ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: Z3bra on January 28, 2004, 04:30:35 AM
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How well do they work, I'm getting the feeling mine's got issues. I can have it running full blast when it's 40 or 50 degrees here in AZ and it's still not all that warm from the vents. (i.e. I can leave it on full hot on the dash vents blowing at my face and it's not very warm. Any other car that would drive me insane in about 2 seconds flat).
Is it just me or are they all that bad, can't imagine they are or I'd see more of you guys in cold areas complaining I would think.
If it's just mine, anyone else had this happen and if so what fixed it since tearing into stuff under the dash is pretty much equivalent to my personal hell and I'd like to minimize any under dash work needed.
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No their not. my friends tracker with a soft top will run you out of there at -10.
Make sure your core is not plugged and verify the air temp door is functioning.
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I'm somewhat warm on my 90 mi commute |removethispart|@ -31F, so at 40 - 50F you should have tons of heat pouring out of the dash. Hell I don't even have the heat on at 32F ;)
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My 89 has issues too. It is very weak. I have heard that they are proned to getting leaves and dirt in them and getting clogged up. I still havent taken apart my ducts to see how bad it is. I just bundle up when it gets cold.
Zig
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My heater is strong, too. There must be something wrong with yours, Z3bra. Is the air flow strong but not warm? Is there a way to check whether the heater control valve is opening all the way?
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Yeah airflow seems to be about the same as when the air door is on cold. My A/C blows fine and now that I think about it it seems like it used to blow warm enough I'd have to turn it down. I'll check for a plugged up core or leaves or something then it sounds like.
I doubt it's the core itself, I actually use distilled water and 70/30 water/antifreeze so with the aluminum block not adding to the sediment it shouldn't get too crappy in there. Probably the air diverter door sticking or something is what I'm guessing it is first off.
I'll have to look in the service book when I get home but does anybody know offhand if there's a valve for the water flow to/from the heater core or is it always going through the core and just the flap/door for the air that controls the heat?
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When the truck is heated up, pop the hood and feel the heater hoses. Are they hot?
If your coolent is clean and the doors seem to be working fine you might try a new thermostat. If it's stuck open the engine will never heat up.
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Yeah that's a good point too, definitely worth a look. Also on a related note never run without a thermostat, it creates the same sort of problems with not heating up, but because the coolant flows too fast through the engine and head and doesn't remove enough heat from them it's a good way to end up with a cracked head or even a cracked block.
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I compare the heater in my friends rig to "hell" with the devil himself stoking the fire. I mean that little S.O.B. is just hot, hot enough to fry chicken.
Mine's good, but it takes a bit to get percolating. ONce warm, its like a sauna in there.
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My Sidekick's heater gets so hot I can cook a turkey in there. :P
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`I 'Ve got a 95' lsi and the heater has four settings, but mine only works on the last two what could it be, b/c if you leave it on the third setting all the time it gets too damn hot, also my passenger side vent next to the pass. window does not blow air , any help would be appriciated.
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My Sidekick's heater gets so hot I can cook a turkey in there.  :P
inflames, you're killing me! ;D
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I run the 160* Thermostat, heater is warm
but not hot, with the stock 180* it was much
warmer, I agree, check thermostat, also do
you have a Temp guage ?? it should run in
the center, at least mine did with the 180*.
Water is always flowing through the core, temp
is door/flap controlled.
The blower switch has a problem with comming
un-soldered, I've fixed mine twice, seems I did
it good last time, I waited until I only had high
then took the switch out and re-soldered it.
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My temp guage is usually about 1/4 of the way up (when it's not bouncing, I have a lose connection/broken wire on it I need to chase down so it sometimes flakes a little bit while driving)
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It's probably the conection at the sensor,
the sensor is close to the thermostat housing,
has a rubber boot on it, the last one I had
to replace because the terminal pulled out
of the sensor.
1/4 way up is where mine runs at, (160*) so
that's why its not hot, I came home tonight
and it's only like 45* outside, maybe 50*
and the heater was just barely able to keep
me warm without a coat on.
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It's one of those things I should fix but I'm lazy about, if it was the other water temp sensor that is part of the EFI I'd fix it because of gas use, but this one's just the gauge in the dash.
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I forgot that modern cars don't have little shutoff valves on the heater core feed hose. I guess I was thinking of the old Triumph TR-3 we had when I was growing up. Under the hood it had what looked like a garden-variety faucet handle you had to open to get hot water to the heater core. If the water is flowing constantly to the core, then I guess the best way to check that is feel the return line. But, Z3bra, it sounds like you might be running kind of cool anyway, unless it's just the gauge.
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Well, it's not like factory gauges are known for their accuracy on new cars. As long as I've had it since rebuilding the engine it's pretty well stayed where it does while running for heat. Last winter the heat worked better and the temp gauge still reads the same so I think it's probably one of the flaps in the heater box under the dash. I was looking at the FSM last night and it shows two of them and I think one of them's not closing properly so it's diverting cool air past the heater core and out the vents. Then again for the 5 bucks a t-stat costs might as well slap a new one in there anyway.
I love how the service manuals detail the procedure to boil a thermostat to see if it's working, why the hell would you want to go to that much trouble for a 5 dollar part? Throw a new one in and be done with it.
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LOL, What he said ;D
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I read a post somewhere that complained that Ford products gauges didn't show real time information. That is, so long as the parameters for the input was ok, the gauge would sit somewhere in the middle of the "normal" area.
My gauge does just that most of the time but last Sunday, it was bitter cold out and I went to the cheapo bread store for mygoodies. I left the thing running outside with the heater fan on high, I had probably driven maybe 4 miles to get there. I was in the store for about ten minutes or so and when I came out the temp gauge was down 1/4 of theway from where it normally sits. And the air temp was a bit cooler than normal from the heater.
I began driving back home and by then the hamster under the hood was good and warm. I let it sit outside for 15 minutes idling in 7 degree weather with fan on high and the temp gauge stayed in its usual place.
That kinda makes me think these gauges read real time rather than just sit there showing "normal" when it might not be normal engine temp.
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Gauges? Ha! My VW tdi temp gauge is like an idiot light with a pointer. Once it's warmed up, it stays in the same place unless there is a serious overheating problem. It is apparently designed that way.
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Gauges? Ha! My VW tdi temp gauge is like an idiot light with a pointer. Once it's warmed up, it stays in the same place unless there is a serious overheating problem. It is apparently designed that way.
Same thing on my wife's Passat.
It's just to avoid whiney people coming in for service all the time. The "sweet spot" covers a wide range but if it gets too high it will go over that which basically is like you said, an analog idiot light.