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No heater... auh man!!

96_explorer.com

Well-Known Member
Joined
November 12, 2000
Messages
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City, State
Austin, TeXaS.
Year, Model & Trim Level
1996 Eddie Bauer
Damn guys. Ever since I had my X and making payments on it the truck was trouble free.

Aboput 3 months ago I decided to send a fat check to the bank to pay it off and once I received my title all sorts of problems are occuring :( .

Now my major issue is NO HEATER.

About 7-11 months ago I had this same issue one winter cold day my wife was driving it and claimed there was no heat. So off I go to AutoZone and purchased a new heater core. I installed it and it worked!! Woohooo!!


So today 7-11 months later... burr kinda cold here in Texas... so I decided to turn on the Heater and no heat. I was like WTF???? Turn the car off and on @ an intersection and still no heat. :(

I been reading on here that it can be some over price unit called a Door Blind. I hope it is not. But what do you guys think I should do first???

Should I replace the heater core again.??? Well then again AUTOZONE is know for cheap crap that they sell to there customers,, like AKA there break pads :mad: .

But if any1 can assist me and guide me to the right direction on what to look for please do so?

Thanks
:D :eek:
 



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First question for you is do your blend doors work? You should be able to hear them shift around when you change the control switch. Second, How is the engine temp? Does it take a long time to heat up. Does the gauge stay below normal? Doesthe heater solenoid work? There are two hose that go into your fire wall on the passenger side. When you operate your heater this solenoid should open allowing coolant into the heater core. Check this out and get back to me.
 






it's called a BLEND DOOR. hopefully not, but i'm 99% sure thats you're problem. just do a search for it and tons of threads will pop up. it's not only common, but almost inevitable on X's. mine was no exception. it cost me $597 and that was a deal, for the part and labor(part-1%, labor-99%). good luck.
 






ipozestu,

When you say doors do you mean if I choose from Defrost, to floor, bi-level ?? If so yes that all works :) .

The motor temp on my guage is good. DOes not take long to warm up.

I drive 45 each way to work and out of that 45 min no warm or hot air blowing outta the vents :(


BTW... where is the heater solenoid located at? How can I tell if its working propely?
can you test it like you would test a old started solenoid,, by using an a neg and pos wire to each terminal of the solenoid and if you hear a click it works???

(I know that was the old school way to test of a solenoid was bad :D )
Thanks
 






There are two hoses that go into the fire wall on the passenger side. Do you see the blower motor? look to the right. it is right there. Best way to see if it works or not is start the motor with the heat off. Note it's position. Then turn the heater on high. Note the position. If the position didn't change it's bad. Not uncommon to go out.
 






You can see it in this picture. Above the oil cap next to the spark plug wires.
15573dsc00128.jpg
 






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Where I marked it. Is that the heater selonoid you are refering to??

Thanks. How to test if it is bad BTW?

Thanks again.
 






That is the heater control valve. It's just a vacuum operated valve that opens when the heater is switched on. you should be able to see the little metal arm on the side turn when the heater is turned on and off.

Do you have any air flow out the vents vents? Or is it just cold air blowing.

There are several doors in the HVAC system. Some doors route the air flow different ways, defrost, panel, floor. The BLEND DOOR determines how much hot and cold air are blended from the heater core and the AC evaporator. When yoiu replaced the heater core, you may have moved the door for heat, but when you operated the AC over the summer, the door is now stuck in the AC position.
 






sorry to hog your post but my heater control valve is leaking coolant. Is it an easy fix? It looks like as soon as I take it off its going to get coolant all over the place.
 






Lonestar,

The air only comes out of the vents when I turn it on. Since this morning was kinda chilly the air blowing out of the vents was cool (cold, like if ac was on).

Since this afternoon is at 87 degrees I will try the heater again.. I am sure it will blow somewhat warmer. Maybe its time to replace the heater control valve anyways?

Should I?
 






Originally posted by rydinhigh
sorry to hog your post but my heater control valve is leaking coolant. Is it an easy fix? It looks like as soon as I take it off its going to get coolant all over the place.
Mike it's cake. You might get a little coolant. It's a high point so you'll be fine the spring clamps suck though.

Lonestar I hear what your saying about the blend door. I just want to make sure that we cover all the other bases before we jump right into something big. baby steps right.
 






Originally posted by ipozestu
Mike it's cake. You might get a little coolant. It's a high point so you'll be fine the spring clamps suck though.

Thanks for the info Jeff. I know what im doing this weekend.
 






yes rydinhigh, the heater control valve is simple. just make sure you check your fluid level when your done to make sure it's topped off.
 






Guys. I just wanted to let you know I think my EXP is on some kinda Voodoo Medicine :D.

Nah, but really it started to work again. I just turned on the iginition and still no heat after engine was warmed up. So I click on the AC MAX button and then I heard the blend door open and then a BIG OL BURST of "Hot" air came out for about 5 seconds and then AC came on bursting cold. Then I click the button to vents and kicked the temperature gage to 90 and then HOT air came out.

I guess or assume that the blend door was jammed or something.
 






Mine is suck on HOT, but i must admit I’m gessing its the actual control button the one you turn for hot or cold that’s faulty?. Is that possible?

Arran
 






Mine is suck on HOT, but i must admit I’m gessing its the actual control button the one you turn for hot or cold that’s faulty?. Is that possible?


thats what i thought when it first happenned to me, but it was not the knob at all. it was the blend door.
 






Originally posted by 96_explorer.com
So I click on the AC MAX button and then I heard the blend door open and then a BIG OL BURST of "Hot" air came out for about 5 seconds and then AC came on bursting cold.
That was not the blend door. The AC/MAX position closes a recirculation door, so the air inside the truck is recriculated. AC MAX also closes the HEATER CONTROL VALVE connected to the heater hoses which closes the flow of hot antifeeze into the heater core, which allows for maximum cooling.

The blend door is attached to the TEMP lever, allowing you to vary the temp by adjusting the amount of hot and cold air mixed together. In MAX pos, the there should be no hot fluid in the heater core to blend, becuase the control valve should be closed.

This is what sonds like happend to me. The car was hot, when you switched it to MAX AC you heard the recirculation door close. You felt hot air because the heater core was already hot, but turned cold because the heater control valve closed, leaving only cold air to blow. The blend door may still be broken, or stuck.

The blend doors on the first gens are controlled by cable. The newer one I believe are vacuum operated.
 






So what ever happened with this
 






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