so i have a 94 pickup with 22re. it has very very cool heat. its not completely freezing, but it isnt warm enough to heat anything up. it is warmer than outside air, but not by a ton. i have a new thermostat, fan clutch, and the needle for the tstat runs about 1/4 way up. i know the blower motor resistor is bad, because only high works, but that shouldnt make a difference with temperature.
the only thing i can think is maybe the heater core but im not sure. im not even really sure where it is on this truck. i know i have two openings into the cab from the engine compartment on the passenger side, and they look like hose should go through them.
any help or tricks i can try would be greatly appreciated guys, seeing as how its getting colder now, and i have a newborn and 3 year old riding occasionally in the truck.

thanks
brad

 

Is your coolant low? Or try pressure test the system for leaks. I had the same issue. I was loosing coolant on the little eblow behind the alternator on drives side. I would pressure test it and could not find any leaks. Finally did a pressure test left it on for about an hour before it finally started to drip.

 

Heater core is a possibility but also make sure the heater control valve is being actuated under the hood.

 

^^^this

make sure your controller operates smoothly to give you heat (ask me how i know).

 

lol yup me too, that's why my heater control valve is now non-existent. Took mine out and bypassed it. Wire doesn't move it and mine was leaking.

^ ^ ^ ^ I do not recommend doing this BTW.
You can manually open it if you need to if that wire isn't opening/shutting it. Good luck repairing if wire is not moving.

 

Where abouts exactly does the wire come out under the hood? Going to check this for sure in the morning. The heat is like barely noticeably warmer than not. Enough to feel that it is kinda working but still crappy. Even with only 1/4 temp it should still be pretty warm right?

 

i may have a pic
edit...no i don't

 

Can you explain a rough guide area to start for me? Thanks

 

found a pic of mine......it's the plastic thing with a hose on either end and looks like a honeycomb on top

 

two coolant lines on the right side of the motor as you're looking at it. to the left of the master cylinder close to the fire wall. The wiring harness runs above it in this image. You can see the off white piece that connects the coolant hose via two clamps. Just to the left of that. there is a cable that runs out of the fire wall (only one in that area other than the throttle cable (which is right next to it) That's the best written description with out photochopping the image with a big red circle. You can tell where the two lines go in to the heater core on the fire wall as one is the inlet and the other is the outlet. They enter the fire wall directly behind the valve cover.

 

GREAT!! Thanks a lot man. Greatly appreciated.

Thanks a ton
Brad

 

mightymouse said:
That off white piece and hose that you are talking about is a the main vacuum hose from the intake manifold to the brake booster.
If you have drained the rad or changed the coolant recently, your rad might not be completely full or your heater core could be airlocked. My truck didn't have a decent heater for over a year after I did an engine swap and I tried everything to get rid of the airlock. I finally had to remove both hoses that fed the heater core (the 2 tubes sticking out of the firewall) and I had to use another hose and funnel to fill the heater core with antifreeze to purge the air. Once I did that the air from the heater was so hot it would drive you out of the cab and I seldom ever run it on high.

 

i think my little cable broke under the dash, not the cable, but the plastic flubigator actuator thingy. and i have to pull mine manualy as i recall, of course that may be for switching to defrost.........heck i dont know, maybe i just shouldnt have said anything, been one of those days.......

 

found my real pics...

 

Perfect. Awesome info guys. I actually did just drain my rad to do a alt change.

 

You could have an air bubble in the heater core then too. You have to burp the system after a drain and fill and you should have your heater on when you do it.

 

How do you purge the system?

 

easiest way for me is to run it with the front end raised a little (i accomplish this just parking in front of the garage door)...air rises and burps out with the radiator cap off.

 

So I let it run for about ten mins with the cap off, the cable was working the unit and I also tapped it with a small hammer. both hoses to the heater core were hot. The coolant was cycling and then just began to flow over the top of the radiator, until I revved it up a bit and it sucked it all right down. The heat was working so I don't know if it was a air pocket(no bubbles out of the rad) or if I loosened something up with tapping? But I will drive it more tomorrow and see what's up.
The only weird thing was I noticed a very little smoking from in-between the efi crap and the valve cover there is a little plug facing down and there was a small smoking from under whatever that is. I'm really hoping that it's nothing severe.
So any input on either one of these guys? The heat seemed ok, but this smoking is kinda weird.
Thanks guys

 

smoke as in smoke?/? or steaming from there? you may be chasing an oil leak issue. there is a small coolant hose there that likes to leak too (again, ask me how i know)