I hope this thread is not getting old, and people continue to look at it, because I am getting close to resolving this problem. I ran the temp up with the cap off. A couple of times, after it got warm (keeping in mind that the water level is about an inch or so below the top of the radiator, not the bottom of the cap), it "gurgled" and spit water out the top, or overflowed. THen it would settle down. This was after lightly revving it, which will cause a rise in fluid anyway, but it only did it two times, and I revved it many times. Is this the bubble? Also, the top heater hose, that goes into the manifold, was hot, the bottom one that went into the water pump was much cooler. Never had hot air coming out of the heater. Does the water go from the manifold to the heater, or from the water pump to the heater? also, can I take the hose off and blow compressed air into it, or will it blow out my heater core. Remember, this is a new heater core, and has only approx 300 miles on it with only new fluid. thanks in advance for any help.
Water should go from the pump, through the core, back into the manifold. Top hose could be hotter just because of convection. Dosent necessarily mean water is flowing through the core. As Thomas ask, is your car factory air? If so, he's talking about a vacuum operated valve that could be either stuck closed, or not getting the vacuum signal to open, thus preventing water from flowing through the core. It is usually located on or near the firewall and one of the hoses should go through it.
I am starting to think like Sam,, kink or some obstruction. If you drained the radiator and disconnected both heater hoses, then with compressed air, see if any air will go thru the heater core?? Actually I am thinking outloud here. Dan
Come on guys lets get this heater working. He says he replaced the vacuum lines, which tells me it's a A/C car . If this is true then the hoses are attached to the core in the engine bay and not in the cab of the car. ( right?) Which means you should be able to see any kink in the hoses (thats kinky here in Califorina) Hell remove both hoses and run water from a garden hose thru the core (both ways) if you get a good flow, then install the heater hose back on the core without the damn heater water control valve! (there known to fail shut from rust) Fill it up with water and take for a spin, if it's still not blowing warm air, then it's in the heater box (stuck door, etc.) Chezzz! this is getting to be a long post. Good luck!
The problem with a garden hose is it only takes about 3 of those tubes to be open to pass as much water as a 3/4" garden hose can dish out. Same holds true for a radiator. The rest of it can be plugged solid. Its definately not rocket science, but theoretical troubleshooting is never as good as hands on.
Here's what we know: Everything worked until he took it apart the second time to replace the blower. Knowing this we can rule out all radiator, water pump, valve, thermostat, and heater core issues. Since the blower now works, we can rule that out too. My logic for suspecting a kinked hose is the fact that he had the heater box off and apart and during the re-install could have pinched a hose either between the heater core and the box, or between the box and the firewall. This is impossible to see from under the hood. I had this exact problem 17 years ago when I had mine apart, and I'm betting history has repeated itself here. Sam
Once again on a A/C car the nipples from the heater core are in the engine bay,they stick out from the firewall and the hoses can be removed in a matter of seconds, you would be able to see if there was a kink there, hell ya'd have to have about 15' of hose for it to double up and kink someplace!(maybe he has that much!) This is one of those "Help Me" deals where everyone has a good idea .but without being there and doing a hands on with the problem, we never really know if the person we give the info to, does for a fact understand what one means by "Try This" I still say "if" you have flow from and thru the heater core, and the blower motor is in fact blowing in the right direction, then the problem is in the box itself, door, linkage,trash etc. Let's all make a road trip and see whats up!
1400 miles one way, I dont think so. Heck, Doug is only about 200 away. I wonder if he makes house calls.
My car does have A/C, but not currently installed. The heater core has two 3/4" or 1" "nipples" that stick into the engine compartment, and I have plenty of hose, with no kinks. Thank you guys for sticking with me this far...I would have given up if I was you. I will disconnect the heater hoses from the engine and see if water will go through the heater core. Freely. And go from there. One more. Does it matter which heater hose goes into which nipple? seems like it goes through the core either way. NExt step is that A/C vacuum line that Mav is talking about. I WILL have this fixed by the end of the weekend. Thanks again guys
OK, I disconected both heater hoses, put the garden hose to it, and nothing. Put my mouth on one end and blew very hard, and hardly anything came out. Put 40psi behind it and a dirty mixture of antifreeze came out. Added clean water, and blew again with my mouth, and there was no movement. Shouldn't I be able to blow through it pretty easily by mouth? Seems like clogged core to me. What do you guys think? Next question, Can I force water through it to clean it out, or do I need to replace it (keep in mind this thing is pretty much new)?
GOT IT!!! Thank you all for the help. I moved the car into the driveway, put a good waterhose connection to it, and nasty black water came out (my coolant is pretty and green). My wife says a "chunk" came out. I flushed water through the core both directions until it ran clear. I can now blow easily through it. I will hook everything back up, and run it. I am pretty sure WE all fixed it. Thank you guys very much for the help in narrowing the problem down. If any of you ever end up south of Houston, e-mail me and I will invite you down for a beer (or iced tea, as to your preference)!
Ah! BINGO!, You may try flushing it out back and forth and see if the grap comes out, it does work sometimes, man I'm glad to hear you found something ( not to mean i'm happy that you have a pluged core) just happy that your making headway!
Test drove it, and it gets HOT again. Great suggestions from everybody.Thanks for all the help. Any suggestions as to how it got clogged so quickly? Clean fluid with 50% water. I have had the intake manifold off twice, maybe got gasket material in there? Maybe the old engine is crusty inside? I cleaned out the block with chemicals once, when I was doing all the heater core/radiator work, then flushed until clean. Maybe the chemicals caused a rust/corrosion buildup in the core? We learn from our mistakes.
