We have had some sub-zero temp. nights here in central oregon, and now my heater doesn't blow warm air. Did the lines going into the heater core freeze? or is my thermostat not working properly?

 

any and all suggestions are welcome here. im hoping one of you guys has a good trick to jump start the heat again.

 

thanks

 

donny

 

oh yea, make and model is a 1981 hatchback....

 

One more thing. Before my heat quit pumping hot air, i had that gurgleing sound on the drivers side near the firewall everytime i would downshift, or get into higher RPMS....That is the reason i think something is frozen. and yes i have antifreeze in the car....

Don't think it's frozen - the gurgling sound is air in the lines - mine aren't really hot right now either - both of mine are running pretty cold. I would loosen the top radiator supports, and slip a bit of cardboard between the frame and the radiator covering half to 2/3's of the radiator. That way it won't get so much airflow.

 

You could go to a higher temp thermostat..... but I doubt you want to change that in the cold....

 

My wagon gets to about 1/4 on the temp scale - which is tolerable, and the Brat hardly even registers - but since the cab is so small, it eventually is tollerable too. Last night it was about 18 degrees here, and I drove teh wagon in 3rd gear at 55 MPH to keep the R's up for heat.....

 

GD

i had that happen to me the other day due to a weakly mixed coolant ratio. the lines to the heater core were froze

the motor ran fine, and got enough water, just the lines were froze

My car heats just fine (when the belts arent slipping) I find that when they slip enough that the voltmeter is reading 10.5 volts that the water pump really isnt turning fast enough to pump water through the heater core properly.

 

and this morning I found out the hard way that the battery wasnt getting charged enough at that rate... the battery is dead

 

I had to walk a mile in the snow to get my Impreza to go out and buy groceries today

My temp gauge is going up a bit higher than 1/2...where it usally doesn't go above the half way point.

 

The heater isn't blowing any warm air at all, it is cold as can be.

 

archemitis, how did you fix your problem? Or have you yet. I am thinking that i have the same problem as you.

 

Flow, i think my belts may be slipping as well because my voltmeter is reading low as well.....how do i fix that problem?

If your lines are freezing - drain some coolant from the radiator and add pure antifreeze instead of a mix to bring up the antifreeze level. Then run the thing, and don't drive it - the engine bay should get warm enough to thaw them out. If not - get out the blowdryer.....

 

GD

Same thing happened to me right after I had installed a non-Subaru thermostat when I changed coolant. I replaced it with a genuine Subaru stat (thanks South Shore Ford), voila..problem solved:D .

 

It turned out the brand-new aftermarket stat was stuck full open.

will do GD....

i let it idle for 45 minutes, and it broke through. then i put pure antifreeze in there. to dilute the frozen water.

Is the flapper directing air flow from the the blower closing when you need heat? I went to fix a similar problem and found a mouse had build a nest blocking the heating air duct.

yes, the flapper is moving correctly. I had heat 2 days ago, so i am pretty sure that it is directly related to the cold weather we have had.

 

I am going out to tinker with it right now, so ill keep you all updated.

well i finally got it working again.....it was frozen solid. I had to let it idle for about an hour, didn't work, so i went driving...after about 20 minutes of driving around, the heat started pouring out....

 

so now my question is, is 50/50 water and antifreeze not a good combination for winter? what else can i do to prevent this from happening again?

50/50 should be good to -36 F.I had a bad mix in my Brat and had no heat going to work yesterday morning. Te ambient air temp was -6 F that was the longest ride to work I've ever had. I got it to work and parked it in the shop for an hour partially drained the rad filled it with straight antifreeze. This morning it was -9 F and the Brat was nice and toasty.

had my hatch freeze up awhile back.. due to my dumb rump roast forgetting to put antifreeze in it after draining it several times to fix cooling issues..

 

it froze solid.. radiator and all.. had to let it run in 20 min intervals cause it was trying to overheat doe to the rock solid ice in it.. after about 4 intervals it finally thawed out.. heater core was last to thaw tho..

 

 

on another note is was 16 degrees when i left for work. the little junkyard hatch heated up to normal and had plenty of heat the hole way.. damn was it cold outside..

correct me if I'm wrong, but I belive Prestone bottles say what temp they are good til in different ratios. I think something along the lines of 70% coolant and 30% water is good til like -86 degrees. (Please check the bottle to make sure!!) I run 50-50 in my car, but then again it doesnt get as cold in Portland.

70% 30% is the better mixs for cold areas like mine

the coolant I just got for my brat, wich was Prestone stuff, said it was good to -86º F degrees if it was 100% I think it was -34º F if it was 50/50 but in last weekends weather, I noticed that even my de-icer fluid froze... I went with 100% anti-freeze in my brat, and it stayed liquid the whole time. As far as I know.