jhearold

I was wondering if anyone has put a aftermarket heater in there pickup? Or a better heater from another vehicle?

HighLux

Stock heater working correctly will burn your butt out of the cab.

Whats going on with yours?

patfink

Oh man, good to know. Figured that was just the 80s tech. Looks like I'm hunting down some vent hoses tomorrow. Hey out of curiosity, where on the dash temp gauge do you guys normally fall? I know they're not terrible accurate, but if you had a rough fraction/percentage

HighLux

A good toyota always runs a little under halfway on temp gauge.

patfink

Man... I was hoping you'd say like 1/5 of the way... I wonder this has something to do with it then...P.O. put it in. In December it truly is a COLD air intake. Sorry to threadjack, found this that might help anyone looking.

HighLux

Looks pretty cool. Were gonna take those things off the fender right?

patfink

Thing is... that is the fender. The intake runs through it. Like...there's a big old hole under there.

HighLux

that sounds possibly cool. More pictures. I still want a little 2wd first gen someday.

83pingpong

What about the thermostat? If it won't close, the truck will run cold (and these trucks have a good cooling system when the radiator and channels are clear and flowing right). Test the thermostat by putting it in water that was just boiling, but backed off to low, low simmer. It should open wide within a minute (if well over 185F-water boils at 212 at sea level, lower at elevation). It should begin to close as it cools past 185, although there are hotter thermostats that close at higher temp. I can't remember the two...maybe it is 180 or 190F. As I recall you have two choices for most thermostats.

If you HAVE to replace it, do NOT get a cheap one. They are cheap anyway, so get a good one! I got a cheap one that came with a kit (I think it was with a subaru timing belt kit). The temp spiked badly, and all I had to do, I eventually figured out, was replace the cheap thermostat!

btw- low engine temp will have you running rich constantly if your choke is staying open...not good.

HighLux

Toyotas like toyota brand themostats. they are 2 stage. putting one in is a good idea regardless...and may help.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Flushing your coolant system may help too...heater core can be partially blocked limiting heat in the cab..

patfink

HiLux, at the risk of turning this into "photos of my new truck," I made a build thread here. Gonna start investigating the heater core and thermostat etc... Pingpong - my truck does seem to run rich which I had chocked up to my funny intake-exhaust. I suppose those would only lean it out though, huh? My only experience with carbs is on motorcycles, but I imagine the logic is the same... Hope some of this helps the O.P.

gillesdetrail

iTrader: (1)

A good coolant system clean and flush helped me out with my heat.

RobotMoose

iTrader: (1)

I agree. Another thing to look for and as far as I know, it's a Toyota only thing, is the good-quality t-stats have a small hole in the stat. This allows a small volume of water to pass through and keep the system equalized until the stat opens up.

jhearold

Thanks mine just always blows a little bit of cold air out of the main vent in the center below the dash and it doesn't blow much air at all... It's hot air. Just in small amounts :/

RobotMoose

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like it's time for a core cleaning.
It takes an afternoon, but you can pull your box apart and get all the lint out of the louvers of the core, which will improve airflow.
Cold air out the center vents sounds like it's on defrost.

Rowdydudeman

my heater ONLY works on defrost. but will melt you damn shoes regardless!

RobotMoose

iTrader: (1)

It might be worth looking into your cables on your controls, it sounds like something's mixed up. Your defrost lever should operate the center flap behind the center heater. There are two other cables, one runs the valve and goes high into the central firewall, and one runs the fresh air flap and goes to the box in the passenger side footwell. I think one of those might be mixed up.

Rowdydudeman

thanks moose, i'll look in to that.
i'm missing a few pieces of ducting too, but they're only two connections on the driverside that are UA. I need a new controller too, mine is unreadable and is missing all the knobs.

jhearold

Thanks! I going 2 get a new engine today but tomorrow Ill take it apart and check it out