heater woes

[sinat01]

So most of the heater issue posts are years old on here, anyone find any new coolant flushes?
coolant is decently clean, but I think my heater core is plugged up. the top heater hose is warm, the lower stays cold at temp. had good heat a few weeks ago. To back flush you can just use a water hose and run water through the lower heater hose correct? and does anyone know what size the lower hose is?

 

[dan1977p]

Just get a hose adapter that you can screw the hose into that's around 5/8". That will be good enough to attach to the heater core hose. Disconnect them both so the water you flush is only going through the heater core and when done, refill the heater core with distilled water.

 

[sinat01]

Thatl work for me, should I put any type of flush in it? or just run water through it and see if that fixes it?

 

[Automechnic077]

I just did mine, I ran the Jeep, shut it off. waited for the pressure to go away on the upper radiator hose. Disconnected both heater hoses and attached the garden hose to the bottom heater hose. JI just held my spray nozzle to the bottom hose. Not rocket science alot of goop came out. I then pulsed the water into the same hose and even more broke loose. I also went the other way a few times and it broke away more stuff. I wouldn't use chemical if you don't have too. I plan to flush mine every few weeks until I'm sure I get it all out.

 

[sinat01]

ok sweet, hopefully thatl do the trick for it, kinda like having heat lol. but it must have just gotten plugged because I had all kinds of heat at nemacolin for the laurel highlands jeep fest.

 

[sinat01]

So, check engine light goes off, and surprise, heat is back. This has me confused onto what the issue is

 

[dan1977p]

Wait, you had a CEL and didn't tell anyone? Still, your symptoms lead you to want to back flush the core, but you should read the codes to get what that last one was and it will probably also tell you about some electrical connection being flaky.

 

[sinat01]

it was a code dealing with the leak detection pump, I cant remember the code right off hand

 

[sinat01]

P1494 This was the code that comes up from time to time, everytime it comes up, I don't get any heat from the heater, jeep is a 99

 

[90xj06]

For that code check the 90 degree bend by the air filter. I guess it tents to dry out and crack or come apart.

 

[sinat01]

well I got 20' of silicone vacuum line, im gonna replace most of the lines and relocate my vacuum reservoir while im at it, maybe thatl fix the problem, hopefully the LDP pump isn't bad

 

[sinat01]

So pulled off the lower heater hose, and took the cap off the fitting on the upper heater hose, blew into the lower, and fluid barely moved in the upper. Heater core blocked up? I plan on backflushing with a hose, but the weather was nice enough to turn cold and start snowing (gotta love wv) would an air compressor hurt the heater core if I used it on the lines?

 

[IslanderOffRoad]

I used diluted clr on mine, then flushed with hot water for a few min to make sure I got it all out. Worked great

 

[jeep ride]

So pulled off the lower heater hose, and took the cap off the fitting on the upper heater hose, blew into the lower, and fluid barely moved in the upper. Heater core blocked up? I plan on backflushing with a hose, but the weather was nice enough to turn cold and start snowing (gotta love wv) would an air compressor hurt the heater core if I used it on the lines?

With engine up to temp your heater hoses should be hot to the touch if not chances are your heater core is plugged up. Have checked out www.jeepinwv.com good luck with it

 

[sinat01]

The top hose gets hot, The lower hose stays ice cold

 

[trippled]

I use air pressure all the time at work. Run water, blow thru, repeat, forward and back flush.

 

[sinat01]

Ill give it a try, gonna see if the local shop will let me borrow their hose for a min. 20 degrees isn't healthy for our hose lol. Im hoping I can get it unplugged. I have another heater core in the garage, just don't feel like tearing the dash out to get to it

 

[Vernicious]

A combo of baking soda and vinegar will do you well. Pull off the hoses and leave on the heater core. Pour some baking soda down the bottom tube, then chase with some vinegar. Be prepared to block the hose since it'll bubble up on you. Keep alternating soda with vinegar till it bubbles out the top tube. Once it does that let it sit there for a good 10-15 min. Then rinse with water to blow all the crap out of the core. Fill the system with water and run at temp for 10 minutes minimum with the heater blowing full hot. Once you shut it down and can handle the tubes, pull the heater core tubes off again and rinse with the hose again. You'll be surprised at the stuff that comes out of your heater core. I just did this with mine. The heater was terrible and now it makes me sweat while running. It snowed here 2 days ago.

 

[sinat01]

ok got an update, Got the whole cooling system flushed, ended up using air to blow out the core cuz it had a ton of stop leak from the PO in it. Heat works great. only thing left is my blend door. Got the heatertreater blend door about a year ago and the foam came loose on it. Emailed them asking what a good way to fix it would be... They told me to put the new door they just mailed me in it when it arrives, now that's what I call customer service! Thanks everyone for your help though, I really appreciate it!