jadugartir

Well, ive never really had a working heater. When i bought my car, 95 ex sedan, the heater never blew hot, the car overheated due to a blown headgasket, etc. Tons of cooling problems. Well i dropped the old blown motor, slapped in a b16, bought a koyo radiator, bypassed the heater, and i was good until now that its starting to get cold.

Today i finally delved into the issue of why my heater wasnt working. I took off the heater control valve thinking that was the first logical step, and i found that it was wasnt broken, but the little lever attached to the cable that operates it was bent, preventing it from changing positions. (The previous owner had snapped off the sliding button on the climate control, and now i see this is probably why. The level on the valve was stuck preventing it from opening and shutting.)

So i unbent it, put everything back together, thinking it would work. But when i hooked up the heater control valve and let the car warm up, nothing would work. Air still blows at ambient temperature. Im thinking that this means my heater core is stopped up. When the car is hot, and i touch the upper radiator hose, its hot like it should be. However, the heater control valve stays cold. as do the hoses connected to it. they are cold down by the firewall, and get progressively warmer as they get closer to the block. logic would tell me that this is because the heater core is not allowing hot coolant to flow through.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Perhaps theres something i havent thought of? Im realllly hoping i dont have to tear apart my dash to change my heater core, as it seems a pretty daunting task, plus i dont want to have to shell out the kind of dough needed to buy one. lets hear some thoughts on the matter.

jadugartir

bump

f20bej1

heater core on a honda very seldom mess up. what you need to do is take inlet hose and outlet hose out on the inlet put air throught via air compressor nozzle to unblock it.make sure the return pipe is away facing the ground.sometimes bad partical can get stuck in the core but you can just blow them out.

jadugartir

Already tried that, didnt seem to do anything. which one is the inlet side though? the one on the left, if youre standing facing the motor with the hood up?

f20bej1

the one closest to the water pump. make sure to look the valve that opens to allows water is open u might have take of the right hose to visually inspect.

f20bej1

the right one sorry

jadugartir

UPDATE: I just went and took the hose on the right on the firewall, hooked up a garden hose to it, and sprayed it on full blast. It flowed right through and pushed out some green coolant but thats about it. Perfect flow after that. Im not sure if this was thru the heater core or not though.

The inlet should come from the back of the motor, to the firewall, to the heater core, then out to the valve? or do i have it backwards

Either way it shouldnt matter, water flows freely into one side and out the other.

1.6vx

have you checked you heater motor mine had the same problem it was unning back wards... there is a censor on top of it that sits in between check the cables if those are broken then thats your problem

jadugartir

Wheres that at? Mine blows air, its just not hot air

And the hoses around the firewall never get warm, they always stay cold. so basically its like my heater core never gets any hot water, so it just blows cold air

could a stuck thermostat cause this? my car doesnt overheat though.

1.6vx

sorry guy i'm at work so has to type fast
but it's on top of the heater casing you should be able to access it from behing your glove compartment.

SL!M

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by f20b eg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">heater core on a honda very seldom mess up. what you need to do is take inlet hose and outlet hose out on the inlet put air throught via air compressor nozzle to unblock it.make sure the return pipe is away facing the ground.sometimes bad partical can get stuck in the core but you can just blow them out.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I disagree. My best friends eg 4dr has had a bad heater core for some time. He finally fixed it yesterday. By the looks of diagnosing the problem I think you are right on. It sounds like it is the heater core. I know its a bitch to dive into and fix, but I would do it if I can to the same conclusions as you. Good luck man.

1.6vx

http://z.about.com/d/autorepai...2.gif

jadugartir

Thanks for all the replies, they were helpful. I had to go to work yesterday but today i woke up and went at it again. This time, my friend called around to some of his tech buddies and they suggested that i switch the hoses.

So i ran the coolant hose under the dizzy over to the heater outlet on the right, and ran the one from the heater control valve to the back of the block. It still doesnt blow very hot at all, but at least my heater control valve get warm so i know there is SOME kind of flow. My next course of action is going to be a hardcore coolant flush, because i noticed some red gunk in my coolant. If that doesnt work, ill go ahead and replace the heater core.

Thanks again for the replies.