I haven't owned my 91 Legacy GT Turbo Wagon all that long, but from day 1 I noticed the heater didn't work. The A/C blows air and has all different modes, but it just doesnt get hot or even warm for that matter.
The weather doesnt get cold enough to freeze up the lines or anything (6 degrees at the very coldest). It does sit outside over night, but I'm almost 100% sure something in the heating department is busted.
Can anyone give me some noob-friendly advice? I own a Haynes manual, but am just an amatuer when it comes to cars.
Thanks
P.S. If you suggest I check something can you please tell me where to find it.
Last edited by Faithbleed on Sun Jun 11, 2006 9:51 am, edited 2 times in total.
That wouldnt bother me to much, I don't mind taking things apart to fix something.
What worries me is removing something that would depressurize the cooling system and leak gases or coolant or whatever is in there out into the car/air/all over me.
You sure you're ready for somethin like this? Its a pretty major procedure and the coolant system is vital for the engine, screw it up and your engine goes kaput.
Make sure your coolant is topped off. If the level is too low then it won't make it into the heater core.
Check to make sure you have coolant lines going to your heater core. There are 2 lines that go into the firewall, both can be seen from the driver side of the engine bay. If you see a hose that loops 2 coolant passages on the engine then the heater core might be bypassed. Same thing if you see 2 metal coolant hoses coming out of the firewall with no hoses attached or cut.
Hopefully the person that sold it to you did not get a leaky heater core, bypass it and then sell it. Changing the heater core is not incredibly hard, but definitely not easy. You pretty much dissasemble everything bolted down in front of your arm rest.
And the heater core itself has no valve that I am aware of.
Brat is correct, there is no valve in the heater core line.
Do you have a manual lever to adjust the air temperature, or do you have the automatic climate control system where you raise/decrease the temp with buttons?
I'd recommend verifying that the flapper door that bypasses air around the heater core is actually moving. If you have a manual lever, it's pretty easy to tell. You can stick your head under the glove box on the passenger side and see the cable/lever moving. If you don't see it moving, there's your problem.
If you have automatic climate control, then it gets more complicated.
Also, as others have mentioned, make sure your coolant is topped off.
Faithbleed wrote:Would I need to drain the coolant to check the flapper doors if I have Automatic Climat Control?
Well....probably not....let's hope not. Because if you did, you'd have to remove your whole dash to get at the heater core box.
I'm not sure how the heater core box is situated. But your best course of action is to stick your head under the dash and have someone push some buttons on the HVAC system, and see if you notice any levers or what not moving.
For the US cars, typically the heater core box is directly behind the center dash portion slightly offset to the driver's side.
