Heat issues

[robinimpey]

FYI, my van kicks out lots of heat front and back even at -25. Not sure what the issues could be that don't allow other vans to generate the same heat.

[Beans on Toast]

Hey Everybody,

Thanks for all the advice, I have just spoke with my mechanic and he's gonna try a CLR type product to flush the heater core to see if it's clogged up. So far he has been very thorough, checking the temp of all hoses, heater core, rad, etc. All the things John Clem and JMK suggested he has already tried, so fingers crossed this flush works. It's not scheduled to happen til Monday, but I will let you all know how it goes once it's done. Thanks again for all the advice,
Cheers, Dan.

[JMK]

Heater cores are a honeycomb system, they are waffles. They plug real easy. Backflushing is the procedure you want. If the debris that is trapped and solidified you may not be able to backflush it. Take a 4' lentgh of rubber hose. Aim it into a bucket. Squirt an air compressor through another with velocity. If it does not work you need a new heater core. My mechanic friend says that it is very common need to replace 15 year old heater cores as they often cannot be backflushed. It will make world of difference.

Note: If you rev the motor high, you pressurize the cooling system. If the system is plugged by the heater core, you will feel the pressure line getting tense and harder to squeeze, the other will remain limp.

[visotzky]

JMK, two, ok three stupid questions
where are the hoses you mention located? do you need to drain the coolant to flush the hoses?Do I understand correctly that you blow air into one hose and shit should come out the other in the bucket?

[JMK]

I was actually talking to our mechanic buddy on Skype who is currently in Mexico. I was typing what he was telling me while he tallked. Not having done it myself, I'm not sure where those hoses are, it appears you may have to get at them from underneath, hopefully someone else can shed some light on that.

Yes, you are blowing compressed air through it in order to dislodge the debris. It sounds like you do it with coolant in so you are forcing the coolant through, using it to do the flush under pressure, and the crap comes out into the bucket.

Then I actually asked our wholesale parts guy how much a new heater core would be just in case, and he said, 'front or back?'. I didn't even know there was a front and back!

Just 2 nights ago I had coolant in the Land Cruiser start to get a bit slushy because it was only good to -23 and it went to -30. It didn't actually freeze, and I started it so I could exchange some of the rad coolant for pure coolant, but it already had reached a point where it wouldn't circulate the slush through the heater core and it only blew cold air. The next day when it warmed up, the heater worked again, and fortunately no leaks.

[coaxial]

I seem to have reduced the leakage around most of the doors

What is the best way to do this? I attempted to clean the seals and coat them with vasaline but it didn't work too well, I'm thinking a thinner substance would be better.

[Schwa]

Someone I knew had some sort of product called rubber renew, or similar... dunno if it would do it, but it's a thinner, solvent type product. I'm pretty sure it's my front window seal that's leaking, so I'm not sure what I can do about that.

[Green1]

What is the best way to do this? I attempted to clean the seals and coat them with vasaline but it didn't work too well, I'm thinking a thinner substance would be better.

I followed that exact procedure... it is a bit "Sticky" but it does seem to work pretty well...

[coaxial]

it looks like there are some products specifically for door seals

http://www.drivewerks.net/catalog/shopc ... t_pg10.htm

[delicat]

Would silicone spray from your local Scuba diving shop works? I've read something about it on the UK site...

[Beans on Toast]

Hey Everybody,

So I had the heater core flushed a few times, aparantly a bucket of sand came out of it. So now it's a bit warmer in the van, but looks like I've got to replace at least the front(top) heater core. Does anyone know where we can get one, or if we can get one? Thanks for everyone's help and advice.
Cheers, Dan.

[Mystery Machine]

Sorry for chipping in so late on this one, but I have a suggestion that may help? (a bit of an oddball one - but so was my talc one for tracing leaks - and that went down well....)

Over the years a massive amount of limescale can build in the cooling system (radiator and heater matrix) and most people resort to replacing them when they lose efficiency.

One possible solution that I have used on other things in the past (shower enclosures & jetwash components) is to use some denture cleaning tablets to literally dissolve the limescale. I don't know what you call them in CA, but over here we get these dissolvable tablets for removing scale from dentures (thankfully I don't need them just yet!) In the UK they are call steradent (click HERE) SERIOUSLY....please hear me out on this one!!

My idea would be; pop a tablet or six into the cooling system, wait for them to dissolve then let the engine idle for a few minutes to allow them to circulate everywhere (keep the heaters on hot to keep the matrix valve open)

Turn off the engine and let stand overnight.

Next morning, pop the bottom hose off the rad and allow the system to drain down (don't use the drain plug - you want to let any of the crap flow out)

Refit the hose and fill up the system....see if things improve.

If there is no improvement, you have lost $3.00, a few litres of water and an hour of your time....but if it works just think of all the pain and moola you have saved.....

Like I said - a fairly random and possibly crazy idea.....but well worth a go considering the cost of a replacement/refurb heater matrix??

[JMK]

And of course, when refilling, for the water component of the coolant mixture, use an 18l jug of distilled water from your local health food store or supermarket, or use reverse osmosis water (removes 93-98% of calcium) from your household sytem if you have one.

[jwfchase]

Old thread bump....
...because this is my newest problem.

I had CVI do a bunch of work on the coolant system this summer, clean out rad core, replace thermostat etc. The heater was tepid at best, and seems to actually be a little wose now (maybe some of the crud shaken loose from the rad has ended up in the heater core?)

I could use some help identifying where the heater core is, if anyone has any pictures to describe it and it's location, that would really help. (Front and rear?). If I can find it, maybe I can try some of the advice in this thread-- before it actually gets really cold. I did a long hall up a really steep hill today that had the engine temp gauge about 3/4 of the way up- with the heater on full blast I was still just getting barely warm air, even on the highest setting.