Hey guys my wife has an 89 that has no heat. i know the temp gauges are usually not accurate but my wifes stays in the low normal range. the hoses are hot under the hood but theres no heat. i can see the water circulating in the radiator so i know the thermostat is opening. it does overflow if i open the cap with the engine running. i believe the heater core may be clogged. i even went so far as to put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator and still no heat in front or rear. please help im freezing in Alabama. thanks Don.

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 18-Oct-01 AT 12:14 PM (EST)[/font][p]The front and rear heaters use separate cores. If you have no heat in either, then the problem is up front, possibly a kinked or internally collapsed heater hose. Trace your hose route and look for bent, bulging or excessive soft sections of hose line. Low normal is the usual heat range encountered on the gauge, so it sounds as if the gauge is working properly. Another possibility is the heater water valve may not be functioning due to bad switch or loose/broken vacuum line.

 

where is the heater control valve on an 89? i'm trying to make sure the valve opens and allows water to flow into the heater core. i havent seen any bulging or soft hoses. does the switch on the dash move a valve under the hood? my sister has an escort and she had the reverse problem back in the summer ( no a/c). thanks for any help Don.

 

Need to know what engine were dealing with before we can take this further.

 

we have heat!!! i flushed the radiator and front heater core and its warm in there now. where's the rear heater core and how do i flush it. i get some cool air out of the rear vents. its an 89 with a 3.0 v6. thanks Don

 

What is the procedure for flushing the radiator and heater core? I am having the same problem with my '89. Do you have to remove the heater core lines? I pray the answer is no.

 

when i flushed mine i opened the drain and removed the lower radiator hose and flushed the radiator. i flushed it out both ways from the top down and the bottom up. i also removed the hose running to the water pump from the heater core and flushed those both ways. i also ran water from the botto, of the water pump up thru the water pump and heater core and flushed it that way. i guess it may be easier to just use the coolant system flush stuff by prestone but i did it the way my dad taught me.

 

> Hey guys my wife has an 89 that has no heat. i
> know the temp gauges are usually not accurate but
> my wifes stays in the low normal range. the hoses
> are hot under the hood but theres no heat.

> i believe the heater core may be clogged. i even
> went so far as to put a piece of cardboard in
> front of the radiator and still no heat in front
> or rear.

This is a really bad idea (cardboard to restrict airflow to main radiator).

It seems that backflushing the core(s) helped, so you might consider replacing one (or, if you have dual heat, both) heater cores. The heater core tends to act as a filter for the cooling system, and collects all kinds of junk. Mine was leaking when I bought the van.

I replaced mine (front only) heater core, with the help of the Chiltons manual, and it really wasn't too bad, except for ONE thing: the special tool to release the heater hoses from the heater core doesn't exist! At least, my local Ford dealer tried hard to get me a price on buying one without success.

It's a Ford tool to allow releasing the quick-connect connector from the hoses to the core. Because the heater core's hoses connect to the core in a sort of well, you can't get your hand (or std tool) to the connectors.

Workaround: buy new heater hoses and replace them along with the heater core. They're old, anyway. Cut the old hoses off and have fun doing it.

The heater core is replaced from the passenger footwell area. I did mine two years ago, it wasn't impossible to do, and a lot easier than some I've done.

Also, my '89 3.0l does not have a heater control valve. If you have an older Aerostar ('87 for certain, I don't know about '88) it does. If you have dual-heat, it does, but my single-heat '89 does not.

Regards,
Al S.

 

Try SPX/OTC website for many specialized tools. (www.spxotc.com) They have heater hose disconnect tool (412-127) for $16.23.

 

> Try SPX/OTC website for many specialized tools.
> (www.spxotc.com) They have heater hose disconnect
> tool (412-127) for $16.23.

Great tip!

As my heater hoses were very elderly, I'm kind of glad that I bought new ones, but if for some reason I had to do the job again (Heaven forfend!) I'd want to salvage the hoses, and this extended-length tool would be just the ticket.

Regards,
Al S.

 

> where's the rear heater core and
>how do i flush it.

Hi,
My husband said your rear heater core is in the access panel, where the vent is in the rear of the van. He said that a blower motor should be there to.

 

As an aside, if you remove the cover to gain access to the heater and AC cores, be aware it is VERY easy to screw up the "flap valve" that directs air flow over either the AC or heater core. Before you take off the cover look on the left side of the case at the back and you will find a lever arm operated by a vacuum motor. Note the position of the arm and with the engine running, move the dash switch from heat to AC and watch which way the lever arm moves and the range it moves through. When replacing the cover, you have to make sure you get the pivot pin for the flap valve into the respective place in the cover. None of this is hard, it's just easy to forget to check before replacing the cover.