Heat??

[burton51m]

my heat is being a **** again and i dont know why. my car used to heat right away with in 10-15 min, now it takes forever like 10 minutes later than it should. and the heat is not constant or hot at all.(barely any heat now)

also when i step on the gas you can feel the air warm up coming from the vents.

i alread did the VSV vacuum hose trick earlier in the year and it worked for about 2 months. could my heat be going?

1 more thing, i was messin with my aftermarket alarm down by the fuse and kickpannel...is there a wire or fuse that i could have bumped that made the heat go out on me?

thanks

[mrnickleye]

Don't know about the alarm, but your thermostat may be stuck partially open, which will let the engine run to cold, and heater not hot.

Quick and easy to change to a new 195* one, with new 'O' ring seal.

[burton51m]

i changed my wording now but what i meant to say was- are there any wires behind the kickpannel that i could have bumped to make the heat go out. (i made it seem like i said my alarm went out)

i have a new thermostat in my car. is there a possibility that this one could have failed already? its less than 3 1/2 months old.

thanks

[mrnickleye]

Thermostats usually last a few years.

If the temp gage reads normal, and the hoses going into and out of the heater core feel real hot (with a hot engine), then perhaps the flapper inside the ducting box is not sending air thru the heater core.

Set the temp to 85* for the flapper door to send ALL the air thru the core.

I don't believe you could have bumped a wire in the kick panel to cause the problem.

[IHateHacks]

"i have a new thermostat in my car. is there a possibility that this one could have failed already? its less than 3 1/2 months old."

I'm speaking from personal experience here, as well as the experience from a 50 year old Ex-Toyota tech.

Is that thermostat a Toyota dealer one? These cars do NOT like aftermarket thermostats. I've had 2 go bad on me. One from Advance auto part and one from Napa. All within 6 months. I don't know why but I can tell you this, get a factory stat and compare it with a cheapo aftermarket one and you'll be able to see and feel the difference.

If its a dealer thermostat thats less than 3 months old, then you can rule that out.

How about checking the coolant level? Check the level in the radiator when its ice cold. Sounds like there is air getting in the system. These cars also like to stop using the overflow bottle when the head gasket is leaking. Could also be the blend door that mrnickleye mentioned, but thats not a common problem on any vehicle. But it does happen.

[mrnickleye]

Yep...thinking more on this, you may have air in the heater core (a common problem with these cars because the core is the highest spot in the cooling system).

read this and try the fix.

http://www.supras.com/06/techcenter/display.php?QID=22

[burton51m]

I have air in my cooling system. i can hear it. its just that when it gets burped it comes right back. (i burped it once and an auto shop got the air out also...both times it came back). i need to find out where the air is getting through. are there any common areas(hoses) for air to get in?


i think the thermostat is a toyota part B/C an auto shop put it in when they were workin on my car. do auto shops get factory parts?


i will try burping it, tomorrow

[mrnickleye]

Originally Posted by burton51m

I have air in my cooling system. i can hear it. its just that when it gets burped it comes right back. (i burped it once and an auto shop got the air out also...both times it came back). i need to find out where the air is getting through. are there any common areas(hoses) for air to get in?


i think the thermostat is a toyota part B/C an auto shop put it in when they were workin on my car. do auto shops get factory parts?


i will try burping it, tomorrow

NO, repair shops use after-market parts on just about every job. We only use dealer parts when we can't find it any where else. Stant is the #1 thermostat maker in the world, and makes a 'regular' one, and a 'premium' one (cost 2x more).

Sounds to me like you NEED to go to a shop and have a 'block test' performed. The most likely (95%) place air is getting into the cooling system is from the beginnings of a BHG.
(been there, done that). I drove 3 months more (waited for warmer weather) after I confirmed mine.

A pinhole starts, then it allows combustion gasses (bubbly)to be pushed into the coolant. Usually the first sign is a gurgling sound in the heater, under the dash.

[burton51m]

i just had a new hg put in it back in october.


and now i dont hear any kind of gurgling sound behind the dash on startup. but i think i have air in it.

[burton51m]

The problem turned out being my headgasket. Called the people that origionally did my headgasket in october and told them what was wrong. They ended up giving me free towing on a flatbead and a new HG job a couple weeks ago. So ya i'm pretty happy about that.

Since the latest headgasket job ive been taking it really easy on the car to break it in and because its only torqued down to 56ft/lbs. Im going to tighten them down some more sometime though.

Thanks for all the info/suggestions everyone.