94 heater question

[pfar54]

My heater in my 94 Ranger only gets to warmish kind of cool temperatures... maybe around 60 degrees or so give or take.

I replaced my thermostat and changed the coolant. Then I unbolted the heater core cover and the heater core isn't leaking. So someone told me to check and see if the heater core hoses both get hot. The one to the left does, but not the right(closer to the driver side). So what should be my next step? Should I take off both of the hoses and pull the heater core out and flush it? Also I slided the knob from cold to hot and when it was at cold it blew out cold. So does that eliminate the blend/door possibility?

 

[martin]

Sounds like you are not getting circulation through the core for one reason or another. You can flush out the core while it's in the vehicle. There has also been mentioned by some members a valve that controls the coolant going to the core, my 91 does not have one but yours might have, if it does it might be not opening fully. My 91 has a new core, t-stat ect and the heater is still rubbish so I just drive my 84 in the winter.

 

[pfar54]

Sounds like you are not getting circulation through the core for one reason or another. You can flush out the core while it's in the vehicle. There has also been mentioned by some members a valve that controls the coolant going to the core, my 91 does not have one but yours might have, if it does it might be not opening fully. My 91 has a new core, t-stat ect and the heater is still rubbish so I just drive my 84 in the winter.

How would I flush the heater core while it is still on?


anybody know where that valve is that he is talking about?

 

[martin]

Just remove the hoses at the bulkhead and flush it out with a garden hose.

 

[pfar54]

So if I un connect both connections by the firewall that goes to the heater core and I put a hose into of the hoses it will go through the heater core and go out the other side. Right? So as long as i put a bucket there or something it should be fine right?

 

[modelageek]

You want to backflush it.You want to force water into the fitting tha tis the outlet for the heater core.I think in your case the hose closer to the drivers side isthe outlet so you want to force water into that one.thus the term backflush. but check that and make sure what hose is the inlet and what is the outlet. get a spare piece of hose clamp it to the outlet fitting attach a female hose fitting to it and then connect to a garden house . there are detail stickys showing you how to do it. Is your engine getting to proper temperature or is it cold for a long time?

 

[pfar54]

You want to backflush it.You want to force water into the fitting tha tis the outlet for the heater core.I think in your case the hose closer to the drivers side isthe outlet so you want to force water into that one.thus the term backflush. but check that and make sure what hose is the inlet and what is the outlet. get a spare piece of hose clamp it to the outlet fitting attach a female hose fitting to it and then connect to a garden house . there are detail stickys showing you how to do it. Is your engine getting to proper temperature or is it cold for a long time?

Ok, so I disconnected both hoses and forced the water through the right side hose and did that until there was no more coolant coming out and just the water. Then I hooked the hoses back up opened the radiator cap and let it sit for a second and then put the cap back on then I let it sit for a little while longer and the heater still wasn't getting really warm. It took about 10 minutes for the engine to get up to temp(barely in the normal range). Also the right hose still isn't getting hot like the left hose when the engine is warm. So I have no idea what's going on.

 

[modelageek]

do you have the correct working thermostat in and is it installed properly. does your engine get to normal operating temp in the appropriate amount of time. if your engine does not warm up properly your heat will not work. the first thing i do in solving your problem is make sure the engine is warming up properly.

 

[modelageek]

the right side of the vehicle is the passanger side did you force the water into the house closer to the passenger side ...did you connect a hose and a female fitting to a garden hose

 

[strvger]

i'd double check the thermostat. even new ones can be bad.

 

[pfar54]

It's a new thermostat yes... Yes I installed it correctly. It is perfectly flush and was put it the same way as the other one came out.


I put the garden hose into the right side looking at the engine from the front. So the side closer to the driver side. I didn't use another hose with a female fitting attached. It just put it up to the fitting and squeezed the trigger with some pressure.

It took about 8-10 minutes for my truck to get up to Normal temp(in the normal range on the coolant temp gauge in the truck). That was with me just letting the truck set without driving it around or reving it.

 

[strvger]

the point i'm trying to make is that i have installed "new" thermostats more than once only to find out that they were bad when i bought them. a real pia having to go back for replacements at the parts store. just because they are "new", doesn't mean they work like they are supposed too every time.

 

[modelageek]

I usually boil mine first to at least see that they open.

It sounds like the engine temp is fine.

It is best to hook the hose right to the female fitting of the heater outlet that way you get the full pressure of the water

Well if your engine is warming up and only one heater hose is getting hot something is clogged. I would replace the heater hoses and back flush the core correctly. There are sticky on this site and others showing exactly how to do it

If that does n,t work it is probably the heater core needs to be replaced. That's a lot of work so exhaust all others avenues first

 

[martin]

you are not getting circulation for some reason. follow the heater hoses from the bulkhead to the motor and see if they go directly to the motor or if you have a plastic valve with a vacuum line running to it in line with one of them.

 

[v8nick]

I just replaced my heater core. It took about 20 minutes to do and they are only like $25.