NO HEAT!~help please!

[95SaharaIndy]

Hello everyone! I'm new here to Jeepz.com but heard this was the place to go. I have a 95 Sahara, 4.0, automatic trans. I bought for my soon to be 16 year old daughter. It's a work in progress, and runs great. My heat has always been awesome until lately. I had an issue this past fall with the temp guage jumping up a couple of times when we were out practice driving. (We would turn the heat on high and head for home as we were typically no more than 2 or 3 miles away) so I figured the thermostat was gone. I replaced it with a "fail safe" one (Yes, it is in the right way) and now if I'm lucky, the temp guage will get up to 140 on the 45 minute trip to work. ( I drive it on occasion when the snow is bad). When sitting at a long light or if I let it sit for a while running, the temp guage goes down. The heat in the cab barely gets luke warm.
Doesn't sound like a heater core problem to me since the temp guage isn't moving very much. ANy possible ideas as to what it may be? I can provide more info if needed.
Thanks,
Dave

 

[SteelHeadz]

Welcome to Jeepz Dave. What temperature is the thermostat you installed?. Also, another symptom would be, air in the cooling system trapped in the heater core. Try burping it some more to completely get rid of all the air in the sytem. Just a thought. IF the circulation in the cooling system is working as designed , i would suspect that the air in the system would be the culprit.

 

[95SaharaIndy]

Thanks Steel! The temp is 180 if I remember right. I bought it at Advance Auto parts and liked the option of it failing in the open position... Maybe it failed already? I'll try burping it, and should I go to a higher temp thermo? LIke I said, the Jeep is going to be my daughters ride so no offroad activities or excessive play until she is out of school and I get it back for a toy. I just want it to have heat and defrost for her.

 

[Sine Deviance]

The temp is 180 if I remember right. I bought it at Advance Auto parts and liked the option of it failing in the open position... Maybe it failed already?

Sounds likely. I have ended up with a dud on occasion. You could try swapping it for a 195 temp just to see what results you get. Also take note that most new thermostats on the market today are designed to fail in the open position. The only other problems you could be having are:

1. Possible dying/dead water pump.
2. Possible lack of coolant in the system.

Both of these would not necessarily seem likely because the readings you're getting on the gauge. However, if the coolant level is low or if the water pump just can't push it anymore the gauge will sometimes read low, due to not having enough coolant to measure or not having enough coolant to actually extract heat from the engine.

 

[95SaharaIndy]

@Steel and SIne:
Thanks for the advice! Stopped at O'reilly tonight and bought a 195 thermo, drained the radiator, blew out the heater core (You should see the crap that came out of it) flushed the radiator with water and the heater core lines really well then pulled the old/new thermo///it was locked in the open position! Have it all swapped out, refilled and I HAVE KILLER HEAT AGAIN! You guys are top notch! I guess you just take for granted that something new should work right! I will be back!
I can offer advice on the starting/electrical system, hard top and door installation, and wiring harness do's and dont's...not much else as I'm a rookie to the Jeep world still, but man do I love it. Fun to work on, and a blast to drive!

 

[Sine Deviance]

@Steel and SIne:
Thanks for the advice! Stopped at O'reilly tonight and bought a 195 thermo, drained the radiator, blew out the heater core (You should see the crap that came out of it) flushed the radiator with water and the heater core lines really well then pulled the old/new thermo///it was locked in the open position! Have it all swapped out, refilled and I HAVE KILLER HEAT AGAIN!

Ahh yeah, I did forget to mention that you might have had gunk in the heater core. In my post I was only taking into account your temp gauge and not the problem itself (no heat.) I guess that'll teach me to post without paying attention

Glad you got it sorted out.

 

[JohnnyO]

I noticed on ours (recently purchased) that the coolant looked good but when the weather got cold the heat was only so-so. The used car lot had had a valve job done on the head and the gasket and sealant on the t-stat looked fresh. I drained the radiator, pulled the heater hoses off the engine and water pump, and stuck a garden hose with a brass twist nozzle (fits perfectly) in both heater hoses and got some crud out. Two months later and now I smell antifreeze sometimes. Heater core is probably leaking.

 

[Jdogg9107]

I noticed on ours (recently purchased) that the coolant looked good but when the weather got cold the heat was only so-so. The used car lot had had a valve job done on the head and the gasket and sealant on the t-stat looked fresh. I drained the radiator, pulled the heater hoses off the engine and water pump, and stuck a garden hose with a brass twist nozzle (fits perfectly) in both heater hoses and got some crud out. Two months later and now I smell antifreeze sometimes. Heater core is probably leaking.

Help please I'm new here my names Justin but I was reading on heating problems hoping your the right folks to come to. Bought a 97 4.0 wrangler and radiator thermo and heater core are all supposedly only few months old. But my heat doesn't get very hot just little warm coolant is in the system all topped off. I'm going to take apart my dash soon get to the hvac and mayb behind it but curious if you knew anything it sounds like it could be.?.

 

[JPNinPA]

Help please I'm new here my names Justin but I was reading on heating problems hoping your the right folks to come to. Bought a 97 4.0 wrangler and radiator thermo and heater core are all supposedly only few months old. But my heat doesn't get very hot just little warm coolant is in the system all topped off. I'm going to take apart my dash soon get to the hvac and mayb behind it but curious if you knew anything it sounds like it could be.?.

Justin,
Welcome to the board.
Few questions first. What does your temp gauge read? Do you hear\feel the air comming through the vents? Correct Vents? Does the hoses to and from the radiator get hot?

 

[Dirt Toy]

Justin,
Welcome to the board.
Few questions first. What does your temp gauge read? Do you hear\feel the air comming through the vents? Correct Vents? Does the hoses to and from the radiator get hot?

If the previous owner did not change the radiator, I would change the other fluids in the jeep. Automatic transmission fluid only lasts about 100,000
transfer case, front and rear diffs, brake fluid , power steering fluid. engine oil change. Spark plugs, spark plugs wires, belts and hoses.

One the hardest thing on jeeps is if regular maintenance is not done on them.

good luck

 

[xt master]

This post is around 11 months old.I think they got it fixed.