Its cold here.... very cold.... -10 to -20c and my heater isnt really helping out.

I've been starting the car and letting it sit for almost 10 minutes then drive it nice and easy and the heater doesnt really get hot.... only a little warm and thats after nearly 20 minutes.

Now the head gasket blew up last spring... could something be clogged?

 

My 89 DX ZC sedan had a clogged heater core(i.e., little or no heat) Could be your problem too. I sold the car before I fixed it, but maybe take the hoses off and try backflushing the heater core with a garden hose, or low pressure compressed air.

 

Start with a new thermostat,they go bad,and make sure antifreeze is up too par.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Lil Red CRXsi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Start with a new thermostat,they go bad,and make sure antifreeze is up too par.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's the first thing I did with mine. Wish I would have just checked the heater core for clogs though. Even though it's only $5 for a thermostat, I should've known that since the coolant gauge showed a warm engine, and there's was still no heat, it's more than just a thermostat.

 

for a long time i dealt with no heat and assumed i had a clogged heater. the hoses to the core were hot tho, and the cable seemed to open fine. however, others from another forum said theres a SECOND cable that controls the air mixer which opens a flap to send the blown air thru the heater and that often fails. this was my problem and i am getting more than enough heat now... check just behind the center console under the heater nearer to the passenger side.

i would start by checking this before getting to the thermostat.

 

alright.... the lower hose up on the firewall isnt getting warm?

so how much for a new heater core

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">for a long time i dealt with no heat and assumed i had a clogged heater. the hoses to the core were hot tho, and the cable seemed to open fine. however, others from another forum said theres a SECOND cable that controls the air mixer which opens a flap to send the blown air thru the heater and that often fails. this was my problem and i am getting more than enough heat now... check just behind the center console under the heater nearer to the passenger side.

i would start by checking this before getting to the thermostat.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This shall be my project tomorrow. I have no heat in my CRX (none, but I live in San Diego so it's not that bad...) and the cable on the lower hose going into the firewall DOES move. I recently replaced the thermostat and the lower hose DOES get hot.

What exactly was the problem with yours, Tyson? Was the cable unconnected, broken, or what? Do you need to remove the center console to get to it, or not really? I know it's a PITA to get to the heater core and blower motor though, right?

I have another related question...just out of curiosity - which way does the coolant flow? It must come into the top of the rad and out of the bottom, right?

Thanks.

Alex

 

you dont have to remove anything to check to see if its working properly. just crawl under from the passenger side and look up and youll see the white plastic lever. i actually didnt fully fix the problem, but it seemed that the cable isnt functioning properly along with the control ****, so the lever doesnt really move. but i just pushed the lever fully open, so its always mixing the hot air now. i think my actual problem is the cable not attached to the control **** lever behind the console. i just dont feel like taking off the center console now. its kinda cold up in norcal lately so its just fine for me.

 

Conclusion?

I want to know if this is the problem, so I can tell the guy that bougth my ZC sedan.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ZC88CRX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">alright.... the lower hose up on the firewall isnt getting warm? </TD></TR></TABLE>

update.... its too cold to flush the system