My heat is not hot
 

Hello all! So my Volkswagen diesel pumps out 115* heat from the vents, verified by many with thermometers. So perhaps I'm a bit spoiled by the heat output of my VW... but the heat on my OBS I can seriously have full blast and even after the truck is up to temp (somewhere between the O and R in "NORMAL") I wont even be considered "hot" after a road trip.

I'm thinking the radiator and heater core may need a good flushing, but is there something else that frequents these trucks?

what thermostat does it have in it? i ask this knowing you have no idea. its made for a 203

Not a clue... how can I tell?

got me. i guess they might say on them. i'd have to go look at mine but the 203's are supposed to help a lot so i'm guessing you don't have a 203 BUT it wouldn't hurt to do some maintenance on the truck of course

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oh and thermostat could be stuck open

plugged core, low on fluid?

Why would the truck get up to temp then if the t stat was stuck open?

Fluid level is fine. I'm def wondering if it's a plugged core though..

Thats my guess, you can flush it out with your garden hose

i forgot about that detail. and is it dead in the middle? a little high? a little low?

Ya thats what I was figuring to do. Too bad it's 15 damn degrees here lately. Ugg.

No it's def not dead in the middle... it's on the OR portion of NORMAL, if you can picture that?

I would guess you have a T-stat issue, try that first... Do you add the Anti corrosion additive to your truck ever?

Go down to Ford and get the FACTORY 195* stat and install it, do not buy into the hype for the 203* stat...

Might look at flushing the system as well, and adding a coolant filter. You would be surprised how much crap a coolant filter will pick up!

No... I'm thinking I might have to buy some of this anti-corrosive stuff though.

I have a feeling that once I do the flush there will be a lot of floating shit in there, though. So just pick up an OEM Ford 195* tstat? Should my temp needle be straight up and down?

The gauge on the dash means SQUAT... Get a gauge in there or a scanner and see what the real temp is.

I cant for the life of me remember what the additive is right now...

FW16... Your local Ford shop can get it for you, as well as the test strips.

I run a filter with the additive in it already.

Thanks for the input... can a basic reader at autozone read the temp? Or probably not...

not that i know of, they are just a reader not a diagnostic tool

So who would have a diagnostic tool? Besides the super-expensive local diesel shop?

We have one at the shop come on over :D but any repair shop should be able to tell u the real temp in about 5 mins with their reader

This is good thinking... then I can kill two birds with one stone; get mah truck fixed, plus meet the famous Rattler:w2:

I had this issue with my 96 and in hindsight, I realized it was accompanied by a quirky temperature control knob on the dash. I found a pen and a few other things that had fallen through the defroster grill and were preventing proper operation of the temperature blend door.

Well I know my fan speed only works on full blast.. but those thigns that fell thru caused your temp control to not work right??

The control knob seamed to work, but the door wasn't shutting (or opening) all the way allowing too much outside cold air to be introduced.

When the blend door is fully open (or closed, I forget which), (cold position on the control knob), the blend door directs the air flow to by-pass the heater core. When the blend door is fully in the other position (hot position on the control knob), all the airflow must go through the heater core. A middle position on the knob maintains a partially open blend door, thus the name "blend door". My blend door was jammed and would only allow partial airflow to go through the heater core, the rest went around. The blend door is independant from the fan and the blend door does not affect the quantity of air coming out, only the temperature.

Very interesting!!! Where do I have to access to see if the blend door is jammed?

open hood. go to passenger's side by the cab. you'll see an electric motor bolted to a black box that's attatched to the cab. there's a vaccuum actuator on top. try to move the lever on it. if you can't then take the motor out

Sweet! Thanks Erik!!

I don't think it would have to do with your t stat, my 95 runs the same around OR and if I turn on the heat it blasts me out of the cab.

hello, it does sound like a heater core. any repair shop that works on vehicles newer than 95 should have a scan tool. most will have keys for diesel trucks too. a lot cheaper to go to a smaller shop than a dealership

no problem. dont try to get the door out without knowing how. you shouldnt need to but its a pain and i ripped half my hand open when i took my broken one out. i actually have a blower and a door on the bench ready to go in whenever i vacuum the box out

LOL I'm nowhere near being blasted out of the cab; I'd sure love it that way though!

Thanks for the advice brother! I think once the weather clears up I'm just gonna flush the cooling system and heater core for the hell of it.


Hmm.. in that case, I'll be swinging by your place of it comes down to that:tttt:

lol my only thought is how would it be stuck? unless a big object got in there because its not a big pin. its just a little plastic shaft. two things i could think of. vacuum issue to it. or the actuator itself unless somehow the door broke. mine was but the blower was out of it so i'm assuming it was broken then. don't see how it could be broke though.

Well thats why you are the expert.. you can assess the situation all you want when I get there buddy ;)

lol yeah that'll take me all of ten minutes

Deal! :jump:

In my case, an ink pen had fallen in through the defroster grill and was jamming the blend door and preventing it from completely closing. It would still open fully and close to about 75%.

how the hell did you get a pen down there?

It was there when I bought it used. Kids maybe?

try this simple test before you buy anything. the heater core is very east to get to in most ford trucks it is behind glove box remove small panel and feel heater core when engine is warm if it is cool then check your flow valve operation maybe vac. line is off. I had this problem once it was a crack in the vac. line fix with black tape cost was about a penny good luck

A vac line controls the flow valve?

heat and cool it is all vac. operation, start with easy first you can check water flow at firewall by just feeling the hose. are you getting any air from the vents? I have seen a/c air coils clogged on some trucks before this will all but stop the heat.

Yep the fan puts out a good amount of air. It's just not nearly hot enough.