Im in Fairbanks Alaska with no garage and am trying to limit my snowbank mechanics
Theres room in the back …maybe i just put in a small wood stove
I was out of pocket most of yesterday. Real life stuff, as it happens, and a wife to keep happy, too.
If you remove the shroud, and push it back over the fan, you should be able to inspect the backside of the rad. Most likely if there’s a leak, you’ll see some sign of it…a green area or something like that. There should only be four bolts holding the shroud to the rad.
I understand working in the cold. Try it in North Dakota in February. You get about 10 minutes in an hour…the other 50 spent warming back up. Helps to have a real solid plan, but even then you get times when you can’t follow the best plan.
All else fails, you’re down to pulling and getting it pressure tested.
I was just in N.D. Wow…are Kites legal there?
Im on it if it would just quit snowing
If the cooling system is full, leak or not, then the heater should work just fine unless there’s a problem elsewhere.
Thermostat stuck open, blend door not operating properly, clogged heater core, and so on. With the engine fully warmed up carefully touch both heater hoses. If they’re both hot then there could be a blend door problem.
i did the hose check last winter. One hot one cool. The cooling system is full. But there IS a leak somewhere because i have to add to the reservoir once in awhile. Just make a 800 mile trip and need to add less than a quart to reservoir to bring it back up to full.
Is it possible the heater core needs flushed. Sealer was added at one point but coolant has been changed twice since then. (not FLUSHED but changed) I tried to blow in one end of heater core and watch other but it was hard to do this and see…but it looked like maybe a whitish colored coolant came out.
I did notice also that when it gets cold enough that it doesnt want to heat well when i put it on VENT it blows warm for only couple seconds then cold air
it was said a leak will create an air pocket. Wouldnt an air pocket be created at the highest point in the system?
If this is correct i have added a T in the upper heater core hose which is the highest point in the system. The T has a cap and shows coolant when i check it
Thermostat is NOT stuck open. This rig has all guages and it runs normal temp
im tempted to pull the heater core and flush it b4 i do anything
i did the hose check last winter. One hot one cool.
Well, there’s your problem right there! You can stop looking. Your heater core is plugged up.
Sealer was added at one point
This point adds credibility to the diagnosis.
im tempted to pull the heater core and flush it b4 i do anything
Envision this- the first part that comes down the truck assembly line is a heater core on a wire hanger and they build the truck around it. If you go to the trouble of removing the heater core, it would be foolish to try to save it. The R&R labor required on almost all heater cores far outweighs the cost of the part (even including shipping to AK)
So what your saying is REPLACE the heater core and dont bother with a flush?
I just drove it and got it up to temp…checked the radiator cao and it was cool…i took it off with my bare hands no problem
checked the rad CAP and it was cool
I can flush it with out removing it. Im just not slowing down to think. but whats with a cool radiator cap when at operating temp?
If you grasp the hoses right as they enter the firewall and one is hot and the other cold, with the heater fan running and hot temp selected, then no coolant is flowing through the core.
I’ve never seen a backflush fix a clogged heater core. Seen a few people try and read about quite a few attempts. Better chance of making things worse and springing a leak by over pressurizing it when you try to unblock it. And I’d only do this in-situ. If you go to the trouble of removing it, just replace it.
but whats with a cool radiator cap when at operating temp?
I grew up in a cold climate. It’s not at all unusual when it’s cold enough outside. Some designs use a bypass that allows the engine to circulate coolant locally and to the heater core. Only when it exceeds the thermostat temp does it open slightly and allow hot coolant into the radiator and very cold coolant into the engine. The small amount of fluid exchange and the vast differences in temperature make it almost unnoticeable at the radiator.
I think im going back to Toyota