brrrr...I need kerosene heater in car
01-20-2001, 01:33 PM
#1
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Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 208
Been searching thru the archives on heater issues, saw a few things I could try but I wanted to give an example of what I noticed last night and see if anyone had any suggestions. I have been frustrated with the heater in the car. Last night I was picking up daughter somewhere...about 2 miles from the house. While idleing I noticed that the heat was cold, if I revved up the engine to about 2.5/3 rpm's I got heat. If I let up off the gas...no heat. Is that normal?
Haven't noticed any pattern...normally don't have heat, but occasionally do. Been trying to make amental note of "when" I do have heat..and when I don't. I have switched the button to inside air, son mentioned something about coolant seemed to be low but wanted to know if the idle thing was a clear clue to something. Appreciate any comments.
-L
Haven't noticed any pattern...normally don't have heat, but occasionally do. Been trying to make amental note of "when" I do have heat..and when I don't. I have switched the button to inside air, son mentioned something about coolant seemed to be low but wanted to know if the idle thing was a clear clue to something. Appreciate any comments.
-L
01-20-2001, 03:03 PM
#2
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Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 2,004
same thing..... annoying as hell, the heat doesnt come on for at least like 5 minutes, even if the engine is already warm. then if im moving and i start to feel a bi of heat and then i stop it get butt cold at idle. and if i put it in neutral and rev to 2k around sometimes ill get luke warm air again. then maybe after about 10 minutes of driving the heater will get hot and stay hot at idle. its really annoying case my drive to school is like 5 minutes, and lots of lights, and so its cold the whole way, and right as i pull into the parknig space i just barely feel some warm air. hmmpf, dunno but mines exactly the same as yours....
01-20-2001, 05:33 PM
#5
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Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 208
LOL..same here...1 mile to daughter's school..and then less than that to my work. I dont' care how long I let it warm up before we leave....nor is there any rhyme or reason to the warmth of the engine sometimes, like if I've been driving a lot longer than that, there's times I can't get "heat". Even my jeep..warming at least 3 times the airspace was warmer than this. Thermostat and coolant are inexpensive enough, I'll try to have both changed. Since I just got my car, I have no clue as to how old either is. I seriously doubt the heat coming from the outlet has "ever" been the 85 it's sat on since I got the car. Been meaning to grab one of those temperature thingies from the lab to check.
And on a side note....I was kinda disappointed when the son disconnected the living room speakers from the back of the car..alto they are in the trunk now. Lord of the Dance/Riverdance..especially "Gypsy" (orgasmic piece of music for me!) sounded AWESOME. <sniff> I can warm myself up listening to that.
And on a side note....I was kinda disappointed when the son disconnected the living room speakers from the back of the car..alto they are in the trunk now. Lord of the Dance/Riverdance..especially "Gypsy" (orgasmic piece of music for me!) sounded AWESOME. <sniff> I can warm myself up listening to that.
Originally posted by Dabman90GXE
same thing..... annoying as hell, the heat doesnt come on for at least like 5 minutes, even if the engine is already warm. then if im moving and i start to feel a bi of heat and then i stop it get butt cold at idle. and if i put it in neutral and rev to 2k around sometimes ill get luke warm air again. then maybe after about 10 minutes of driving the heater will get hot and stay hot at idle. its really annoying case my drive to school is like 5 minutes, and lots of lights, and so its cold the whole way, and right as i pull into the parknig space i just barely feel some warm air. hmmpf, dunno but mines exactly the same as yours....
same thing..... annoying as hell, the heat doesnt come on for at least like 5 minutes, even if the engine is already warm. then if im moving and i start to feel a bi of heat and then i stop it get butt cold at idle. and if i put it in neutral and rev to 2k around sometimes ill get luke warm air again. then maybe after about 10 minutes of driving the heater will get hot and stay hot at idle. its really annoying case my drive to school is like 5 minutes, and lots of lights, and so its cold the whole way, and right as i pull into the parknig space i just barely feel some warm air. hmmpf, dunno but mines exactly the same as yours....
01-20-2001, 05:54 PM
#7
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Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 208
Woohoo..I can answer this!!!!!...well..part of it...yes, it is the antifreeze. Please leave me in blissful ignorance if this is wrong. lol No, for dabber's sake..you can correct me. Hey now! I'm dumbbutt #2....I think I know how and what to check but will also be tuned to replies also. My son did tell me right after i got the car.."mom..the coolent is almost empty". I asked him was he talkign the "overflow" tank, but he said "no". I need to go look under my hood, methinks.
Originally posted by Dabman90GXE
yep 1 mile to my school too, haha ill check the coolent, but im a dumbass, where is it and what color shouold it be? its not the anti freeze stuff right?
yep 1 mile to my school too, haha ill check the coolent, but im a dumbass, where is it and what color shouold it be? its not the anti freeze stuff right?
01-20-2001, 07:30 PM
#8
yup.. I'm 99% sure your coolant is low.
(and yes, it's the same thing as anti-freeze!
I don't recommend using that red DEX-COOL stuff either. stick with the tried-and-true green stuff. the DEx-cool dissappeared out of my engine in a couple of months, and I had the "zero heat" problem also. I flushed the engine and replaced the thermostat.. (NOT a fun job. don't change thermostat unless you have to.)
I filled it back up with regular 'ol green antifreeze, and the coolant level hasn't moved in a month since then. I cook myself out of the car after about 3-4 miles of city traffic (6-7 minutes after starting the car).
hope that helps..
(and yes, it's the same thing as anti-freeze!
I don't recommend using that red DEX-COOL stuff either. stick with the tried-and-true green stuff. the DEx-cool dissappeared out of my engine in a couple of months, and I had the "zero heat" problem also. I flushed the engine and replaced the thermostat.. (NOT a fun job. don't change thermostat unless you have to.)
I filled it back up with regular 'ol green antifreeze, and the coolant level hasn't moved in a month since then. I cook myself out of the car after about 3-4 miles of city traffic (6-7 minutes after starting the car).
hope that helps..
01-20-2001, 11:40 PM
#9
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Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 627
Regarding thermostat
Yes, I know exactly what you mean about changing the thermostat now.
The drain **** on the radiator is hard to turn.
I then removed the 1-3-5 cylinder plug wires to the distributor cap for better access. The bolts holding the thermostat housing on actually weren't too difficult to remove, but for anyone attempting this in the future, use a 12mm deep socket with a ratchet. After the bolts were removed though, the housing just would not budge. I had to tap it 6-7 times with a mallet to dislodge the housing.
Then to move the hose clamps took some effort on the spring loaded ones as the location isn't ideal for reach (vice grips work the best), and then reach under and around to get the housing off.
Then comes the scraping to get all the old sealant off that the factory put on. The housing isn't bad as it's in your hand now, but the mate-with side on the engine can be a booger. Then you place the new thermostat on the housing, lay a nice (but messy) bead of sealant on it and put the housing back on the engine, tighten, torque, refill the radiator (burp the system) and put the splash guard back on. You reconnect the plug wires, and then you're done
Oh but you can't drive it just yet. You need to spend the next 5 minutes washing your hands to get all that gooey sealant off :-).
But it was worth it. Car warms up much faster and the heater even feels stronger than before.
then scraping all the old sealant off. I had
The drain **** on the radiator is hard to turn.
I then removed the 1-3-5 cylinder plug wires to the distributor cap for better access. The bolts holding the thermostat housing on actually weren't too difficult to remove, but for anyone attempting this in the future, use a 12mm deep socket with a ratchet. After the bolts were removed though, the housing just would not budge. I had to tap it 6-7 times with a mallet to dislodge the housing.
Then to move the hose clamps took some effort on the spring loaded ones as the location isn't ideal for reach (vice grips work the best), and then reach under and around to get the housing off.
Then comes the scraping to get all the old sealant off that the factory put on. The housing isn't bad as it's in your hand now, but the mate-with side on the engine can be a booger. Then you place the new thermostat on the housing, lay a nice (but messy) bead of sealant on it and put the housing back on the engine, tighten, torque, refill the radiator (burp the system) and put the splash guard back on. You reconnect the plug wires, and then you're done
Oh but you can't drive it just yet. You need to spend the next 5 minutes washing your hands to get all that gooey sealant off :-).
But it was worth it. Car warms up much faster and the heater even feels stronger than before.
then scraping all the old sealant off. I had
01-21-2001, 01:06 AM
#10
I've found that a scotch pad worked wonders for cleaning the old gaskets off.
forget razor blades, putty knives, or metal gasket scrapers I'm sticking with a scotch pad from now on! it took about 1 minute of light scrubbing on the block side of the thermostat mess to clean it off, and about 2-3 minutes on the small piece that comes off with the thermostat. much better than 20 minutes of trying to wedge a gasket scraper down into that area.. you don't even need to see what you're doing with a scotch pad! just stuff your hand down there and you can feel around the edges and scrub until smooth!
the worst part about the thermostat was that it's a PIA to get to. I removed a/c compressor belt, completely removed all the water hoses in the area and cleaned the inside ends and connectors. Then I unbolted the cruise control module thingy off the fender well for more room to work. it helped tremendously.
also a couple other minor things I did to get more room.. a couple A/C lines or something were unbolted so they'd have a little room to flex and cram my fat hands down around the engine.
mebbe that will help some other people whenever they get to do this fun stuff.
forget razor blades, putty knives, or metal gasket scrapers I'm sticking with a scotch pad from now on! it took about 1 minute of light scrubbing on the block side of the thermostat mess to clean it off, and about 2-3 minutes on the small piece that comes off with the thermostat. much better than 20 minutes of trying to wedge a gasket scraper down into that area.. you don't even need to see what you're doing with a scotch pad! just stuff your hand down there and you can feel around the edges and scrub until smooth!
the worst part about the thermostat was that it's a PIA to get to. I removed a/c compressor belt, completely removed all the water hoses in the area and cleaned the inside ends and connectors. Then I unbolted the cruise control module thingy off the fender well for more room to work. it helped tremendously.
also a couple other minor things I did to get more room.. a couple A/C lines or something were unbolted so they'd have a little room to flex and cram my fat hands down around the engine.
mebbe that will help some other people whenever they get to do this fun stuff.
01-21-2001, 07:32 PM
#12
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Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: IN
Posts: 203
i have a similar problem...4 miles to work.. it gets warm after bout 2 or so... wether or not i let it sit... not sure bout idle temp tho.. mostly highway for me...
i read somewhere that air pockets in maxima's are frequent.. and one symptom is not hot hot air
i read somewhere that air pockets in maxima's are frequent.. and one symptom is not hot hot air
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