91 capri trouble (no heat)

red91capri

I just bought a 91 capri convert. it is not the turbo, I have very little heat coming through, is this a design flaw or does anyone have any ideas????

Mr_Shiftright

Well, to have heat you need water flow and air flow across and through the heater core, which is like a little hot water radiator under your dash.

First, check and see if someone disconnected the hoses going to the heater core (my suspicion, that the heater core was leaking and someone did not wish to spend the considerably some to fix it, so they by-passed it.).

If the hoses are connected, see if you can feel if the hose are hot going into the heater core (after the car is warmed up). If they are, you have a fan blower problem or a ducting problem (the hot air may be trapped by a closed vent door, or the blower may not be able to blow the hot air down and up.

If the hoses aren't hot, you have either

a) a bad thermostat

b) no water in your engine's radiator (oops!)....which is where the hot water for your heater core comes from.

Doing these things should solve your problem. If your heater hoses were intentionally disconnected, you may have a case for legal action or at least some restititution by the last seller. This is a sneaky lousy thing to do to someone ( of course, maybe the last owner didn't kow either, so there's that to consider before you starting shooting!)

good luck and let us know,

shiftright the host

jgmilberg

Take it in and have the system flushed out and pressure tested, if the heater core is hooked up it will blow all the crud out, and check for leaks. Find a good shop that you can trust and don't have to worry about telling you that it needs all kinds of junk it doesn't. Ask to have it reverse flushed, this will run everything backwards through the system, dislodging the crud in the radiator, heater core ect.

I had one car that was plugged up with Bar's Leak, the stuff that will clog up a hole is the radiator. It also clogs heater cores, regaurdless of wether they leak or not, and locks thermostats open, creating an always cold engine. What is the temp on the gauge? Should read around 195 F to be considered normal operating temp. If it is low it can also cause poor milage.

If the antifreeze is rusty or brownish in color it is 90% of the time radiator stop leak of some type. If you just got the car it may have been a "dump" job to get it out from under the people. If that cap is in there it is for a reason, and you may end up replacing the radiator. Sometimes the crap will ruin the seals on the water pump too, depends on what type was used, liquid, or powder.

Hopefully it is doesn't need a radiator or anything else major. Any used car I buy gets a tune up, belts hoses, radiator flush, oil change, and all filters changed, right away. It always pays to change these basic things and prevent being stranded on the side of the road.

alcan

"Hopefully it is doesn't need a radiator or anything else major. Any used car I buy gets a tune up, belts hoses, radiator flush, oil change, and all filters changed, right away. It always pays to change these basic things and prevent being stranded on the side of the road."

Hey JG, cut that out. You're gonna put me out of business! :-) Excellent advice, that ounce of prevention, especially if you don't know the service history of the vehicle.

Mr_Shiftright

It IS good advice....I must say, though, that I have personally never seen a heater core in a modern car so plugged up that it gave out NO heat whatsoever...it is conceivable, but it would not be my first choice as the cause if I were diagnosing the car for someone. I think the tech should first do the simple look, feel, touch kind of things before dragging out the heavy machinary. What do you think alcan?

But hopefully the poster will let us know, for our data bank.

alcan

Absolutely. Always go for the most basic stuff first; heater hose temp, thermostat, vacuum operated heater control valve (if used), etc. Not sure of other brands, but GM's have had a problem with A.C. evaporator cores leaking, which deposits refrigerant oil all over the outside of the evap core. Dust in the incoming air sticks to it and builds up, doing an excellent job of cutting airflow through the heater/AC box to practically zero. Result = no heat.

Mr_Shiftright

AND a hell of a mess to clean up, too!