Heat problems...

[trwp72]

This is really strange... I just had to replace the water pump on my car... (Leaking from the vent hole, typical!) Anyway, I had a mechanic friend of mine do the work, as the last time, the upper left bolt broke, and spent two days trying to get the rest of the bolt out of the block... The bolt is the one that goes into the water jacket, and has a habit of breaking off... Anyway, they replaced the pump, along with the bypass hose, (They found a small pinhole developing in it) also replaced both belts while we had it apart. So, the problem is, now I have NO heat! My car has a brand new 3 core brass radiator.. (Police one, for a 86 LTD... ) I have it so that it will not overheat when in a parade during the summer... I did one two summers ago in Chicago with 100 degree temps that day! So anyway, I have a 180 degree thermostat in the car, to also assist with keeping the engine cool. I used to have average heat with the set up, since usually we don't have really cold winter anyway. So, since we have had a lot of really cold weather, I would like some heat, especially for the defrosters...

Any ideas why I now have no heat, at all?

[VicCrownVic]

Clogged heater core or blend door not working properly would be my first two guesses.

[L1011tristar17]

Check the two hoses that go into the firewall to the heater core (right next to blower motor) while the car is running/warmed up. If one hose is hot and one isn't, then you know it's a clogged heater core.

[sly]

also, is the coolant topped up? if there's a large amount of air, it doesn't heat well. I was about a gallon low in my 88 and it would still cool the engine, but wasn't enough to heat the car without the revs being up.

[gadget73]

Put the right thermostat in there first. Make sure there is no air in the system too. If the rad cap leaks and doesn't let it build pressure, it won't burp the air out and you get lousy heat.

[trwp72]

The one heater hose is cool when it is warmed up, So I wonder if the shop accidently dropped used some gasket material in the water jacket, which blocked the heater core... I will flush the heater core tomorrow and see what happens... (by reverse flushing the heater core) They did have to scrape the old gaskets off... So it is possible some of the material got inside the water jacket, and then travelled to the heater core... (The first stop in the "loop")