the radiator, heater, temp question again

[farmerscotty]

Ok have a 1987 2.3 Ranger......took out and replaced the thermostat 3 times. took out heater core cleaned the leaves out of it, flushed it with cleaner (lime away) and it flows good. but my truck will not get warm idling until you drive it (motor faster). it will finally get into the normal range on the gauge just to the "m". I need more heat............can the water pump be bad ??? and what is with the "t" on the heater hose going to the back of the head? could that be part of my problem.???
I have felt of the heater hoses and they are both warm-hot..........
freezing in missouri...............

Scott the farmer in Ozark.

 

[farmerscotty]

ok I changed the water pump today, tried putting the "t" in the other side of water pump took out the "t" fitting and hooked hoses direct from thermostat housing to water pump to heater core......no difference......
interesting note......the truck would show warmer when I bypassed the heater core with the hoses stuck together than when it was trying to go thru heater core.........just got home with a new heater core......that is for tomorrow I guess.......I did have much more heat in the truck once I got moving when I went to Oreillys.......than with old water pump........at a dead end other than the heater core.

what does the 3/8 line go to on the back of the motor.......??? only thing I can think is the heater core is stopped up more than I realize and it is bypassing thru the 3/8 hose instead of going into the heater core????

I work nights for MODOT and I don't think I had enough heat before today to keep freezing rain off the windshield to get to work.....it does have more now that I changed water pumps.

the clutch fan is turning and I can stop it with a leather glove on......

any ideas???? HELP!

 

[pillen140]

are you sure the blend door is not getting stuck? or the switch is broke? does it have enough coolant?

 

[Mark_88]

what does the 3/8 line go to on the back of the motor......

That line goes into the intake manifold and returns through the head...don't try to bypass or otherwise plug it up...the heat helps your engine utilize fuel better...so your gas mileage and performance would drop significantly...

I'd suggest just block off half of the rad opening so less cool air is passing through the rad and thereby taking less heat off the coolant...but don't block the whole rad...

I used to have to stick a sheet of cardboard in the driver's side of the rad because the heater would not give off enough heat for my liking...but I think you've covered everything that I covered when I finally decided blocking the rad was the only alternative...and it did help...just watch for warm days...because I cooked my head one day...

You could also invest in some nice long underwear...

 

[farmerscotty]

blend door is shut, coolant is full I do know that there was a service bulletin on this "poor performance at idle" about the heater but cannot find the service bulletin to read it......alldata has it.......I don't belong to them.

scott

 

[Mark_88]

I almost forgot...much of the cold air I was feeling was actually coming in from the doors...there is a vent in the front of the door (or bottom) and the cold air comes up through that...it also enters the cab through holes in the floor (rust or missing plugs) and around the door seals...

I could put my hand over the door handle and feel a cold blast of air coming in there and around the window at the bottom...I ended up replacing the door seals, the window seals, and a few of the plugs in the floor...it helped quite a bit...

The cold air coming in around the doors alone was enough to make the heater seem totally useless...especially on a -30* night driving at 100+ Km/h for an hour to get home...froze my gonads quite a few times...

 

[pillen140]

does the truck have a inside/outside air switch?

 

[Mutant Pony]

The heater core is a heat exchanger just like a tiny radiator. The engine will run hotter with it unhooked.
Replace the heater core and make sure that the hot/cold door in the heater doesn't have a pen or bic lighter stuck in it. If the heater is cable control and you switch quickly from hot to cold it makes a distinct sound if it is fully closing. With the heater core out, you can fish around in there and clear any obstacles.
When you put a thermostat in, you need to get one that has a little check valve in it to release trapped air. If not you can drill a 1/16th hole through it, make sure it is positioned at the top and not somewhere that it will be plugged once bolted in.

 

[farmerscotty]

where is best place to buy the window seals? mine are all hard and brittle.....need to replace.

 

[Mutant Pony]

I know LMC has them.

 

[dmt]

I have a nissan that when I change the coolant you need to "burp" the air out of the system. If you don't get the air out it has the same symptoms of no hot air at idle. It needs to get the rpm up to circulate the coolant that was in the system.

I put the car on ramps and ran the engine for 10-15 minutes with the rad cap off till all the air came out.

just throwing this out there since I had the same problem.

 

[wally]

I know you said you changed you t-stat 3 times, but did you try a higher temp t-stat.
A higher temp t-stat will allow the engine to get hotter before it opens to ciculate heat.

 

[farmerscotty]

ok I went and got a new aluminum heater core and replaced it.....all is well....funny thing is the old one is not stopped up I can blow thru it.....could when I took it out and put it back in first time....doesn't matter....replaced it and it has hot air....There is a ford bulletin on the 87 with blowing cold at idle.... I jacked up the idle on mine also for the rest of the winter.....good thing figured it out.... ice storm coming monday, tuesday and wendsday so I need it blowing hot....I bet a person could change the crankshaft pulley to a bigger one and help it out also....don't know what would fit it though.

at least I did get it fixed, new thermostat, water pump, hoses and heater core....and I turned up idle.....
thanks for the helps stay warm!
scott in missouri