No heat

[rollinstone]

Left work last night...turned on the heater and no heat. The blower works ok at all speeds...AC blowing cold air ok. Engine was plenty warmed up...just no heat.

Is the heater protected by a cb/fuse? Owner's manual/Chilton don't say. Or is there some kinda thermostat somewhere in the system I need to be looking at?

Thanks, RS

 

[Blee1099]

Is it not coming out of the vents period or is it just cold/lukewarm air coming thru the vents?

 

[slpdave]

It sounds like (from your light description) to be the infamous "blend door" issue. Do a search for "blend door" and I predict you will be enlightened.

 

[rollinstone]

OK...did the search and got lots of "blend door" info and am now enlightened...but doesn't sound like an easy fix...gettin' in there all the tight spots, drillin' holes puttin' in pins, etc...jest the kinda job i live for!

rs

 

[rollinstone]

OK...did the search and got lotsa "blend door" info and now feel enlightened...but doesn't sound like an easy fix, what with removin' glove box, drillin' leetle holes, puttin' in leetle pins that i made my own self...jest the kinda job i love!

RS

 

[rollinstone]

Followed the one set of instructions that included digital pics showing how to remove the actuator, drill, install pin, etc. I got the actuator out and turned on the ignition and the "D" pin turned as advertised.

Then I got my little swivel mirror and flashlight into position to check the position of the "D" pin receptacle hole. I was able to see to my horror a tiny (shy 1/4") piece of broken plastic teetering on the rim of the hole. As careful as I could be, I took a short length of small gauge wire bent 90 degrees at the end to try to flip the piece away. Of course working on my knees, in a tight space, holding the mirror in one hand, the wire in the other, seeing in reverse with my headlamp and bifocals, I just touched the piece and it dropped into the shaft hole. Dang!

Now, it appears that no matter what, I need to get that piece out of the hole. I don't see how the actuator "D" pin is going to seat all the way when I reinsert it into the shaft.

What a pickle! I'm gonna try to fish the piece outta there with something sticky, but it's almost like brain surgery. Is there a way to remove the entire housing...like drop it down in the direction of the floorboard....so that I can come at that shaft hole from straight above? The attaching points are not at all obvious.

RS (Who's glad summer's approaching!)

 

[slpdave]

There is an thread about fixing the blend door by cutting the bottom off of the box the blend door is in, this way it gives you more clearance to work without dissasembling (<- did I spell that right?) too much. The bottom is put back on with epoxy or the universal fix it all duct tape.

It looks like getting an after market kit and cutting the bottom is easier, it also allows you to get any broken pieces laying in the bottom of the box out so the debris doesn't jam the door again.

David

And where I live the average temp in the winter is around 40 degrees (I have played many outdoor basketball games in short sleeved shirts on christmas). If it weren't for Toronados bouncing around in our heated little valley, and 120 percent humidity in the summer it would be perfect here.

 

[rollinstone]

Tks SLPDAVE....however, the broken plastic chip is down inside the actuator shaft hole which appears to have a bottom to it...no way for the chip to drop to the botom of the door housing. Looks like I gotta come in from the top to fish it out and there's simply not enough clearance to get in there, unless ya drop the entire housing down toward the floorboard....giant PITA! But really appreciate yer input....gimme more! rs

 

[slpdave]

try a little piece of tape, looped inside out, to get the plastic to stick to one side and the nail stick to the other.

I have used this trick many times and it works for me.

David

 

[rollinstone]

Thanks again, Dave...i tried that, but admittedly I didn't give it that good ol' high school try....very major PITA!! But thanks for the boost! I'll give it another shot this weekend.

In the meantime, should the sticky tape method fail, where are the bolts that secure the blend door housing and other attached components? I can find only two likely small hex bolts, but there's gotta be more...they gotta be there or else how do the shop mechanics replace the part?

Thanks, rs

 

[jdxprs]

for those of you who like me, dont want to shell out 1200$ to fix this blend door issue, you can do this. im writing it in as simple a way as i can for those, who like me, arent very mechanically inclined.

open glove box, and push the sides in to drop the box down as far as possible. you will see a big black plastic box. inside of that box is the blend door, and your heater core (looks like a miniture radiator).

take a razor knife and on the farthest left side of that box, cut a square hole big enough to get your hand in (only cut 3 sides of the square though so that you can just bend the plastic down out of your way and put it back in place when finished). now that it's open, you can see the heater core, but not the blend door. the blend door is located around the back left side of the heater core. reach your right hand in, with your thumb down, so the palm of your hand is facing the passenger side of the truck. when you reach behind the heater core, you will feel the blend door, and you can swing it open or closed. if you want your air conditioning to work, open the door all the way. if you want your heat to work, close the door all the way. after you have adjusted the door how you want it, blend the plastic you cut to get your hand in, back to it's normal position and tape it up with some duct or thick masking tape.

unfortunatley you can only have hot or cold doing it this way, but it saves you 1200$ and a lot of headaches trying to fix this by pulling the dash.

for where i live, i need only a.c. in the summer, and only heat in the winter, so i just go in and change the door position twice a year.

i hope this helps someone.

 

[votedave]

The same thing happened to me. It turned out to be just the heater core. I changed it and not only does my heat work great but the engine timp is much more stable than before. The heater core cost about $30 and takes maybe 20min and 5 screws to replace. Besides, if yours is stock like mine was it is probably about time you change it anyway. I think mine was clogged up.

 

[rollinstone]

So, JDXPRS, yer saying to do what i want to do, ie get at the top of the box to fish out the evil plastic chip, i gotta remove the dash? might not be too bad, 'cause i removed the driver's side dash to get at my instrument cluster lights...will consider...but i like yer field expedient cheap fix to the blend door issue...goes in the bag o' tricks! rs

 

[rollinstone]

Glad yer fix worked for ya VOTEDAVE, but mine's definitely a broken piece inside the actuator shaft hole...the actuator shaft won't grab to open/close the door, and it's that leetle piece that's dropped into the shaft hole that i gotta fish out.

 

[slpdave]

Here is another way to remove small debris from holes (I used to build superconducting magnet systems that were extremely expensive). Since we couldn't cut the magnet apart to get junk out of holes, we used hi pressure air from a large air compressor to blow the junk out of the holes. I have used this technique on electronics to clear shavings out of standoff supports.

Hope this helps some, it's about all the advice I can give you.

David

 

[rollinstone]

yer a good dood, SLPDAVE...there's a place in heaven fer ya!
rs