March 7, 200917 yr i have an 81 wagon and my heater doesnt seem to get hot enough for my tastes. now take into account that im a guy who does snow camping and rides a motorcycle every day of the year that there isnt snow on the ground so im no stranger to the cold. the heater does get warm and blows air it just doesnt get hot enough when its below 32 outside. is there anything i can do to spiff up the heater?
March 7, 200917 yr reseal airbox search freeze burn seat insulated heater hose move to where it is warmer :-p
March 7, 200917 yr ^gee that was alot of help... i would make sure that your blend door is working properly. its common on the EA81's that the cable will slip and it just push luke warm air.
March 7, 200917 yr Is the car running at operating temp? If the car isnt heating up the heater wont either. Do you know what temp thermostat you are running?
March 7, 200917 yr Thats an easy one to test. If the inlet side is hot, and the outlet side is quite a bit cooler its plugged up.
March 7, 200917 yr This was also happening to me in my '81. However I have a rew rad., new heater core, and blend doors were all adjusted properly. I just replaced the thermostat and all is well. It heats up proper now. These cars pump out the heat when working properly, so there is no reason not to be warm enough. Obviously check the heater core through the heater hose temperature difference and the blend door cable, but if you haven't changed the thermostat or have an aftermarket one in there I would just change it out anyway. The thermostat is a part that should be bought at the dealer. There is a huge difference in quality and performance between SOA and aftermarket. I just got mine from Lithia in Oregon City recently for ~$19 with gasket. They had them in stock, also pick up a PCV valve while your there, also in stock ~$9.
March 7, 200917 yr Author the needle on the dash comes all the way up to the line for normal operating temp but who knows how accurate that poor thing is. ill take apart the blender goodness on my weekend and see what all is going on in there.
March 7, 200917 yr All this just reminds me i need to go through my cooling system this summer. Mine just takes forever to warm up and when it does it doesnt seem to defrost the front window very well. Ive got lots to check. Good Luck.
March 11, 200917 yr try flushing your heater core . disconnect heater hoses, run water from garden hose through them, switch back and forth. you will be supprised what comes out. made a huge differance on several of my cars!
March 11, 200917 yr Make sure you have enough coolant, if you don't the heater core won't fill with fluid
March 11, 200917 yr I had the same problem with very little heat at any speed except idle. I flushed the heater core & radiator with a garden hose & replaced the mcparts thermostat with a Subaru one. Now there's plenty of heat Buy one of the "hose menders" at harbor freight for a dollar to hose clamp the garden hose onto each heater core hose.
March 16, 200917 yr Just get a 54mm 220 Degree thermostat... that should raise the temp of your heat inside the car.... as well as the temp of your engine Just enough that it might blow a head gasket. What I'm saying is that you may have a problem such as a bad water pump, a clogged radiator/heater core. and/or a partially functioning Thermostat. Don't ************ around. Get it fixed Flushing it just runs the risk of pushing the clog into the engine and clogging it... the coolant passages get pretty small.... Or do What I do... Everytime I get a questionable car... I replace the entire cooling system.
March 16, 200917 yr Just get a 54mm 220 Degree thermostat... that should raise the temp of your heat inside the car.... as well as the temp of your engine Just enough that it might blow a head gasket. What I'm saying is that you may have a problem such as a bad water pump, a clogged radiator/heater core. and/or a partially functioning Thermostat. Don't ************ around. Get it fixed Flushing it just runs the risk of pushing the clog into the engine and clogging it... the coolant passages get pretty small.... Or do What I do... Everytime I get a questionable car... I replace the entire cooling system. You replace the entire cooling system? even the Heater core? Way more than needed. If you disconnect the heater core from the engine at both hoses, there is no risk of spushing anything into the radiator or engine.
March 17, 200917 yr Yep actually I do. did that in my old xt6, last year... and that stuff is comming with me to my new xt6.... and I'm doing the same thing to my legacy as we speak
March 17, 200917 yr It might be that your ductwork is loose and allowing air to escape. Check under the passenger side dashboard. If its the same as my brat, there will be a black tube that air blows through. It should run from the outer panel to the center of the dash. If that's not the problem then, as everyone else said, try cleaning your heater core and your radiator. Twitch
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