doesnt get hot

[WTCBST]

my heater on my 95 4.0 ranger blows but doesnt get hot got any ideas?

 

[Ranger44]

Heater core, thermostat, fan clutch????

 

[WTCBST]

Heater core, thermostat, fan clutch????

i dont think its the heater core (i dont see and leaking fluid) how would i diagnos a bad thermostat? fan clutch?

 

[Hondafreak08]

watch ur temp gauge,, if it never gets to normal, the thermostat is either gone or stuck open...

 

[WTCBST]

watch ur temp gauge,, if it never gets to normal, the thermostat is either gone or stuck open...

it stays at normal... hmmm idk what else it could be

 

[offroadranger]

Theres the vacuum operated valve that opens to allow coolant to pass thru the heater core or bypass it. That could be stuck closed or not getting enough vacuum to open....

 

[Explorin94]

it stays at normal... hmmm idk what else it could be

Back flow your heater core. See if you get anything out of it. That may be your ultimate problem. Do this with a short piece of heater hose or old garden hose, connect the end that is not to the garden hose to your heater core connections from the engine bay. Make sure you take both of the heater core connections off before you do this. This will keep you antifreeze from getting to much water and keeping your freeze level right. Still if you can change out the T-stat and see where that takes you also. Don't always rely on the guage in the dash as it is only a switch.

 

[Dangeranger3]

Its possible your heater core is bypassed. As in no hoses at all going to it. Make sure you have 2 hoses going to the firewall.

 

[Jason]

It is also possible that the blend door is broken.

 

[WTCBST]

thanks for all the help. im going to look at it this weekend.

 

[camping_mailman01]

As with my blend door being broken, most that I have heard of have nothing but heat is possible. I sure wish there was an easy fix for this one. I have used a throttle cable that I hooked directly to the vacuum operated hot water valve to gain what I was after.

WTCBST, if your heater gage gets to normal heating range while operating, your heater hoses should both be hot. If not, then there is some sort of blockage preventing the flow of the coolant.

 

[jarz21]

On a very similar note, my '92 2.3L is also not getting heat inside. The inlet hose for the heater core is hot, but the outlet is cool. My temp gauge usually points just before the N of NORMAL (on a small gauge cluster), though several weeks ago it seemed to fluctuate between the N and the R (before I installed an instrument cluster with a tach) on the big gauge. That happened only on the highway, and hasn't happened since.

I'm going to replace the thermostat anyway, but does the hot-in/cold-out on the heater core seem like a problem with a vacuum-controlled valve?

Kevin in PA

 

[Natedog]

...I'm going to replace the thermostat anyway, but does the hot-in/cold-out on the heater core seem like a problem with a vacuum-controlled valve?

Kevin in PA

Yes, if the valve is dead then you won't get heat.

 

[Jspafford]

Just because the guage gets to normal doesn't mean the engine is fully warm. Mine always went to normal too, but it was not as hot as it should have been and a bad t-stat was the culprit.

 

[jarz21]

I ended up pulling my heater core (surprisingly easy on my '92) and found out that it was completely filled with crud. I backflushed it and the gunk just kept coming out. I'm guessing that the problem was actually that my radiator has had a small leak in it for quite a while, and the previous owner repeatedly added stop-leak to the coolant. The thermostat looked like it had never been changed either. So.... one thermostat & gasket, some 50/50 antifreeze, and 6ft of heater hose later, I now have blasting heat!

Kevin in PA