car will not get to running temp, and heat is barely warm

[gsxferko]

ok, so my girlfriend has a 98 spyder with the 4g64 in it...

its coming time to start using the heat, and i realized that the heat gauge isnt getting to the middle like usual, and seems to be running a bit cold...

in turn, the heat isnt blowing hot, it barely gets warm, if that...

so i changed the thermostat, and completely flushed the system, and put fresh coolant in it, filled to the top...

did not fix the situation... heat doesnt make any wierd noises, and everything with the controls seems to be working fine...
WTF



PLEASE help me out with this situation, its getting colder out, and heat is much needed.



thanks!

 

[ramsack]

A heater core is gonna be clogged from metal ions, I wouldn't trust flushing that out. It could be the last bits of anything holding the heater core together. My car blows basically no heat and I can hear the blend damper shut and I can see the cable and arm to verify that's adjusted correctly. I just dread doing a heater core.

 

[gsxferko]

same exact thing here.... i verified that all controls are working... and both the line going in and the line coming out of the heater core are getting very warm

 

[DSM1G90]

I just dread doing a heater core

...yea, gotta rip out the entire dash to get to that core ....only thing that's a pain and very awkward to work on ...

 

[gsxferko]

are all my signs pointing to heater core replacement???

 

[Hortanica]

are all my signs pointing to heater core replacement???

I would have to say yes - just because of your statement 'i can turn the heat on after the cars warmed up and it will blow hot for about 5 seconds, then go cold.

what that would tell me is that you are getting very little flow through the core. SO when its off, it has a chance to warm up the core a little bit, you turn it on and it blows hot for a few seconds, but once it exhausts all the heat it starts blowing cold again because the flow isnt great enough to keep up with 'demand'.


I also just had the same problem as you described (and i said above..) so what i did was i ordered an oem t stat, as my month old autozone one was already sticking open. When i flushed the system, i disconnected the heator core lines and blew threw the top one...i could tell it was definitely clogged, but it pushed through and now i have heat again. But if you dont wanna blow on it yourself, just try and hook up an air compressor with low pressure so you dont blow the core apart.

This spring im going to replace mine...just because i get enough heat now to not freeze in the car, and i dont feel like doing outside in the snow in 15* weather.

 

[ramsack]

I wonder now if it's my heater core that's clogged then. The heat stays at a constant temperature, but it never gets hot. It's only reached down to the high 20s by wind chill and my car interior can't even make me sweat on the drive to work, in 40 degree weather. My previous DSM used to burn my legs off on the floor vents without even having the blower motor on. I looked at the linkage for the blending damper and it shuts all the way for hot, so the cable is adjusted correctly, and I can hear it smack shut.

 

[Hortanica]

I wonder now if it's my heater core that's clogged then. The heat stays at a constant temperature, but it never gets hot. It's only reached down to the high 20s by wind chill and my car interior can't even make me sweat on the drive to work, in 40 degree weather. My previous DSM used to burn my legs off on the floor vents without even having the blower motor on. I looked at the linkage for the blending damper and it shuts all the way for hot, so the cable is adjusted correctly, and I can hear it smack shut.

Thats about what mine is. Its gotten down to 20 before wind chill here, but my heat is the same whether its 40 or 20. Its hot enough to where i can still drive the car, but its not hot enough to where i start to sweat or can turn it off/down. And thats even with 3 hours of straight driving it....i mean, im in a spyder so its prob a little worse, but still. im sure if i put an air compressor on the heater core inlet hose i could have made it flow a lot more then it is now, but it works and eventually i will replace it.