operation temperature problems

[Benjyc32]

Alright you all,
For a little bit now in TN it has been in the single digits for temperature and I've built my motor up since October. ever since then my car takes FOREVER to reach op temp and even when it does it doesnt want to blow warm air out of the vents, only luke-warm air. wich being 4 degrees recently it kinda sucks to be in that weather and not have heat for about 30 minutes and then only have it be about 60 degrees and not any warmer. im using the same aftermarket radiator i had on the car before building my motor and i also made sure i had 50/50 antifreeze and changed my thermostate to a 180 degree oem replacement and that still didn't fix my problem. please help!

 

[92AWDHX40]

Do you have any leaks anywhere, how about the heater core.

 

[thomcasey]

Does your motor reach operating temperature? If it does, you may have an issue with your blend door not closing all the way, allowing cold air to mix

 

[Benjyc32]

no leaks whatsoever BUT my coolant overflow often gets about half full and it'll be boiling... and honeslty I'm not sure what the heater core is or where it is just because ive never had this problem with any car.

 

[gofer]

If there's any air in the system it will blow cold air. Take the radiator cap off, get the car up to operating temps, turn your heat on full blast, and burp the air out if by squeezing the lower and upper radiator hoses while its idling. Keep topping it off with coolant until no more bubbles come up to the surface...

It can take 10-15min.

 

[Benjyc32]

I will try that once I get home. thanks for the tip MOD. also, no my cars operation temp will sit between the 1/4 and 1/2 mark on my colant temp gauge (stock gauge not aftermarket).

 

[dacowgod]

Thermostat sticking open? Cheap and easy thing to change.. and they are notorious to stick ..

 

[Benjyc32]

I just replaced it last week due to this problem. that was orrigionally my first thought, but no, didnt fix it. but I'm glad i replaced it cause mine looked terrible and was probably about to go

 

[2g spyder eclipse]

I will be happy to see if this get's solved.. My spyder only blows warm air too.. I will burp it.. It's -15* here right now..

 

[Benjyc32]

Update: alright so last night i went home took my radiator cap off and run the car for 20 minutes and topped off my coolant levels till it was completely full of fluid. my lower radiator hose was really stiff and honestly not even warm (really cold for a warm engine acctually) after 20 minutes of run time and my upper radiator hose was warm/hot and the coolant was boiling at the mouth of my radiator cap opening. i tried to squeeze my lines adn "burp" the lines to remove all air bubbles from the radiator and the air inside the car got slightly warmer, but still not like it was 2 months ago. any other suggestions on what to do or if I did something wrong?

I will be happy to see if this get's solved.. My spyder only blows warm air too.. I will burp it.. It's -15* here right now..

I'm suprized yours even starts in that kind of weather!

 

[Mirad]

You and I have he same issue. I'm going to try and unclog my heater core.

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[gofer]

Update: alright so last night i went home took my radiator cap off and run the car for 20 minutes and topped off my coolant levels till it was completely full of fluid. my lower radiator hose was really stiff and honestly not even warm (really cold for a warm engine acctually) after 20 minutes of run time and my upper radiator hose was warm/hot and the coolant was boiling at the mouth of my radiator cap opening. i tried to squeeze my lines adn "burp" the lines to remove all air bubbles from the radiator and the air inside the car got slightly warmer, but still not like it was 2 months ago. any other suggestions on what to do or if I did something wrong?



I'm suprized yours even starts in that kind of weather!

While you had the radiator cap off and "burping" the coolant system by squeezing the upper and lower hoses did you also have the heater ON in the car and on full blast?

Also, when the car temps up you should notice that the coolant is circulating (flowing) through the t-stat housing. If you can't see any flow or movement then it could be your waterpump and if you see a continuous stream of small bubbles all the time then you've probably got a blown head gasket.

 

[Benjyc32]

While you had the radiator cap off and "burping" the coolant system by squeezing the upper and lower hoses did you also have the heater ON in the car and on full blast?

Also, when the car temps up you should notice that the coolant is circulating (flowing) through the t-stat housing. If you can't see any flow or movement then it could be your waterpump and if you see a continuous stream of small bubbles all the time then you've probably got a blown head gasket.

Well for starters I didn't turn the heat on while I had the cap off so that may be part of my problem. as for the water pump and head gasket I replaced both 2,500 miles ago along with my motor rebuild. But, I do see a little bit of circultion.

I think I'll need to go through that youtube video and see if my heater core is clogged up preventing proper heat up.

 

[gofer]

The reason behind running the heat while burping is because you'll get air bubbles caught in the heater core and you won't actually burp the system... I recommend trying to burp it all again, this time with the heater on full blast.

Have you retorqued the head studs since you installed the head?

 

[Benjyc32]

The reason behind running the heat while burping is because you'll get air bubbles caught in the heater core and you won't actually burp the system... I recommend trying to burp it all again, this time with the heater on full blast.

Have you retorqued the head studs since you installed the head?

Yes, all of it was done to ARP's specs.

 

[Lightnintko]

@ what mileage? i need to retorque mine

 

[Benjyc32]

@ what mileage? i need to retorque mine

What headstuds do you have? I just built my motor so I don't have to retourqe for some time now..

 

[DSM1G90]

Put in a 195 degree T-stat.
180's are too cold.
If you do, drill a .050 hole in the T-stat flange so the system can burp the air out.

Bet you got a clogged heater core.
My Laser was suffering the warm air output also.
Did the dash pull and did the heater core replacement.
I have great cabin heat now.

 

[Benjyc32]

Put in a 195 degree T-stat.
180's are too cold.
If you do, drill a .050 hole in the T-stat flange so the system can burp the air out.

Bet you got a clogged heater core.
My Laser was suffering the warm air output also.
Did the dash pull and did the heater core replacement.
I have great cabin heat now.

I have a 180 thermostat but it actually ran 196* at idle yesterday according to my obd2 scaner.

 

[codym]

What blend of coolant are you using?

Sometimes a water rich mixture will not allow the coolant to do it's job: I typically use a 30/70 water-coolant blend to keep the mix from overheating and potentially evaporating. I generally start to see a spike in coolant temp after 4-5 min of idle, and full operating temp within 5-10 min of a warm up.

As the member above mentioned the heater core would be a good place to start for the isue with no warm air, they go bad more often than one might think.

 

[Benjyc32]

What blend of coolant are you using?

Sometimes a water rich mixture will not allow the coolant to do it's job: I typically use a 30/70 water-coolant blend to keep the mix from overheating and potentially evaporating. I generally start to see a spike in coolant temp after 4-5 min of idle, and full operating temp within 5-10 min of a warm up.

As the member above mentioned the heater core would be a good place to start for the isue with no warm air, they go bad more often than one might think.

I'm about to take a air compressor and blow anything and everything out of my heater core by pressurizing the hoses. hopefully that'll tell me if I'm running around with a clogged core.

I'm also running 50/50 coolant just cause im not sure where around here i can buy 30/70. But honestly I've been using 50/50 my whole life and never seen any problems with mine or anyone elses.

 

[thomcasey]

For burping the system, just get yourself one of these. It will do it right without the need for drilling. [ame]http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-24610-Spill-Free-Funnel/dp/B001A4EAV0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1391454159&sr=8-3&keywords=coolant+bleed[/ame]

 

[Benjyc32]

For burping the system, just go to Harbor Freight and get the burping funnel kit. It will do it right without the need for drilling.

Why would I need to drill? I'll just pull the hoses for the heater core, hook a pressurized line to it and blow it out the other side.

 

[bryanwheat]

Coolant boiling out the radiator cap would indicate a bad cap. The coolant should never boil in normal situations. I would throw awe cap on there. I have yet to see a clogged heater core on one of these cars. It is possible, but you have other things going on not relates to the heater core.

 

[Benjyc32]

Coolant boiling out the radiator cap would indicate a bad cap. The coolant should never boil in normal situations. I would throw awe cap on there. I have yet to see a clogged heater core on one of these cars. It is possible, but you have other things going on not relates to the heater core.

The cap was off when I did that. I said I saw it boiling when I was burping the lines.