heater is garbage

[hydrastas]

I've checked everything with my heater not blowing hot, it blows warm but never hot. Before i did anything to try to fix the heat it would warm up very slowly and take 30 min to defrost at idle and 10 while driving. My gf's 07 kia took 45 seconds to do this at idle... While driving i could go around 70 mph and the heat would get decent warm but not hot. Now that i've checked everything about the heater and replaced the t-stat and filled up the coolant nice and full, it does warm up somewhat faster. Now it's around 10 min at idle and 3-4 at driving to defrost and heat up. But it still only heats up to about warm temp and not hot. Wtf can i do to make this hotter? The hoses coming from the heater core are both warm, the bottem one is like 180 degrees it seems and the top one is i'd say 120? any ideas?

 

[cyclonekid77]

Buy a mini heater that plugs into your cigarette lighter.

 

[hydrastas]

i actually think that sounds good

 

[dsmmikej]

You may have a heater control valve problem. Check you connections(they are cable connected) it may be worn or broken. I can imagine it is a pain in the ass to get to in a 2g awd, I never changed one before, but this seems to be your problem. I forgot to say that you might have a clogged heater core, but it seem unlikely.

 

[hydrastas]

hmm i'll look into it. everything seems to be a pita with this car , took me 3 hrs to change a starter and 2 hrs was spent swearing.

 

[Rob10_99]

i actually think that sounds good

+1 no shit anything under 5 mins of 'to work' driving being able to see anything is pretty decent, at least on a 1g...

hmm i'll look into it. everything seems to be a pita with this car , took me 3 hrs to change a starter and 2 hrs was spent swearing.

Starter is like a 10 min swap if you know where to stick them fat fingers!

 

[Beemer92]

+1 to dsmmike for suggesting the heater control valve. I would recommend flushing the heater core and see what you get out if anything. Swapping out those hoses for new would be a good idea as well.

 

[gearhead37683]

yeah it sounds like you may have a clogged heater core, or possibly some air in the system.

 

[popwarbunny111]

goodness these dsm's have some great problems don't they.
It sounds like its a thermastat problemo or a surculation problem.

 

[97gst_spyder]

I have the same issue. I've flushed the system, nothing changed. New hoses, nothing changed (I didn't expect one). Once the car is driving for about 30 min its some what hot.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

It's possible you have a coolant leak or a clogged heater core.
Have you checked your thermostat? When was the cooling system last serviced?
A compression test wouldn't hurt, either.

My heater blows so hot it burns my skin. Serious.

 

[dsmmikej]

most of those cable heater controls that hook up to the control valve are plastic and wear out, not to mention if the cable guides are worn or rusted.

 

[hydrastas]

so wheres the cable heater control valve at? i've followed all the knobs on the dash and they all seem to work correctly.

 

[97gst_spyder]

It's possible you have a coolant leak or a clogged heater core.
Have you checked your thermostat? When was the cooling system last serviced?
A compression test wouldn't hurt, either.

My heater blows so hot it burns my skin. Serious.

The only place I'm losing coolant is via the over-flow bottle.

The thermostat is new oem.

Before I changed the hoses/thermostat, I ran a flushing product through it and then used the garden hose flush kit.

 

[hydrastas]

Is there any way to check on the flap visually to make sure it's closing off all the cold air and im just getting heat? If there is a pencil or something keeping it partially open would i really have to take the dash all out just for that?

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

If your getting 2 different temps. out of your heater core then you have a problem. It isn't designed to be a heat exchanger. Should be hot in and out. Your core is probably plugged, drain the coolant and try to force air through there and see what comes out. Push the air through reverse how it flows normally. Heater controls could be it but if you have a lukewarm hose it probably just never gets to flowing coolant through it.

 

[hydrastas]

So you saying that both the inlet and outlet hoses for the core are supposed to be about same temp? One you can just tap cause it's so hot but the other you can hold it stings a little but theres gotta be at least 40-70ish degree difference.

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

Yeah should be the same. One is probably boiling because its hindering flow.

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

I had the same problem. It would eventually heat up, then sitting at a stop light it would go cold again. Then once the heater core heat soaked enough it would stay somewhat warm just enough to take the chill off though. Not enough to warm your feet or anything... This was all due to a plugged core. Check out my write up on how to replace it in a 1g. Modify the directions a little bit to suit a 2g, same concept.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/art...e-replacement-dash-removal.html#post152021981

If you don't have the time to pull this off, something that might tide you over for the winter is to flush it out. Cut the end off of a garden hose and insert a 4 inches of pipe 1/2 way and clamp it down. Then remove one side of your heater core hose at the thermostat housing and clamp it onto the pipe attached to the garden hose. Remove the heater core hose (not at the core, but at the water pipe attached to the side of the block) and turn on the spicket.

Hopefully you'll force out all sorts of nasty junk.

On mine I got some nasty junk out but the core still flowed very poorly. Dribbled out the hose end.

BTW, words of wisdom here... Do this before it gets to a temperature below freezing. Because I did it in the dead middle of february and created an ice rink in my driveway that has an incline to it. Nothing like trying to break a bolt loose and putting a lot of pressure on your feet and them just sliding out from under you when it breaks loose. Needless to say, I fell and busted my ass a couple times...

 

[hydrastas]

i got one of those flush kits for the coolant system. What if i were to use the entire bottle on just the heater core? I'm just trying to think of a hand held puming device to turn the two heater hoses into a flowing unit to do it. I'd rather do anything else possible than swap one out.

 

[DSM1G90]

Mine isn't as bad - I do get heat all the time after I did a total system flush (had radiator out to get it flushed out with the tonnage of junk that was in there and my coolant color was a good rust color) with also opening up the heater control so the core would get the same flush out as well), but now think it's more of a valve/connection problem since it's just not hot enough to do justice in baking a person out of their car.

Thus, where is the control valve located at so I could get working on this before the freeze really hits in a 1G?

thx and all of these posted are good write-ups. - DSM

 

[GooeyGus]

I think the "valve" you are talking about, to choose between hot and cold, is on the heater core itself. I could be wrong, but after reading the vfaq that was posted earlier, it looks like it's part of the heater core box.

The dash removal really doesn't look that bad. Does it really take 6 hours??? It looks like it could be done in 3. Then again, you always end up running into stupid little problems.

 

[DSM1G90]

Yo, "ProjectGS" (side question here): Loved your post by the way...how you manage only have 18k miles on the odometer from looking at the picts? Had to replace the speedo assembly?

thx-DSM

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

Yo, "ProjectGS" (side question here): Loved your post by the way...how you manage only have 18k miles on the odometer from looking at the picts? Had to replace the speedo assembly?

thx-DSM

What can I say... This car is MINT!!!

Nice catch BTW.

When I bought the car I rebuilt the engine and trans. I rolled back the Odometer at that point . It's not illegal as long as you disclose that information to the buyer if/when you sell it. It has whatever mileage is on the odometer plus 149,000 miles. So it has roughly 170k on the chassis. I have the exact figure written down somewhere.


There is no "Control Valve" on a 1g's heater system. You only have a coolant line in and a coolant line out of the heater core that continuously circulates through the core. All air gets routed through the AC's Evaportator and then there is a flapper door that directs the air either around the heater core or through it to give you heat. That flapper door is attached to the temperature HVAC Red/Blue control knob.

So, you're either not getting coolant through the core or your not getting air through the core. more than likely it's the coolant not getting through the core.

Probably won't take 6 hours. But I used the opportunity to clean up some wiring and some other stuff that pertained to the dash. I had to go to work also after I got it out so I couldn't really estimate the time properly. Depending on your skill level and your ambition to get it out it could take anywhere from 3-6 hours.

 

[DSM1G90]

Kool! That's a good area to begin with in doing the garden hose thingey on the core input lines- to see how much junk comes out and to see if the pressure going in comes out the same way.

I've taken out a 1G cluster out within 20 min to replace a speedo cable. Thus, if one has a good screw gun, one could prob whip a dash out within an hour to get to the beastly heater core.

thx-DSM