No/little heat

[timmi]

92 F-250 with banks has little or no cabin heat. Blower motor works fine. The dash temp gauge barely moves. I can get up to the lower area of the "normal" after extended driving uphill with a load. However, even when in the "normal" area, there is still no/very little heat coming from the heater core/fan...??

I have a temperature gun... where can I point to check to make sure thermostat is working correctly? Could the heater core be dirty or plugged or ?? Also, its minus-40 degrees right now, so Im sure that might have something to do with lack of heat, but still... the gauge hardly moves...

??

Thanks

 

[swampdigger]

Typically when this has happened in my vehicles, it's usually been the lack of coolant.

Considering it's winter though, a stuck open thermostat could be doing it as well. Open the radiator cap while it's running and look inside for flowing water. Another thing you can try is to kink the upper rad hose, and see if it gets warmer at all (keep an eye on your truck while you do this though).

 

[Mr_Roboto]

At minus 40 the motor will not warm up regardless of if the thermostat is good. You will need to block the radiator to reduce airflow over the motor to let it get warm.

Look at the winterfronts on semi trucks, they are there to let the motors warm up. When it gets cold enough, just the airflow over the engine will draw off all the heat.

 

[argve]

I used to make a cold weather front for the E in the winter because of the output of heat. I made mine out of smoked plexiglass then wire tied it to grill. Didn't look too bad until you got right up on top of the truck. Just remember to leave an access to get to the hood release latch... don't ask...

On a buddies truck we used those hollow wall toggle bolts and hooked them in behind the grill work - no holes to drill and it just reached between the slats on his grill (GMC)... So you might try it on yours...

 

[Agnem]

I've found it takes at least 20 minutes of driving after the high idle kicks off before you can begin to get comfortable. That said however, there is always a chance your heater core is plugged or there is a kink in a hose. I would try to measure the heat difference between the two hoses to see what your heater core and fan are doing.

 

[Savage6.9]

similar situation for me turned out to be water pump...not enough flow through heater core I expect as everything else tested fine.just a thought for the back of your mind.

 

[smokin_stroker00]

On an old gas truck I had, I was having problem with the heat someone told me the Radiator cap would effect the heater core but not sure?

 

[argve]

if you determine that the heater core is the problem, it will take longer to flush it than to just rip it out and put a new in place. It took me like 20 mins to change the one in The Enterprise and that was with me taking the time to walk in the house and post how easy it was to get it out before putting the new one in... The are so easy to do on the Ford trucks. Nothing like other vehicles where you end up taking everything off the vehicle including the rear fender... The guy that designed the heater core location on the Ford trucks needs a raise... he must have changed one or two before laying out the design...