twistedsymphony

I bought an 89 4WD regular cab pickup earlier this summer. the thing was torn down completely and rebuilt by the previous owner.

I didn't think much when I bought it but I've come to realize that the heat doesn't work.

the HVAC fans blow strong, the engine seems a little slow to warm up but once it's warm the gauge sits right dead center where it should be.

once warm, even with the heat on full blast I get nothing but cold air.

I don't think I have any leaks as I'm not getting a wet floor or coolant mist or anything like that.
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last weekend I drained the coolant out, pulled the heater hoses off of the block and blew water through with a garden hose, it went though both ways no problem, the water went through no problem both ways, I ran it for a good 10 minutes just to be sure. I even put the temp level on cold and confirmed that the valve does an awesome job at blocking flow when it's off.

after that I hooked everything up and refilled with coolant and still nothing...

Anyone have any ideas? because I'm at a loss...

xxxtreme22r

have you made sure the heater control valve is working properly and that the cable is sliding like it should to open/shut it? oh never mind hahah last sentence I missed. both hoses on the heater core are warm when you do this?

DupermanDave

x2. Double check this. I think even with a clogged heater core you should still get some heat.

twistedsymphony

yeah the valve works fine and the inlet hose is hot to the touch

the outlet hose is hot as well but not as much as the inlet, I'd suspect this is normal?

xxxtreme22r

yeah, if that's the case then you should also hear the flapper from under the dash moving when you slide the temp control knob. it could be stuck in the cold position even though you have it on hot.

richf

Sounds like you have air in the system. Loosen up the hose on the passenger side of the valve under the hood and let the air out. I did this with the truck running and the heater on. I would use water as a test run and then when you get it running right drain it and put the coolant back in. Your going to need to let the air out again and you should be good to go.

xxxtreme22r

x2 you have to have the heat on when burping the coolant system. otherwise there will be no flow of coolant in the heater core pushing the air out.

twistedsymphony

I'll try to "burp" it tonight, I didn't do that when I filled it.

it's possible that could have been the original problem as well since when I bought the truck the lower radiator hose was leaking and the coolant was a little low (that's been fixed already).

richf

might of been. My heater was like yours when I got my truck back up and running. Pretty much it felt like ambient temperature blowing out of the vents. After I finished flushing the system and getting the air, it was a big change in temperature. HOT!!

twistedsymphony

I've been searching around, is there a recommended method for burping the 22re? I usually just run the vehicle with the cap off for a few minutes...

I'm thinking the issue might be compounded since the truck has a body lift putting the firewall outlets for the core as the highest point in the cooling system.

xxxtreme22r

you can try putting the front end on an incline/ramps etc etc to get the rad cap as the highest point.

richf

I think the open coolant cap the method is useless with the body lift. I had the same situation. That's why I suggested loosening the hose on the passenger side of the "heater valve" It seems to be the highest point. I did it until coolant came out of the hose.

peow130

Thermostat stuck open, perhaps?
Takes forever for engine to warm up, and it never fully does.

twistedsymphony

it fully warms up... I don't know how long it's supposed to take but it seems like it takes longer than some of my other vehicles.

Resto-noob

iTrader: (3)

I burped my plow truck (86 22r) last year by driving it up a hill and parking it so that the radiator cap was the highest point of the cooling system. Then I pulled the cap and let it run, filling it with water as it would take it. It may take a quart of water, I don't know. I went with purified water that my mother uses at work in the lab. It really didn't take too long. Also, put the heat on full blast while you do this, like everyone else said.

A7QG59F2

It really sounds to me like the Hot/Cold air mixer door is not moving. Just because when you slide the knob to the hot position and the heater core valve opened does not mean the mixer door under the dash opened. My 88 had one of the cables fall off the control knobs and wouldn't open the door. I had to fanagle the end of the cable to get it to stay on the selector and glued the sheathing for the cable in place because I accidently broke the clip for it. Like xxxtreme said you should hear it. It should make a nice THWUMP sound as the hot cold slider reaches either maximum.

twistedsymphony

problem solved... it was an air pocket.

A mechanic friend of mine stopped by with a coolant funnel that screws right onto the radiator.

we put the HVAC on COLD, bolted up the funnel and filled it half way, then ran the truck with a clamp on the throttle to hold it at 2K RPM, once it was fully warm we switched over to full HOT, the fluid level rose up in the funnel and we got a few burps and it went back down again...

after that we got nice hot air coming out the vents.

We didn't even park it on a hill or pull any hoses or anything like that.

xxxtreme22r