'88 heater never warms up
12-19-2004, 10:36 PM
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'88 heater never warms up
Please read before you suggest the heater core. 
I bought this '88 S for $500 a week ago. Two things wrong with it he knew of: wouldn't pass smog and heater/AC doesn't blow at all.
I think it'll smog now that I turned the timing from 22º back to 10ºBTC and fixed the EGR valve. I managed to get the vents to work by taking the knob off and turning it with pliers (the rotating switch is stripped out inside and doesn't turn anything).
Now here's the problem. The vents work great but the heater isn't warm. Sometimes it gets a little bit warm, but never nearly as hot as it should. It's roughly 35-50 degrees usually when I drive the car. The temperature gauge shows approximately in the middle, maybe a teeny bit below. The car isn't losing coolant and the area under the heater core is dry as a bone.
I'm considering a few possibilities before the heater core:
1) The hose going to the heater core is clogged up causing no coolant to reach the core.
2) There is a valve somewhere (haven't looked yet) in that path that's not opening.
3) The temperature gauge is a dummy gauge and the car isn't really warming up all the way.
4) The temperature slider on the gauge isn't working like it should (seems pretty unlikely).
Any other suggestions? The car has plenty of coolant, idles great, runs excellent, etc.
I bought this '88 S for $500 a week ago. Two things wrong with it he knew of: wouldn't pass smog and heater/AC doesn't blow at all.
I think it'll smog now that I turned the timing from 22º back to 10ºBTC and fixed the EGR valve. I managed to get the vents to work by taking the knob off and turning it with pliers (the rotating switch is stripped out inside and doesn't turn anything).
Now here's the problem. The vents work great but the heater isn't warm. Sometimes it gets a little bit warm, but never nearly as hot as it should. It's roughly 35-50 degrees usually when I drive the car. The temperature gauge shows approximately in the middle, maybe a teeny bit below. The car isn't losing coolant and the area under the heater core is dry as a bone.
I'm considering a few possibilities before the heater core:
1) The hose going to the heater core is clogged up causing no coolant to reach the core.
2) There is a valve somewhere (haven't looked yet) in that path that's not opening.
3) The temperature gauge is a dummy gauge and the car isn't really warming up all the way.
4) The temperature slider on the gauge isn't working like it should (seems pretty unlikely).
Any other suggestions? The car has plenty of coolant, idles great, runs excellent, etc.
