hello-happy thanks giving.


winter time is here-and so far it seems that its gonna be a rough winter (at least by our standard).


when i bought the sporty a few years ago the heater was kinda weak-but now its not blowing hot air at all.the problem is not the blower-which is fine-its the small radiator near the passenger legs- which probably got clogged with gunk as years passed. last few years i didnt really care, but now i have a baby daughter to think about.

When i talked to a garage last week they told me that in order to replace the heater core-which is the cause-they will need to take the dashboard out- a 800$ job!!!! might cost up to 1000 dollars if they "might break some bolts-its an old car".

has anyone encountered this broblem? what should i do? how do i flush the internal radiator?? once, on one of my old cars, i simple disconnected the radiator from the firewall side and inserted a garden hose on one side-and blasted the gunk out- but im afraid that if its too clogged i might blow it up-and then it will need replacing anyway.

what do you say? any solutions?

There are products out meant for radiator flushes. You pour some or all the fluid out, put this liquid flush product in the radiator, run for a certain amount of time.. Probably better to run long enough to get hot and run with the heat turned on. Some cooling systems have a coolant cut off valve so the heater core is shut off from getting hot coolant and then opened to flow hot coolant once the driver demands the heat on. This is why all coolant flushes suggest turning on the heat so you are sure you are getting your heater core also.
I will warn you that some people use radiator stop leak to stop a radiator or heater core leak and in turn it plugs up the radiator. You might discover a leak after using radiator flush cause it removes the 'stop leak'.
Anyway, after running the flush product through for a while you drain it out and i think you rinse out the system and then fill it up with your appropriate antifreeze 50/50 mix. I did remember hearing someone talking about a way to 'beat the book' (faster than quoted time) on a kia heater core i think. Heater cores can be costly in labor.

im not gonna flush the system-because of the reasons you mentioned. i dont want to release all sorts of "hidded ghosts" in the cooling system. i was looking for a solution that will enable me to flush the heater core without flushing the entire system.

There's a thread in this forum somewhere that involves some strategic cutting to remove the heater core, if you want to go that route.

Here u go web page

The problem may be that you still need to pull the dash because in 2000 it appears that they changed the heater core placement. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />
If not, you're lucky and it is pretty much a 3-4 hour job.

Everet

well you probably could pull the heater lines to the heater core to back flush them but be careful with pressure.. I wonder how many psi a garden hose has behind it when the nozzle is fully closed. hmm. could be more than the 10-15 psimost cooling systems are designed for.

I saw this post and was hoping some one would have a cool trick on how to clean the core without having to remove it.

I recently had to replace the radiator due to a leak, so figured that while I was going I may as well give the system a flush to start with the new radiator and a clean system. Well the flush seamed to work well. I started to get leaks around the thermostat housing. Took the hoses off and found very corroded housing. Replaced the housing and everything seamed OK.

Then about a week later, on one cold morning, no heat. Took the same route of pulling off the hoses at the firewall, and used the garden hose to back flush. Put it back together and all seamed good for a couple of weeks and then no heat again.

Ah well, warmer weather at the moment, so on the back burner for now, but guess I will have to pull it out before winter comes around again. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Have you been monitoring your engine temps during normal heat verses when the heat is cold? If your engine temp is also lower than normal during this no heat issue then it is very likely your thermostat has failed. A failing or failed thermostat will stick open. I believe this was an intentional fail safe design so that if they do fail at least the motor doesn't wind up overheating and the driver will become aware there is a problem (no heat). If the temp sensor is showing normal readings then it's probably something else like a plugged core or air in the system.

tried to pull out the dash - well- i can tell you that mine is definately a 2001...... its not like what you see in the pictures. gave up the effort-its gonna take some time that i dont have today. got a loaner car for when the dash is out. its a prius...the shame...the horror....