So up here in the last frontier we have been below freezing temps for weeks. I noticed this winter my Ex taking longer to get warm. Now that the temps have dipped below zero i really noticed it taking much longer to get warm inside and the vent temp was not so great.

So going down the list of possible issues i quickly figured out it was probably a partially clogged heater core. how did i decide this?

1 engine gets up to temp in a normal amount of time and stays there

2 rear vents seemed to blow warmer, they have a separate heater core

3 the inlet to the heater core was piping hot and the outlet was luke warm...BINGO!

A good video online of how to diagnose and repair said problem. i did not follow this to a T as i just back flushed with compressed air.


This was the temp when i got to work this morning.


so i figured out the hoses, made sure to clamp off the hoses that T into the lines for the rear heater and pulled my lines apart. I made a bit of a mess and got antifreeze all over my face...which if you dont clean off soon after you can have a reaction to...ask me how i know!

tools i used, hose camps, old washer fluid bottle, plyers and compressed air.





I made a mess and got antifreeze all over....i'll clean under the hood next summer LOL



here is some of what i caught, its hard to see all of the sediment but you can see some big chunks! turns out my antifreeze is in much better shape then i first thought!



go easy with the air pressure, really helps to have a good controllable air nozzle. other then making a slight mess (had to use floor dry with what i spilled) it went well and i'm getting a good 20F warmer air out of the vents with a outside temp of -5.

hope this helps anyone who may have weak or no heat!

 

Weren't you on the original coolant still ?
That's why it was clogged most likely.
You might want to run some of that cooling system flush stuff for a couple days to get more crud out.

 

I thought i was, i had never actually opened the overflow cap til last night. Tested the coolant which BTW looked very good and it tested to -35 which should be plenty for me as i dont plan on going north in the winter.

 

I had a issue like that on my old 78 F150, I'd just swap the heater hoses around untell it plugged up again. Did that for prob 2 yrs before the core finally gave out.

 

Compressed air is not going to do anything. I would check or replace the heater bypass valve under the hood first and try reverse flushing with water (not air) and if that doesn't help you could really benefit (being in cold country) from a new or rebuilt core or take the core to a radiator shop in Anc.

 

its blowing hotter then hell now, blowing fluid backwards i dont know how you are going to say it wont do anything... look at the crap that came out. I did the same thing to a friends chevy last winter and my cousins chevy this winter and made a world of difference. mine was not bad compared to either of the chevys i just noticed a slight difference over last winter and thought i'd give it a try and sure enough noticed a nice difference.

never had to change a heater core before and unless its blocked or leaking there is no reason to.


its amazing how quickly a car/truck cools down sitting when its -10!

 

I thought you meant just blowing air through it. The ol' garden hose works well for backflushing it.
It's amazing how you cool down in those temps too. It was -16 when I was in Fairbanks and my ex-girlfriend and I went for a 2 hour walk across the river. What surprised me was that you can't breathe too deep or fast or it will hurt.

 

the coolant that was in there was blown back out the inlet, i then added some water and did it again before hooking it back up. dont really have an option for a hose for another 6 months or so haha

very true, i went out in the yard at work today having to get some pictures of a truck with a temp of 0 outside. came back in maybe 15mins outside and i was huddled around my space heater i keep by my desk for a few mins before i warmed back up. i should note though i was not dressed for the weather other then a hoodie and jacket i just had jeans and street shoes.

if it wasn't for the fact its supposed to warm up into the 20s i would stick some cardboard over half the radiator. still may do that and keep an eye on the temp gauge.

 

Truckers do it all the time and in those temps it might take 75% coverage.

 

yeah i know, i've done it in the past many times just never with the Ex or Expy. in 2008 we had a stretch when it was -25 every night for a few weeks with highs around -5 i covered most of my grill on my explorer and noticed a nice difference.

if i had another grill i would put a winter front on...hmm might be time to check craigs list!

 

Nice post, I had a similar issue back in 1987... My solution was move to South Florida

 

LOL
Forecast is 66 and rain for fri and sat here.. brrr :-)
After that. back to sunny and 75.

 

well after looking at the overnight temps up north i'm not going to complain about -10!!

 

Nice post Russ. I did the same thing to wife's Jeep. Helped some, but still not as good as a Ford heater! Nice forecast, I can't wait for the snow here, its been plenty cold, just dry.

 

There, fixed it for you.