Overheating and Heaters
- Thread starter D4MJT
- Start date
Be very careful! If there is more air trapped in your heater core and it gets free while youre driving you can seriously overheat!(Exactly what happened to me). Does the car warm up just as quickly as it used to? Is your heater control valve working properly?
Not so sure you're out of the woods yet on that BHG fella. Better monitor the water level closely and the birdcage (overflow) bottle.
i bet your heater bypass valve isn't working. i had the same problem. ended up being the solenoid on the valve. to check the diaphragm unplug the vaccum line going into the solenoid that had the vaccum sorce. plug that into the diaphragm. it should open the valve. if not your diaphragm is done. to check the solenoid turn on the heat. get a test light. make sure you have power to both wires. if you do then its the solenoid. whick is what was wrong with mine. if you power on one wire and not the other hook your test light onto the positive terminal and make sure you have a good ground one the wire with no power. if you do then that also verifies that its the solenoid. that just means its an open circuit at the solenoid. it could be your t-stat but this is easier to check.
if you get hot air then i'm sure heater control valve is fine, well the solenoid for sure.
is the ony problem you dont get hot air for 6-12miles of driving? how long in minutes is the engine running for?
is the ony problem you dont get hot air for 6-12miles of driving? how long in minutes is the engine running for?
If the water temp is normal, then the stat is ok, keep checking the water level, both hot and cold, uk spec cars dont have a "bird cage" light. the valve is on pass side bulkhead, when the car is running the lever should be up, to check this give it a Vac feed and see if it rises, We had a supra locally that had heat after 10+ miles, but not a lot, checked it and the solinod was dead,
dumbo;1217064 said:
actually your wrong. when mine was broken it would get hot air. it just took forever because there was no coolent FLOW but there was coolent up there. it just took a long time to heat up.
With your heat on, the plunger on the valve should be UP. If its not, you have an issue there somewhere.
black89t;1217082 said:
when that solenoid gets a open, that valve goes closed, mine would get hot air for about 3 seconds, then go cold, wait a couple minutes and id get another few seconds of heat.
so since there is almost no FLOW, you wont get constant (i should of stated that)hot air.
so if there is no flow, how on earth would you get hot coolant in your heater core?? i dont care how long your car is running no flow NO heat.
The valve lets a little bit through to stop the same stuff from being in the heater core always, so it does get warm/hot eventually. I have the vacuum line off my valve and i still get good HOT heat after a while.
lol. I don't have a heater valve, and it still takes ten minutes to get heat. That's not even good heat, just lukewarm. That, however, is a different story...
OP: I would definitely check the valve and solenoid. Common issue with a car this old. If they are working good, I'd flush the heater core and the steel lines on the block, and make sure the nipple on the back of the head is free of debris.
OP: I would definitely check the valve and solenoid. Common issue with a car this old. If they are working good, I'd flush the heater core and the steel lines on the block, and make sure the nipple on the back of the head is free of debris.
Anyone that doesn't get heat pretty quick has a crappy T-stat (this is my own opinion, but I'm sticking to it). The Stant I had in my car took for-fucking-ever to warm up and get heat, new OEM T-stat heats up fast, I get heat, and keeps rock solid temps (stant would fluctuate, even on the stock gauge).
I would be checking for the proper antifreeze-water ratio first. If you have too much water it will boil earlier than its supposed to. Also, pressure test your system and the cap.
CyFi6;1217765 said:
its the other way around. the water is better at cooling and transfering heat. the antifreeze does exactly that. it prevents the water from freezing. having too much water will never cause a problem unless your in freezing temps. having too much coolent on the other hand is bad becasue it doesn't transfer heat near as good as water and will cause overheating. and use distilled water so your system doesn't corrode.
to pressure test it you need the kit. its a little hand pump that has a gauge in psi with different attachments to fit different radiators and caps. and i say that is a dam good idea to do. and only go up to what you cap is rated at don't go to like 25psi because the system isn't made to hold that kind of pressure.
D4MJT;1217751 said:
The cooling fans Will Cut in, If the Coolant get to a certain Temp! its a back up system to the mechanical fan, Where are you checking the water level? does the expansion bottle get coolant into it and then drain back as it cools? Ideally you need a Decent coolant Temp gauge as the Stock one is Usless!!! it can stay in one place while temps rise by 20-30 deg C,
Most garages should be able to pressure test your cooling system for you!(steer clear of main dealer)s look for a decent small garage with mechanic's not monkeys!! Any classic car specialist near you?