I just finished my GSR swap in my 95 Hatch, and now the only problem is the heater doesn't get hot...Doesn;t even get warm. Anyone know why or how to fix it? It is cold as hell driving to work at 7am with no heater when its only like 35 degrees outside.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

My guess is that you have an air bubble somewhere in the coolant line going into the heater core. You should try to rebleed the coolant system. What I usually do is remove the radiator cap when the engine is cold and not running, then start up the car. Once the car is running put the heater control to full heat but leave the fan off or to the first setting. Then go out to the radiator and fill the radiator up to about an inch away from the brim of the filler hole. You then squeeze the upper radiator hose repeatedly. You dont have to sqeeze too hard or else coolant may come out of the radiator fill hole, but just squeeze enough so the coolant goes to the brim. Do this for a couple of minutes and most of the air bubbles should work theyre way out of the lines.

 

i doubt it be the coolant although is might be a good idea to do after a swap. If there is air in the coolant your engine will overheat more thus producing more heat inside the car if the heater is on. I have had this happen before.

Does your heater even turn on? How are the hose for the radiator hook up?

 

All the hose's and everything are in great shape, no tears or leaks. Could it be my fan wouldn'y turn on so I made a "jumper" wire so when the car is on so is the fan? It is always on with the car. Could the car not be getting warm enough for it to get hot? I am clueless on this. The heater does turn on, full blast but not even close to warm.

 

I doubt your fan would cause that problem, I have heard of some cases though, that it causes the car to run to cold in the winter and affects the performance of the car, i would just go for the simple thing, replace your thermostat they are like $10-$15.

 

Does the valve right there where the hose goes into the firewall work correctly? Maybe it's just stuck closed. Mine doesn't work because I have the heater hose bypassed for the meantime because I need to fix something. Think of anything that was taken off or changed during the swap.

 

its been a while since i've done a swap... how many hoses are on the firewall? 1 or 2?

 

There's 2 hoses on the firewall. One going into the firewall to the heater hose (where the valve is) and the other coming out going to the block. I just connected the 2 together for the meantime since somehow the little pipe coming out the outer hose from the firewall got pinched together. Need to get that fixed before it gets cold out!

 

check and make sure the control valve cable is hooked up
comes right through the firewall right next to the two heater hoses

 

yea. if the heater working and air is not blowing out heat, i think it is the valve one the lower raditor hose (It has a cable it one to it to adjust hot or cold). It might be loose or not hook up.

 

I just ran out and checked and it is hooked up, The heater control inside the car sldes still from hot to cold, but no matter where it is positioned it is the same frezing *** cold air?

 

Try moving that valve to the other position (only goes one way or the other) and then get back into your car and check the heat.

 

When you guys say valve you are reffering to the "cable" peice that slides the heater controls from the engine bay right? Or is there something I am missing.

 

Yeah, it's the cable that's open and closed from the cabin by the a/c controls. ya know, blue for cold and red for hot . See if it opens and closes when you do it. Sounds like it's closed.

 

i was wondering why my heater control doesnt slide all the way from Cold(blue) to Hot(red)? it goes only like 3/4 da way? those anyone noe why? i cant find anything dat would stop it from moving? Thanks
btw 98 civic

 

it's something under the hood. Compare it to someone else's, it could be tricky. It's by that valve that opens and closes.

 

Did you replace the thermostat? If not then do that and also bleed the coolant system.

 

is the car overheating when you let it run for a bit?
if yes you have reversed the cooling lines on the back of the engine

if no
your valve is stuck shut

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Audipwr1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">is the car overheating when you let it run for a bit?
if yes you have reversed the cooling lines on the back of the engine

if no
your valve is stuck shut</TD></TR></TABLE>

hmmm....One day I came outside after driving my car for like 45 minutes, and let it run for like 10 minutes while I was inside, and came out and it was all the way to the red in the temp gauge? Where are these lines at?

 

if your hoses are in order this is how you bleed coolant

set heater to full blast (full heat)
fill radiator to full
bleed via bleed screw
refill radiator to full
fill to max coolant reservoir
set radiator cat to position 1 (meaning cap is secured but not tighten)
start car
hold 3k rpm until fan comes on 2 time or lower radiator hose is hot as upper hose.
finally tight completely radiator cap
done

 

you may need new heater core, or hoses are ran incorrectly. does your temp gauge go to where it normally goes?

 

The first person that replied to this thread should have said thermostat, this is the classic symptom of thermostat not opening.

-PHiZ

 

Hey mine does the same thing everything is hooked up .The car doesnt over heat. Still no heat from the heater. Wtf?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eyeamvic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Does the valve right there where the hose goes into the firewall work correctly? Maybe it's just stuck closed. </TD></TR></TABLE>

this is the same problem i had when doing my swap. i wiggled the coils and it fixed itself.