New Member with a heater problem

[Pooms27]

I'm not to sure what is going on here so I hope someone can help me out. It has been cold for the past 2 days so I have started my car to let it warm up. When I come out about 5 min later, the heater is still blowing cold air. I would drive down the road about a mile and the temp gauge would jump to red and it was still blowing cold air. I turn the heat off and the engine just doesn’t sound right. About a minute later, the engine goes back to normal and the temp gauge would go back to normal. I would then turn the heat on and it would work.

I am moving and have a long drive to take in the next couple of weeks and am hoping not to spend a lot of money at a garage. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Ol' Blue]

Sorry man, Im a newb too, but I have to go for this. A new coat is always good eh? haha...just messin. I have had that trouble too ...but it only seems to do it once in a while, so I just bought a Carhartt coat and called it good. Good luck man.

 

[arclighTex]

Heater problems

I had a similar problem with my 97 2.3 cyl.
I found the radiator was low on water due to a leaky hose or something, then it would draw water from the overflow and all would be ok until all coolant was gone from the overflow. my heater would not work until ther was enough water in the system.

 

[ma96782]

Not knowing what your maintenance schedule was like..........

Check for leaks.

If you see water coming from the water pump's weep hole......consider changing that, now.

Check the condition of your hoses while you're at it.

Back flush it, paying attention to the heater core.

While you're at it, change the anti-freeze.

IF you're the type that removes the thermostat to flush. Or, if you don't. Consider changing that too, for insurance.

If you still run into problems......come back.

Aloha, Mark

 

[ifergusson]

Sometimes in really cold weather if you don't have enough antifreeze what can happen is the coolant turns to slush instead of freezing solid.When you start your engine the coolant in the engine warms up enough to flow around but the coolant in the radiator and heater hoses is still all slushy and doesn't move very fast and causes a blockage.If you shut off the truck, the heat from the motor warms up the antifreeze in the hoses and radiator enough that they can start to flow.I would get your antifreeze checked to see what temperature it is protecting you to, you can probably buy a cheap bulb style tester at the parts store.Another possibility might be you thermostat sticking.