Schnayke

iTrader: (1)

okay so today on the way too work i tryed to use the heater for the fist time but no heat. well almost no heat. when i turn on the heater it will blow some warm air foot level but the vents on the dash will be blowing non heated air. if i turn the fans off, wait a bit then turn them on full blast i will get heat out the top vent but only for about a minute then it wiil drop off till it is just non heated air.
fans work fine
ac works
hot water in all water lines under the hood.
all fuse are fine.

second issue i noticed today while trying to figure out the heater thing is an oil leak around the second spark plug.
i have searched for info about this but all i can find is info about the 3.0 engine.
what i have is a 22re from 1989, in a 2wd pickup. the truck runs between cold and half way up the guage.
image by Schnayke, on Flickr I have done searching for info on both and currently am a bit lost on both. sad day for my truck.

Gevo

I believe only two possible problems for the heater. CLogged core or broken valve. To test make sure you check the heat in the hoses on both sides of the valve (the one on the firewall near the brake booster). THe core, pull the two hoses going into the core and blow into on of them. You should have nearly 0 resistance trying to blow through. The more resistance you have, the more clogged your core is.

Oil leak.... have no idea.

Sequoia Nomad

Maybe try bleeding the cooling system. Sometimes an air bubble can get caught in the heater core and make it blow cold.

Schnayke

iTrader: (1)

okay went out and pulled the plug where the oil was. it was coming around the plug. so bad valve guideseals or maybe piston rings? maybe head gasket? got some digging around too do. this is what the plug looked like when i took it out. although i find it odd the tip isnt all burned black. maybe a lot of that oil got on it while i was removing it in the pool of oil.

image by Schnayke, on Flickr

Schnayke

iTrader: (1)

Okay so I changed out the PCV, it was trash. Clogged off and on and the gasket around it was hard plastic rather then rubber. So do you think the extra pressure in the engine would cause oil to push through a valve guide seal? I didn't have this leak before I took it on a 100 mile round trip one way on the freeway (70MPH) the other way winding hilly back woods path back at about (55) mostly. That kind of stuff would increase the pressure under the valve cover? Also don't blow black smoke at all, even on start up after it being cold. Today I am going to change out the plugs and put a new valve cover seal on it, then hook it all back up and try and burp out the cooling system.

scope103

If you have bad valve guide seals or bad rings, the oil will be burned up in the cylinder. It's not going to squeeze around the spark plug (if it could do that, you wouldn't have enough compression on that cylinder to run!)

Much more likely, the valve cover gasket is leaking, but only right above that plug. The bad PCV valve could have contributed. So before you do anything else, use engine degreaser, a garden hose and rags to clean up ALL the oil. Then run the engine, look, and run your finger along the valve cover gasket. Don't go driving around at first; the wind blowing through there will spread the oil all over the place.

By the way, you DID replace the PCV gasket, didn't you?

Schnayke

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I did replace the gasket it was like 5 pieces by the time I got it out. The valve cover seal is also hardened. So I figured that needed to be replaced as well. I need to run it while it is sitting so I can burp the system so that will work great. Here is hoping for the best. I was just thoroughly confused that the oil was there but none above it or coming form the valve cover gasket, but I suppose if it was hot it could just drip off thoroughly.

Schnayke

iTrader: (1)

okay well burped the system some but the heater still isnt working great. going too go try the blow through test.
changed the spark plugs and wires they both really needed it. as well as the valve cover gasket, before i burped it. ran the truck for sometime maybe 45 minutes to an hour. Never seen the leak show up again.
I was really hopeing when i got this figured it would fix the inconstant idle i have but no luck. probably have a vac leak or clog somewhere.

oldblue

cleaning out the heater core usually works on most cars for me instead of replacing. i remove both hoses from the core, and blow through it with air. i then spray about a can of brake cleaner into the core and let it sit for a while to break down the buildup. i then blow all that out going both ways. i then run a garden hose through it both ways and blow it out again. this usually does the trick. some here may disagree with using brake cleaner in a heater core, but i've done it hundreds of times with no issues or leaks afterward. take my advice with a grain of salt....but it works.

Schnayke

iTrader: (1)

wrong post sorry.

Schnayke

iTrader: (1)

Okay figured it out today. The cables where not adjusted correct so the door never opened well to let air flow through the heater core. Heater works really well now. Just thought I would give the update.