Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

how hot is your heat???


 Share

Recommended Posts

its cold in portland...the heat in our 88 gl-10 wagon isnt very hot

the thermo is new and the cooling system checks out fine.

Could it be the heater control valve not opening fully or should I stick

a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator???

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 60
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

its cold in portland...the heat in our 88 gl-10 wagon isnt very hot

the thermo is new and the cooling system checks out fine.

Could it be the heater control valve not opening fully or should I stick

a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator???

Thanks.

 

There is no control valve on EA82's. Your core is probably partially clogged. Sadly there's really no good way to fix them as the inlet and outlet pipe of the core are on the same side and close together. Forcing high pressure water into the core will just shove stuff further into it. Replacement is the best option - cores aren't expesive, and installation takes about 6 hours total.

 

Thermostat's almost always fail closed and cause too much heat. If your guage reads about 1/3 up it's plenty hot if your core is working properly.

 

GD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your temp guage readings are affected by the heater, then you either don't have a thermostat, or it's faulty. For under $10, and less then 30 minutes of your time, it's worth it to replace it. That cheap little part could fail and destroy your engine. Stay with the OEM temp, 195, since it's computor controlled. Also try flushing your heater core. Go to the hardware store and buy a garden hose repair end, the female kind that will screw onto your garden hose,

1990351380

a short pice of heater hose, like 12 inches, then you clamp the heater hose onto the repair end. or you could cut the end of a garden hose off and use that. Remove both hoses from the heater core and clamp the hose you just made onto the outlet pipe, to back flush, the one that goes to your intake manifold IIRC. I like to turn the water hose on, crimp the hose in my hand to stop the flow, then hook it all up. It's tricky but you don't want all that pressure going into the heater core. If you have a helper, just hook it up, crimp the hose, have them turn the water on, then slowly release the crimp to slowly increase the water pressure. You will see all kinds of crap come out of it! After the water runs clear, hook the hose to the other pipe and do it again. Reinstall everything and enjoy.

If water doesn't flow though it, flushing won't help and you need to replace it. If it's in real poor condition, corroded, you may burst a hole in it and soak the carpet, but I have never had that happen, yet.

You MAY gat lucky and get the same results simply by reversing the hoses on your heater core. It doesn't matter which way coolant flows through it, bt reversing the flow can break up the deposits. If it works, flush your coolant out after you've run it that way for a while to get that crap out of the system.

Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my 1988 GL never had great heat in the winter. It took the chill off the car, but never got it toasty warm. Engines under 2.0L from the 1980's were never really known for heat unless they came from car mfgs in in really cold climates (and thats why even then they had heated seats).

 

 

nipper

Link to comment
Share on other sites

assuming the thermostat is good (not stuck open) and the car warms up normally and fairly quick...

 

...

 

is it consistently not very warm? or does it start off warm and then get cold?

 

if it stays constantly not very warm then you probably need to adjust the little white plastic clip that holds the cable slider to the core flapper door open... they can be really tricky to work with because of the limited space by the gas pedal and heater boxes... get your head down there and move the controls from hot to cold and you should see where it connects... the plastic connector is tricky, the top opens and the threaded rod clips (not screws) into it... then that is clipped into the flapper lever... if you break it get 2 when you go the junkyard... The part that holds the cable end at the heater controls rarely fails, and it takes longer to remove the gauge trim to get the heater controls out (unless you've done it a lot)...

 

if it starts off warm and then gets cold then you have a mostly clogged heater core... I took my heater hoses off from the engine and put low water pressure from the garden hose through it, each direction, until it ran clear... carefull not to put too much water pressure through the core in case it's rusty and you burst a hole in it and end up tearing your entire dash out to replace it... ofter a few flushes in both directions the water should be flowing better and you can hook it back up...

 

I've done both of the above to fix EA81/EA82 heater issues...

 

 

--Spiffy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am going through the same things in my second 87. The first one went air cooled at over half gallon antifreeze low all summer. :confused:

The one I just purchased worked its way to a low level on fluid due to a sae 13 pound cap that leaked when no one was looking .I have a metric original- but I keep getting the idea to change it when engine is full warm- come morning, when car is cold I am in a half awake daze with a cup of coffee in my hand to think of that wrong cap again at the wrong time, after the car is down the road several warmed up miles. :confused:

The heat being a bit cool hasn't changed for me, going on my 9th year with an 87 model.Even with a clean system and proper fluid level (that made it even cooler). A half covered radiator, like a diesel rig in the winter seems to be good. 2 fans I cover the lower half, one fan, the side that has no fan. I even forgot to take cardboard out that survived a winter well into the 60's F outside and hardly noticed. I spotted it spring cleaning one day.I wonder if it is the 9:1 compression doing this, as the spfi I ran was a roaster in comparison. Whatever it is- It is no doubt part of the ingredients that make it's durability incredible. It is the carbed years ea82 that I have seen go over 200k and still running with no doubts about it continuing to do so (another reason why I just bought a 20 year old savable soob :grin: ). The cardboard idea isn't a bad one. I have learned the top part of rad, especially passenger side absolutely must be open. My carb went psycho for mysterious reasons when I did that- it may have even been getting zapped statically with lack of air. The carbs have to have it externally as well as internally. The temp diff between the intake inches or less away and the barrell of the carb is amazing. I have found ice on the carb on a 195 full warm intake-- a storm maker of physics, as it sat there perfect idle and whistling like a tea pot.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A heater core is like your radiator. They both get deposits built up inside restricting the coolant flow. If you or anyone else has replaced your radiator due to mineral deposits, your heater core will probably also need to be replaced. Backflushing may help, but just like a radiator, those deposits are very difficult to remove. Minerals in tap water is the biggest enemy of cooling systems. Always use distilled water.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A heater core is like your radiator. They both get deposits built up inside restricting the coolant flow. If you or anyone else has replaced your radiator due to mineral deposits, your heater core will probably also need to be replaced. Backflushing may help, but just like a radiator, those deposits are very difficult to remove. Minerals in tap water is the biggest enemy of cooling systems. Always use distilled water.

 

Yes and no. Heater cores are like radiators in operation, but not in design. Hetaer cores have really big tubes in comparison ot the very small radiator channels..

 

 

nipper

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes and no. Heater cores are like radiators in operation, but not in design. Hetaer cores have really big tubes in comparison ot the very small radiator channels..

 

 

nipper

 

I can't speak for Subarus but the older Chevy heater cores I've cut open had smaller passages than a radiator.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't speak for Subarus but the older Chevy heater cores I've cut open had smaller passages than a radiator.

 

oops my mistake, was thinking the wrong thing, you are correct.

 

Basically it wouldnt be a bad idea to remove the blower motor and see how much dirt is in the air box. Every little thing helps.

 

 

nipper

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't speak for Subarus but the older Chevy heater cores I've cut open had smaller passages than a radiator.

 

The subaru cores are about the same as their radiators. It's a two-row unit, about 8" by 6", with metal tanks. The problem is that back flushing them really does no good at all because the inlet and outlet tubes are about 4" apart on the same tank. The pressure just runs right out the other side, or forces the gunk farther into the core....

 

I guess I'll have to take a picture cause clearly none of you people have seen one. :rolleyes:

 

GD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The subaru cores are about the same as their radiators. It's a two-row unit, about 8" by 6", with metal tanks. The problem is that back flushing them really does no good at all because the inlet and outlet tubes are about 4" apart on the same tank. The pressure just runs right out the other side, or forces the gunk farther into the core....

 

I guess I'll have to take a picture cause clearly none of you people have seen one. :rolleyes:

 

GD

 

http://www.racepages.com/parts/heater_core/subaru.html

 

like that one

 

nipper

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...