The heater in my 1985 Chevy Caprice Classic Sedan is not working , I'd appreciate some advice....
Dean Allen
the car). I've never had this happen in any car I owned before, so it's one
area I have no experience in at all. Fuses are good, hoses look new.
Blower motor runs great, just pushes cold air. I'm waiting for a Chilton
Manual to come, but I'm not sure if it would be much help with this. I need
to fix things in this car myself, if at all possible. I couldn't afford
(literally) a newer car, so I'm going to be most of the service it ever
gets.
Could this problem be something simple and easy to fix? Would anyone be
interested in sharing their ideas on it with me?
Thanks!
Dean
MarkSr25
the thermostat, since the heater core is usually under the dashboard and is a
pain in the butt to change.
Jerry
so when the AC is on you don't get any hot water to the heater core. My guess
is that it's stuck closed or you have a vacuum line problem. Its spring loaded
but you should be able to move it and at worst case jam it in the open position.
Good Luck
Jerry
rifter
Generally they are located just behind the firewall and are pretty involved to
remove and replace. If you can't see any water leaking, there may be a loose
line that controls the valve which allows the water to run through the heater
core. There should be two water lines that run toward the passenger compartment
across the top of the engine. Check everything that branches off of them and
see if there are any leaks or hoses that are loose/broken.
Good luck!
-josh
Dean Allen
I'd write a progress report, and what actually was needed to fix my heater.
A nod to Mike n Austin for his advice to check the control valve. It is
vacuum controlled, and when I removed the valve from the heater hose I could
see right away that this had to be at least part of the problem.
It was rusted shut, inside and out -- everywhere that was supposed to move.
It was also fouled with debris - a mess. So, I grabbed my can of Bolt-Ease
and sprayed it down, inside and out, gave it a couple of minutes to sink in
and then began to try to work the lever free. What a great feeling it was
when it popped out, opening the valve. I continued to work it until it
moved freely. I could hear and feel the suction in the valve part,( I
couldn't believe it), so that part still worked. I wiped it off and used a
little wire brush on the hose openings to get them clean. I put oil on the
outside lever where it had been rusted shut, and on the inside on the
rotating shaft that opened and closed (now). I hand worked it some more
until I felt it was time to hook it all back up. I did, started the engine,
turned on the heat and, Wow! I had heat coming in -- good, clean, very
warm to hot air. Thanks, guys.
I also worked on the windshield washer. Everything's now clean and (almost)
works, pump, electrical, hoses, spray nozzles, BUT, fluid still won't draw
up and spray on windshield. The cam in the pump moves correctly; I *hear*
vacuum, when I run it, and a very little bit of fluid did make it as far as
the driver's side nozzle, but that was it. I'm a bear about keeping thing's
original if possible, so I'll be playing with this washer for awhile. Heck,
I got that heater working --- who knows?
Dean
Dean Allen <RED...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:8222v9$ukd$1...@nntp9.atl.mindspring.net...
johnboy
shut...these are my thoughts.
rifter wrote in message <38457AE9...@mindless.com>...
>Check your coolant level. If it's low, your heater core may be leaking.
>Generally they are located just behind the firewall and are pretty involved
to
>remove and replace. If you can't see any water leaking, there may be a
loose
>line that controls the valve which allows the water to run through the
heater
>core. There should be two water lines that run toward the passenger
compartment
>across the top of the engine. Check everything that branches off of them
and
>see if there are any leaks or hoses that are loose/broken.
>
>Good luck!
>
>-josh
>
>
>
>Dean Allen wrote:
>