NO HEAT! (I've tried a lot.)

[BeeCee]

Hey what's up everybody!



Since the beginning of the month, I've been trying to get my heat working. Heat worked fine last winter into the spring, then of course went all summer without it, using just A/C...then at the beginning of this month the mornings started getting cold unfortunately, and the need for heat is back. The first cold morning I tried to use the heat, it was just blowing cold air. Tried it a few times after, and quickly realized I had no heat.

Since, I’ve been doing a lot in attempts to rectify the issue. Here’s what I’ve done:

Started with heater core flush/coolant flush. Honestly really didn’t even need it. All the coolant was bright green and very clean, levels correct. The pics I’ve attached below are from the initial hose connection after removing heater hoses before I even started flushing, and you can see clean bright green coolant coming out of the core.



From seeing a lot of other flushes like on YouTube for example, everybody had brown, rusty, nasty water coming out. My flush went well, no clumps, rust, nothing other than coolant came out. Almost was clear immediately after flushing with water. Also drained radiator and overflow as well, then refilled and bled system. Heater hoses going into firewall were getting hot as they should before and after flush.

Moved on to blend door actuator. Popped actuator out, with electrical harness attached and unit hanging, I did a test by turning the temperature control knob, and the arm on the actuator was moving as it should. I even went as far as buying a replacement actuator just to be 100%, still had no heat with new actuator. I ended up just returning the new one, and putting the OE back. I’ve pulled it out and tested it a couple times since, and it still moves as it should.

On to Heater Control Valve. I replaced it less than a year ago (because OE was leaking), but just to be 100% I bought another replacement. New Valve is still installed, I bled system after this as well. Directly after installing Valve and refilling/bleeding coolant system again, I let the truck run for a while, still no heat. Also have checked for Control Valve movement, and it appears to be operating as it should. You can see the arm in the valve move when “OFF”, and when the heat is turned on, you can see arm move. And as I mentioned above, the two heater hoses leading into the firewall get very hot.

BUT, ready for the monkey wrench?

I had the heat working for a few days. The day I replaced the Heater Control Valve, as I mentioned above, it didn’t work after running for a while, and trying to get the heat going on multiple attempts. Later that day I went on a drive and for the hell of it, I decided to try the heat…and what do you know. It was freaking hot. And working great too, and continued to work for the next few days. And then yesterday, on a longer drive, I was using the heat (working great), turned it off for a bit because it actually got too warm in the cabin, and then about a half hour later I turned it back on, and boom. Cold air again.

So now for the past day, I haven’t had heat again, it’s just blowing cold air. Been messing with it a bit, keeping checking stuff, turning it off and on, seeing if I can get it going again, but I’m having no luck. No coolant leaks anywhere, coolant is clean and filled, overflow is filled to correct level, hoses feel good and are getting hot. Heater Control Valve and Blend Door seem to be functioning as they should.


It’s really pissing me off at this point lol. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. ’97 XLT 2.3L, 5spd, 299K.


Thank you!

 

[ericbphoto]

You checked the blend door actuator. But are you sure the blend door isn't broken?

 

[BeeCee]

Quick update.

Literally after I posted this thread, I took the truck for a ride.

After some driving and truck was warmed up, I decided to turn on the heat, because of course I gotta keep trying lol. Was blowing straight cold air. I decided to keep it on just to see what would happen. After blowing cold air for probably about 3-5 minutes, basically felt like A/C was on, out of nowhere it was like a switch was turned, and it just got immediately hot. Heat started working great.

Stopped, turn truck off and back on, heat still going. Get to next destination, turn on and off again, heat still working great, great temperature, consistent heat.

So now it's working again lol. Very weird.

 

[BeeCee]

You checked the blend door actuator. But are you sure the blend door isn't broken?

Thanks for the response Eric.

But no, I've only checked the actuator, not the actual blend door itself. The only thing that has refrained me from attempting to look into the actual door is the heat was working temporarily like I mentioned, and now it's working again lol.

I'm hoping I can rule out all my easy fixes/checks to before I start digging into the dash I guess lol.

 

[92 Ranger Fox]

I'm having this same issue. not sure what to check, or in what order i should check them. until recently, when i've had to drive in the cold, i've had another vehicle. but that vehicle is now out of commission for good, and i don't want to have to go all winter without heat in my now primary vehicle.

 

[bobbywalter]

so your truck equipped with a bypass? you sure the switching just didnt need to catch up due to a slight vacuum leak...or maybe it was stuck and you bumped it in the flush scenario


air bubble?

 

[92 Ranger Fox]

so your truck equipped with a bypass? you sure the switching just didnt need to catch up due to a slight vacuum leak...or maybe it was stuck and you bumped it in the flush scenario


air bubble?

i'm talking about the whole no heat at all issue. like i said, until recently, this truck has been my backup vehicle for about a year and a half or so now, and the vehicle i was using as my primary, is out of commission. so i never even knew that i had a heating issue with my ranger

 

[bobbywalter]

air bubble via the bypass deal maybe. its a strange issue

 

[92 Ranger Fox]

My update on this issue:

today, i was looking at the Blend Doors. the upper one that changes it from off, to panel, to panel/floor, etc. was working just fine.

what the issue was, is with the lower blend door... the one that adjusts the temperature. well, after seeing that the upper one was working fine, i moved to check the lower one. wasn't exactly sure where it was located, but i found it behind the ashtray. with 2 small (probably 10mm) torx/bolt head screws holding it in. i took those out and removed the ashtray, and i noticed that the cable that connects to the bottom of the blend door was unhooked. i hooked it up, set the temp to hot, started my truck, and sure enough, even after just a few minutes, the temp in the cab was already warmer than it was when i first started this whole endeavor.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Thanks for posting your fix.

 

[92 Ranger Fox]

Thanks for posting your fix.

no problem at all

 

[bobbywalter]

another plus for posting up...

....usually a pen or a pencil falls down in there and jams shit up. you end up slamming it all around and something gives on a manual cable system like my captain cave pig model....or the later electric/vac models smash themselves till the gears strip and stuff.


my next suggestion was to monitor the temp in and out of the core.

 

[BeeCee]

My update on this issue:

today, i was looking at the Blend Doors. the upper one that changes it from off, to panel, to panel/floor, etc. was working just fine.

what the issue was, is with the lower blend door... the one that adjusts the temperature. well, after seeing that the upper one was working fine, i moved to check the lower one. wasn't exactly sure where it was located, but i found it behind the ashtray. with 2 small (probably 10mm) torx/bolt head screws holding it in. i took those out and removed the ashtray, and i noticed that the cable that connects to the bottom of the blend door was unhooked. i hooked it up, set the temp to hot, started my truck, and sure enough, even after just a few minutes, the temp in the cab was already warmer than it was when i first started this whole endeavor.

Nice! I missed this when you initially posted your issue. Glad to see you got it fixed.

I'll give an update as well! My heat has been working all winter essentially, no problems. A couple times after my last post in October it briefly went out for a minute or two, but worked itself out. But it's been fine since. I'm thinking it was possibly a stubborn air bubble. I've seen with some older water pumps the impellers are known to wear down and not properly pump the coolant as well; so that and the thermostat probably would have been my next move.