Need heater core help.. again.

[xdeadeye1]

96 Legacy wagon , 2.2, EAT

 

History:

heater core leaked,,  

 

I replaced it.  In the process I broke the flap door in the heater box.    I Glued it..   Wrong answer,  it failed..

 

Had to do it over again..  got new flap door..

Installed it

Put it all back together.

 

Connected hoses to core pipes.    Started car,, waited.. Still no heat

Let warm up ALOT,, drove it into town.. NO heat.   (It IS cold outside, 32 degrees)

 

Top hose on radiator hotish.  bottom hose,,not so much.   bottom hose is not collapsing.

 

Is this happening because of air in the heater core?    and is like a bubble?  

 

Both hoses to heater core are hot.

Im kinda worried,, kinda pissed.

 

never got any heat from heater.

 

Advice appreciated.

 

 

Problem 2.

 

Had the dash out so I got some cool blue LED's from Autozone in .   One side working,, the other side not working..   It seemed pretty plug and play,, 

 

Im planning on taking out the gauge cluster tomorrow and doing SOMETHING.. advice on what to do would be great.      ( The LED's worked before I installed them , they come with a battery and pushbutton demo thing).

Edited December 12, 2014 by xdeadeye1

[xdeadeye1]

lol nothing?

[xdeadeye1]

ok must have ticked off some people or something.

[ocei77]

can't offer much re led's.

Check your coolant level and do the burp procedure again. Sounds like trapped air.

 

O.

[Speedwagon]

Sounds like a typical Subaru that did not get fully bled of air in the coolant system. The hoses are hot because they are attached to the engine, but they aren't as hot as they should be passing coolant.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Speedwagon

[xdeadeye1]

frustrated.

 

start stop,, put some in,, etc..  drove car to get temp up start stop,,  put in some more... etc..  

 

The top hose is pretty darn hot. 

The bottom hose is not.

 

I left car running because I was alone.

 

Then I cracked off the hoses from the heater core at the fire wall.. I got fluid both times. 

It was hot fluid.

 

checked heater,, NO HEAT

[Speedwagon]

The system is NOT burped. Put the front of the car on as much uphill as you can find, and idle the car with the cap off and the bleeder screw open. It's a PITA.

 

The other option, is you don't have the cable hooked up to the bypass valve on the heater core. But if your lower radiator hose is cold, this is the less likely option.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Speedwagon

[xdeadeye1]

my heater core didn't have / come with a  bypass valve. 

 

The lower hose is cold..

 

I will do what you said to do

 

However, in trying to get this thing "burped"   I took the bleeder screw  in and out and when tightening it , broke off the top of it.. so right now I cant open it anymore until I drill it out and get a new screw.

[xdeadeye1]

Put the car on a good slope.. started,, and idled with no radiator cap.. squeezing upper hose..   ,,etc.

 

Then I started to rev the car and I could see where I think the thermostat was opening,, as  the fluid level would drop,,,     so I squeeze some more and pour in more coolant.

 

Then it go so hot that it wouldn't go down anymore when I revved it... I put the cap on it and quit.

 

still don't have real heat blowing . but the air seems "not cold"

[PeanutsRU]

Burping my '93 has always been a pain. 

 

Usually just let it run add about 1/4 cup of of coolant, wait a couple of minutes, add 1/4 cup more, etc. 

 

Make sure you have plenty in your coolant recovery tank, if the temp starts going up too much cap the radiator shut it down and wait for it to cool, it should draw some of the coolant in from the tank.  Repeat  and repeat, I think you'll get there eventually.  

[johnceggleston]

 

The top hose is pretty darn hot. 

The bottom hose is not.

you may have to drain the system down and refill correctly.

 

(not all of the following will apply to your situation.)

 

 

how to fill and burp your cooling system.

 

taglines: burpcoolingsystem; suphonfill; burpcoolantsiphon.

 

compiled from previous posts:

 

PART 1>

 

1/ remove vent plug on radiator at top hose.

 

2/ fill radiator at fill neck / cap SLOWLY. (slowly is key.)

(i have written this a couple of times and it works great, for me. but

it is so odd and extreme i really don't expect any one to follow it. sit

the jug of coolant on the passenger strut tower and use a long tube,

about 1/4 inch diameter, to siphon the coolant in the rad. the process

is so slow you will get bored, but slow works in this situation. )

 

3/ when full install the vent plug and rad cap.

 

4/ start the engine and run it up to full operating temp. then shut it down and wait for it to cool down.

 

5/ open the rad and top it off. mine usually only takes a couple 3-4 oz.

(most folks run the engine with the rad cap off to burp

it. but i have found that when it burps it looses more coolant than it

really needs to so i just heat it up and then let it cool before i

open it. all you really want to do is circulate the coolant and

eliminate any air bubbles. the siphon is so slow it really does not

need much burping or topping off. this is different than most other fill and burp process. )

 

good luck.

 

PART 2>

 

the last 2 times i have filled an empty cooling system on an ej25 engine, i have used a very unusual method and have had NO problems and have not had to burp.

 

i put the gallon of coolant on top of the engine, either the passenger

strut tower or the air box near the firewall. i then use a small

diameter tube (~5/16 inch, inside diameter) to siphon the coolant out of

the jug and into the rad. (it helps if the tube is clear so you can

see the coolant as it gets close to your mouth.) after the jug is

empty, i then start over with a half jug (2 qts.).

 

this is a very slow process because of the size of the hose, but more so due to the very small difference in height. the system fills very slowly and has time to back fill

the engine thru the top rad hose. i make sure the rad cap is at least

level with or usually higher than the rest of the rad. having the vent

cap open helps too.

 

the first time i did it i tried to burp it but i ended up wit h less coolant in the system than when the siphon had finished. so this last time i just let the siphon do its thing and then put the cap on. no problems.

 

it works great, but it is really, really, slow. so i do it while i'm

finishing up the last little bits of whatever i'm working on.

 

this is so slow that if you did it and then watched it you would give up

and start pouring long before it got done. but it is a great time to

open a beer and admire your work.

 

i doubt this is a good technique for a car that needs to be burped, but it works great for filling empty systems.

 

HTH.

 

PART 3>

 

for 90s legacys, the small vent cap is the trick to filling correctly.

coolant WILL NOT flow into the upper rad hose / engine block unless you

have the vent plug removed. and even then you have to fill it SLOWLY.

 

once you have slowly added as much as it will take with the vent plug open, close that, fill to the top of the rad and start the engine. when the t-stat opens the coolant will burp out of the rad and the level will drop. (in most cases it will drop, but if you filled it slow enough the system MAY be full.) top it off and put on the cap.

 

(my solution to filling slowly is to siphon the coolant out of the jug

and into the rad. i use a 1/4''- 3/8'' clear tube about 10 feet long

that i bought years ago and i use it for all of my siphoning needs. it

fills the rad so slowly you get bored. but you can rotate tires or

change the oil while you wait. once it is full, mine will not burp. it is full.)

 

on a side note:

 

if you used a non-subaru t-stat you are going to have trouble.

they do not work and it will over heat. i know some of you do not want

to believe this but it is true. i was one of them for a long time.

 

there are several parts on these engines that MUST be subaru. and hopefully you do not damage anything learning that.

 

SOMETIMES, not very often, a ''high quality'' replacement part will

work, but ''cheap'' aftermarket parts are never a good solution for

these ''subaru only'' parts. they end up not working correctly and you

not only have to redo the work (twice the labor) you have to buy

another, usually more expensive, part. buying parts twice is never cost

effective, even if your labor is free.

[ocei77]

^+!

 Drain and fill block from upper radiator hose first. Then do the rest.

With the EJ thermostats on the bottom of the block filling from the radiator will not allow enough coolant to pass into the block via the jiggle valve. (another reason to use oem here or Stant's Xactstat) 

Leave radiator cap off overnight to allow trapped air to percolate up.

Sometimes it is a real pita.

 

O.

[xdeadeye1]

Problem solved:

 

It wasn't the burping thing..     The black part of the control cable came loose at the controls,,  The Flap door was shut So no heat would get in. 

 

Re clipped the plastic covering to the control unit,, all is good.