what does it mean if my heater only blows hot while driving and cold while idle?
#1
12-28-2011, 01:16 AM
#2
12-28-2011, 01:30 AM
The following 2 users liked this post by MADtotheA:
bigc (05-15-2012),
Urbanengineer (11-27-2018)
#3
12-28-2011, 01:45 AM
#4
12-28-2011, 01:50 AM
#7
12-28-2011, 02:58 AM
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#9
12-28-2011, 11:51 AM
I took my last car to a shop that has some sort of vacuum system that pulls all the coolant/air out of the lines. I think it was like $50. There might be a DIY not sure though.
#11
12-28-2011, 01:37 PM
If it really is cold outside, you should try switching the heater mode to recirculate and see if it still blows cold air. It's more efficient to heat the air from inside the cabin which is already like 50-60 degrees, than to heat freezing cold outside air up. The only downside to doing that is that your Air Conditioner will come on and off intermittently to keep the air in the car from getting too humid and fogging up the windows when it's on recirculate.
Still though... if your car is fully warm, it should have no problem heating up cold air from outside to a comfortable temperature and blowing it into the cabin. Sometimes a really small 4 cylinder motor will not, but most V6's or larger motors make plenty of heat to overcome the ambient air temperature factor.
Still though... if your car is fully warm, it should have no problem heating up cold air from outside to a comfortable temperature and blowing it into the cabin. Sometimes a really small 4 cylinder motor will not, but most V6's or larger motors make plenty of heat to overcome the ambient air temperature factor.
#12
12-28-2011, 07:37 PM
#14
12-28-2011, 10:56 PM
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i JUST did this last night and today....
1) find the bleeder screw next to the battery compartment... it's a black phillips-head plastic screw
2) remove bleeder screw
3) remove radiator cap
4) slowly pour a 50/50 mix into the radiator until coolant spills out of the bleeder screw
5) cap off the bleeder while the fluid is still at the very top
6) top off the radiator if necessary
OK, so that sounds easy enough BUT here's where you can learn from all the trouble I had with it......
I had my car parked on a perfectly level area and the coolant would spill out of the radiator opening before it would ever get close to coming out of the bleeder. I solved this by parking my car in a spot on my driveway where the front right of the car was elevated slightly higher than the rest of the car. This left the radiator cap at the highest point in the cooling system, so when I poured in coolant, it would spill out of the bleeder first. After this, the heater works much much better. Still not 100% heat at idle, but it's definitely not cold anymore.
1) find the bleeder screw next to the battery compartment... it's a black phillips-head plastic screw
2) remove bleeder screw
3) remove radiator cap
4) slowly pour a 50/50 mix into the radiator until coolant spills out of the bleeder screw
5) cap off the bleeder while the fluid is still at the very top
6) top off the radiator if necessary
OK, so that sounds easy enough BUT here's where you can learn from all the trouble I had with it......
I had my car parked on a perfectly level area and the coolant would spill out of the radiator opening before it would ever get close to coming out of the bleeder. I solved this by parking my car in a spot on my driveway where the front right of the car was elevated slightly higher than the rest of the car. This left the radiator cap at the highest point in the cooling system, so when I poured in coolant, it would spill out of the bleeder first. After this, the heater works much much better. Still not 100% heat at idle, but it's definitely not cold anymore.
The following users liked this post:
Urbanengineer (11-27-2018)
#15
12-29-2011, 12:24 AM
i JUST did this last night and today....
1) find the bleeder screw next to the battery compartment... it's a black phillips-head plastic screw
2) remove bleeder screw
3) remove radiator cap
4) slowly pour a 50/50 mix into the radiator until coolant spills out of the bleeder screw
5) cap off the bleeder while the fluid is still at the very top
6) top off the radiator if necessary
OK, so that sounds easy enough BUT here's where you can learn from all the trouble I had with it......
I had my car parked on a perfectly level area and the coolant would spill out of the radiator opening before it would ever get close to coming out of the bleeder. I solved this by parking my car in a spot on my driveway where the front right of the car was elevated slightly higher than the rest of the car. This left the radiator cap at the highest point in the cooling system, so when I poured in coolant, it would spill out of the bleeder first. After this, the heater works much much better. Still not 100% heat at idle, but it's definitely not cold anymore.
1) find the bleeder screw next to the battery compartment... it's a black phillips-head plastic screw
2) remove bleeder screw
3) remove radiator cap
4) slowly pour a 50/50 mix into the radiator until coolant spills out of the bleeder screw
5) cap off the bleeder while the fluid is still at the very top
6) top off the radiator if necessary
OK, so that sounds easy enough BUT here's where you can learn from all the trouble I had with it......
I had my car parked on a perfectly level area and the coolant would spill out of the radiator opening before it would ever get close to coming out of the bleeder. I solved this by parking my car in a spot on my driveway where the front right of the car was elevated slightly higher than the rest of the car. This left the radiator cap at the highest point in the cooling system, so when I poured in coolant, it would spill out of the bleeder first. After this, the heater works much much better. Still not 100% heat at idle, but it's definitely not cold anymore.
thanks ill have to do that