No Heat November? 90 Legacy

[dirtyloyalemobbin]

Hey guys, so as some of you guys probably know, my trusty Loyale of many years was tboned. She's at the doctor.. Ahem, shop. Meanwhile, I've picked up a 90 Legacy. Exeptionally well priced, low miles and well taken care of all around. One problem - stone cold air only. In Alaska.

 

When I first picked it up, it was so iced up on the insides of all the glass it was almost impossible to drive. I managed to scrape a small hole in the thick frost and get it to my home. The defroster, as well as any heat setting, doesn't exist. The fan comes on and you can hear the buttons respond but its not helpful in the slightest. Cold as can be.

 

That first night I ran an extension cord to a space heater in my car for about 7 or 8 hours. By the morning the ice inside was nicely cleared up and dry. So at least I can see now. I just hope its not the heater core. That's a tedious job right there. I wanted to hear what you guys thought.

 

Coolant levels are good. It may leak a little around the resivoir bottom but not any amount of significance at all.

Temp gauge is a little sporatic. Not exactly reassuring.

What do you guys think?

[lmdew]

Is it building pressure in the coolant hoses when the engine heats up?

 

Are the Heater hoses getting hot on the fire wall?

 

Couple of easy things to check.  

[dirtyloyalemobbin]

True, I hadn't thought of that *facepalm* - finding if both of the core hoses get hot, not just one. Shall do today.

[moosens]

Reverse flush available to you ? Grab a fresh thermostat , some new Anti-freeze , and hit the place that does flushes.

 

Not a bad idea no matter what the cause.

 

If need be I can tell you the dashboards come out pretty easy , but I haven’t changed a heater core yet. I have one sitting waiting for a fail but so far still getting great heat.

[wtdash]

Those models had infamous failed HVAC units - the dash control. I can't recall ATM if it meant no heat....or just only certain buttons would work....reSearch on that, too. BTW, '90='91, but not '92-'94.

GL,

Td

[Gloyale]

check the blend door cable connection.

 

passenger side footwell along right side of center console.

[dirtyloyalemobbin]

Gloyale - I will check that. Thanks mate.

I think a flush is a good idea too moosens. You're in Alaska too if I recall reading correctly?

 

I pulled it into my work's shop to try to determine if the heater core was blocked up. My conclusion is still pretty vague. With the heater supposedly on max even for some time both hoses were about equally warm, not hot though. Not hot like the main hose in the front was, that's for sure. I squeezed the hoses for a bit to try to move the coolant around but I don't think I got very far.

 

I'm far, far more familiar with ea82s/Loyales. I should really post some pictures of my "best" lol.. (The one that was tboned) Its been featured in the newspaper and a few pictures have circled social media. Good times.

[moosens]

Oh man how I wish I were in Alaska.

 

I’m stuck in hell - working class in Connecticut????

[xdeadeye1]

Check to see if previous owner didn't have a leaky core,, and just looped the two hoses together.  To avoid  pulling the heater core.