.
 
I

I have already tried that water was running freely threw heater core.
Even if water is running through it, if there is buildup on the inside of the core it wont conduct heat from the water to the core itself, water will run right through it and never lose any of its heat.
 
Even if water is running through it, if there is buildup on the inside of the core it wont conduct heat from the water to the core itself, water will run right through it and never lose any of its heat.
I’ll have to try grabbing both those hoses and making sure they both are hot. Thank you for your input that does make sense.
 
After thermostat opens (engine warm) with rad cap off, squeeze bottom rad hose many times to purge air out while engine running. Also can cover 1/2 of rad up with cardboard (in between rad and AC condenser).
 
As stated above, sounds like the heater core. You can use an infrared thermometer to check temp difference between heater core inlet/outlet hoses. CLR also works really well as stated. On a really neglected Jeep I had to fill the heater core with CLR and let it sit for about an hour or so before back flushing it again. I didn't get heat back until after I let it sit in there. Temps at the vents jumped up 50-degrees F at about 65-degrees F ambient temp.

Also, Prestone makes a kit that has detergent and a T you can splice into your heater core hose that is threaded for a garden hose. So you can backflush your entire coming system at home. Then a cap screws onto the T.
CLR would prolly be enough tho
 
I agree it sounds like there's air in there. Get a burp bucket and let the car run for a good long time to ensure you're getting all the air out. Rev it a couple times. Also, if it's that cold out, like low teens and almost single digits, it just might be that the radiator is losing any heat it has. You can use a piece of cardboard to block off part of the radiator. It's a stretch, but in really cold climates it works.
 
both hoses coming out of the heater core should be hot . if one hose feels hotter than the other then the core is partially plugged . another thing is did you install the thermostat the right way . there is a jiggle pin on it that has to face in a certain direction so it can bleed all the air out.
 
I recently was given a 1997 Eagle Talon TSI AWD for free it sat in my buddies garage since 2010. I got it running new battery ,brakes,clutch master cylinder. My problem is I get heat after the car warms up but it quickly goes away. I’ve replaced thermostat and radiator. I’ve flushed out the heater core and it flows nice. Upper radiator hose get hot but lower is ice cold. any ideas guys?

Try looking into replacing the coolant temp sensor and/or radiator
 
Try looking into replacing the coolant temp sensor and/or radiator

As stated above, air in the system is the indicator. Heat working until RPM’s come down usually spells air in the system not allowing a syphon action to occur across the core. Pump gets more volume moving with increase in rpm, but at idle it suffers.

Purchase a spill free funnel kit. Others have mentioned that raising the front end can help but mostly, it’s having a reservoir that is higher than the rest of the system, where air can purge to, is key!

Burping the system cannot be accomplished fully, unless you have fluid up above your rad cap point. DSM’s make it harder than with CSM’s and Galant, where the “rad” cap is on the radiator with the thermostat being lower. This allows air to move to what should be the highest point in the system.

The spill free funnel kit contains either a yellow bucket or a clear bucket with a larger assortment of attachment hardware and angle adapters. It’s money well spent and will allow you to succeed in burping the system. Grabbing the upper hose and squeezing it gets those pesky high lying bubbles to purge out but how are you going to do that if the cap is off and the radiator is under filled? Yes, the cap allows that system to draw coolant back in while the system cools and is lower than it should be, but we aren’t leaving anything to chance here. If your core flows it flows, but solve the air situation first. Once air is sorted then you can critique other less likely but very possible scenarios. Your car’s cooling system should not lose heat once it is purged of all air. There is just too much heat load from the turbo, to a cast block, to lose heat except for air or scale build up or using a thermostat that opens too early or fails to fully close.

Come see us after going over the air situation.

Always always run an OEM factory temp thermostat with a stock setup, as most other thermostats have proven themselves worthless due to varied operating temps, and poor control performance to outright failure in the wrong position.

That’s the best adviceI could give you for now.

I use the Lisle kit. There are two Asian cap adapters and sometimes you need to double up on rubber rings to seal but depends on how deep your rad cap setup is. OEM versus aftermarket Chinese rads can be where the depth issue occurs. You will get it.
 

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