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Heater problem

stubellos

New Member
Joined
January 8, 2010
Messages
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City, State
stephens city virginia
Year, Model & Trim Level
1993 XLT
Hi I have a 1993 Explorer XLT and the cabin heater has been giving me some problems. The colder it gets outside the cooler the air is that blows from the interior vents. Above 40 degrees or so the problem is minor but since it has been in the 20's for the last few weeks it has been enough to try and figure out whats going on. If I leave the blower on the first notch the air is lukewarm at best, the higher I turn the blower the cooler the air gets. I checked the adjustment on the heater control cables behind the glove box, they were slightly off but correcting them made no difference. I checked the 2 water hoses running thru the firewall to the heater core, they are both warm so I assume they are not blocked and this is about the extent of what the Haynes manual suggested for troubleshooting the system. I was wondering if anyone else had a similar problem or any ideas what else I should check. Any help greatly appreciated
 



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Ive literally had the SAME problems in the last 3 vehicles ive owned.

My new explorer (95) isnt AS bad, but I can really only have it on level 3, without the air feeling like room temp. Plus it takes its sweet time warming up, im gonna be following this thread to hopefully get a few pointers lol.

Could be:
-Thermostat
-Bad water pump
-Bad/Clogged coolant/radiator

Thats about all I know when it comes to heaters, and I keep meaning to check my coolant praying that that's the problem lol
 






I checked the 2 water hoses running thru the firewall to the heater core, they are both warm so I assume they are not blocked and this is about the extent of what the Haynes manual suggested for troubleshooting the system.
When the engine is warmed up and all is functioning, those hoses should be HOT not warm. Most likely cause is the thermostat stuck open, and that's a fairly easy and cheap one to check and fix. It could also be a clogged heater core, enough gets through to make the outlet hose warm but not to heat the air in the box passing by it.

Also check that manual to see if that year has a heater control valve, even if the control seems to be working the valve could be stuck or open (not enough coolant flowing through).
 






Sounds like the exact same problem I had. It turned out to be a bad thermostat it actually got hung up sideways. I'll never buy another one from autozone cause this happened twice two different thermostats. I picked one up from ford and havn't had another problem with it.
 






Hm...I never thought about a faulty tstat, how much did it run at the dealer?
 






Hey thanks for the input. It is probably the thermostat I replaced it last winter with one from Auto Zone and it continued to do the same thing but after reading 94exlorerEB's post I will get another from the dealership and see if that fixes the problem. I was wondering about bisjoe's comment on the heater control valve. I can find no mention of it in the haynes manual but on Auto Zone's website they do sell it. Does anyone know whether there is such a part on this year ex and if so where it would be located? Also is there a blend door that I should look into or is that on later years only? Thanks again for the help.
 






Sorry I don't remember what it cost from the dealer its been about two years. It was a good bit more than the ones from autozone if I remember right.
 






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