cooling system question

[kboutsider]

Ok I was having a problem with the heat in my car only being warm at best. So I was told to check the thermostat. Sure enough the thermostat was bad so I replaced it. I'm still having the heating issue and when I warm the car up the top rad hose is hot but the lower is cool as a cucumber. Obviously I did lose some coolent and added what was lost the rad is full and so is the reservoir bottle. Would air in the system cause this. Any input to fix this would be great.

 

[shane02pro5]

On the back of the a/c heater controls there are cables that connect to the heater unit on either side of the center console. The one behind the radio under the glove box is for the inside temp adjustment. Sometimes the little clip that holds the cable in the proper postion could have slipped so it's not going all the way to the hot setting.

Another thing is do a coolant flush and be sure to crank your heater up to flush all the old stuff out.

 

[kboutsider]

I know it's not the control cable. Anything special i should use when i flush it or just use plain water till it runs clear?

 

[shane02pro5]

I always use the bottle of radiator flush from the auto parts. Then distilled water as directed to get all the nasty crap out.

 

[sube]

I know it's not the control cable. Anything special i should use when i flush it or just use plain water till it runs clear?

Back flush the heater core.

Pat.

 

[kboutsider]

Would a heater core issue cause the lower rad hose to remain cold?

 

[Keno1542]

try running the car without the thermostat and see if lower radiator hose heats up without it, the thermostat might have been defective from the factory.

 

[kboutsider]

This might be a foolish question but my temp gauge is broken. I broke it when i was painting my gauges. Could that be causing my problem. The metal shaft broke and the needle just fell out so i tacked it back in place with hot glue so it wouldn't be missing on the gauges... have been planning on putting an aftermarket gauge in but haven't gotten around to it

 

[Kickin' MP5]

you could have a plugged radiator, that would make the lower hose colder than the upper, also the thermstat could be stuck open not allowing the coolant to heat up.

 

[kboutsider]

I just replaced the the thermostat. The old one was stuck open. If I squeeze both upper and lower rad hoses with the cap off it raises the fluid level. So seems like there isn't a block. No I let the car sit all last night went out this morning to see if anything changed. My res bottle was at the full mark when i left the car last night and was at the empty mark this AM. The level in the rad was where it should be until i started the car then it rose and pretty much sat flush with the opening of rad. After running the car a few mins the level dropped slightly to just below where the hose for the res tank connects to the rad, and it started to look like it was boiling only it wasn't the coolant was only luke warm. Is this the air bleeding out. Is it just a slow process. Everything I read online mentioned this big "burb" will happen then you just keep adding coolant as it drops in the rad till it's all full. I don't like to run the car too long as I mentioned my temp gauge doesn't work and I have no real idea of how hot my engine is running.

 

[shane02pro5]

Sometimes the burping is not so big. Just let it sit there and run a few minutes and it will get the air out. I squeeze the top hose to help it burp.

Is it overflowing to the ground at all? #1 would be get that temp guage working!

 

[kboutsider]

Over flowing from where? I let it run for a good 20 - 30 mins then shut it off with no temp gauge I don't want to risk overheating the engine. I'm picking up a gauge today which brings me to another question. Can I just connect the new the gauge where the the factory one taps into the coolant line?

Thanks for the input so far. I'm going to give it one more shot here in a bit. Was told I should have the front end jacked up at least 6". Makes sense allow gravity to work better for you. If this doesn't fix it I'm picking up another thermostat and taking it to my buddy who is a mechanic he'll do it for free as long as I do some tire and oil changes for him.

It made a big burp right after I changed the thermostat. I filled the rad up and started the car and after a bit the rad emptied so I kept filling it up till it stopped going down. Both hoses were hot. Still not much heat. I shut the car off. Later on I went out to pick my gf up from work, I didn't get much heat on the drive when, i got to where she works i popped the hood and the upper hose was hot and the bottom cool.

 

[kboutsider]

I was just looking through the shop manual and noticed something that I'm wondering could be the problem. In the manual there are two motors the ZM and FS. So I went out to the car and got the old thermostat. The thermostat I was sold yesterday looks like the one for the ZM motor the one I took out of the car looks like the one for the FS. Was I sold the wrong part and could this be causing my problem?

Here's a pic to better explain.