Getting HEAT working

[pink_sleeve]

I would like to get the heat working in my car since winter is approaching and i also have a newborn son on the way. I have had the car since about last June. Over last winter the heat worked but i would consider it sub par. The colder it gets outside the less the heat works. If it was 20 outside the heat coming out of the dash might reach 70 and i know it should blow hotter then that out of the dash. When it is in the 50's or so the heat will blow out of the dash at around maybe 85.... What should i be looking for to get the heating system up to par?

[Dr_Snooz]

Does the car run cold too or just the heater? If the car runs cold, replace your thermostat. Beyond that, check the heater valve on the firewall that lets water into the core. If that checks okay, then you're looking for malfunctioning heater doors in the dash.

[pink_sleeve]

The car takes forever for the needle on the dash to go up and even once it rises to the middle the heat still doesn't get as hot as i think it should be getting. I used a temp gun and the heat blowing out of the vents in my girlfriends 2010 Galant is over 100 easily.

[Hauntd ca3]

service the cooling system.
pull the thermostat, put the housing and rad hose back on and jam a hose up it at full blast. then pull the other hose off and reverse flush it. do the same to the radiator and heater core.
put in a new thermostat and gasket/ rubber ring which ever one it has and refill and bleed with good quality coolant. i use prestone myself and its alright.
use a genuine honda thermostat, an aftermarket one may save you a few dollars, but the genuine ones are always the best way

[Dr_Snooz]

x2

[pink_sleeve]

OK i still haven't been able to get my heat working that well. I took off my upper radiator hose and let the water run through on full pressure back out of the top of the radiator. Now i'm also noticing my guage on the dash is only coming up about a 1/4 of the way and when i check the hoses the upper is hot but the bottom is not even warm??? and the car takes a good 15 min or so for the guage on the dash to even start to move. And driving the car on the freeway or just about anywhere it almost seems like the guage drops in tempature? I know this isn't right. Is this a sign of a stuck closed thermostat? I would think if it was a clogged radiator when i blew the water through the upper hose that it wouldn't flow out of the top of the radiator?

[Hauntd ca3]

if the thermostat were stuck closed , the car would over heat inside 10 minutes.
it sounds as if the thermostat is stuck wide open if the temp starts to drop once you get moving along the freeway.
put in a new thermostat, bleed the air out and see what happens.

[pink_sleeve]

if the thermostat were stuck closed , the car would over heat inside 10 minutes.
it sounds as if the thermostat is stuck wide open if the temp starts to drop once you get moving along the freeway.
put in a new thermostat, bleed the air out and see what happens.

It never shows it is overheating on the dash. It shows it's overcooling according to the gauge. It used to get up to the half way mark but now it only gets about a 1/4 of the way up....

[Hauntd ca3]

It never shows it is overheating on the dash. It shows it's overcooling according to the gauge. It used to get up to the half way mark but now it only gets about a 1/4 of the way up....

this is why i'm saying put in a new thermostat.
it controls the temp of the engine.
if its opening to early or is stuck open, it will over cool.
i had the same prob once, it would take for ever to heat up,and as soon as i started coasting down a long hill or driving at low load( eg, cruising at 65mph or around town at 30 ) it would cool down.
and as soon as i ran it at a higher load ( driving up big hills or accelerating hard for an extended period ) it would heat up.
put in a new thermostat, and hey presto it was perfect.

[pink_sleeve]

this is why i'm saying put in a new thermostat.
it controls the temp of the engine.
if its opening to early or is stuck open, it will over cool.
i had the same prob once, it would take for ever to heat up,and as soon as i started coasting down a long hill or driving at low load( eg, cruising at 65mph or around town at 30 ) it would cool down.
and as soon as i ran it at a higher load ( driving up big hills or accelerating hard for an extended period ) it would heat up.
put in a new thermostat, and hey presto it was perfect.

Just bought a new thermostat from advanceautoparts.com I'll go pick it up later today and see if i can get it installed and see if this cures my problems.

[pink_sleeve]

Well I finally got a minute to try to replace the thermostat and the upper bolt broke off in the housing. Can the housing be removed or is it likely one of those bolts will break off also. My son was born early and has been in the hospital ever since so I have not had much time to look at anything. I did notice the water is overly brown and rusty so the cooling system was never maintained which I figured so I'm not even sure if I can get the heat working properly.

[Dr_Snooz]

I hope everything is alright with your son. The housing can be removed. I had to do it with mine. Just go to the junkyard and find one with cover bolts that don't break off. Then swap it over. The dealer has the D-shaped oring too. Or at least they did a couple years ago. Otherwise, it's RTV time.

[pink_sleeve]

I hope everything is alright with your son. The housing can be removed. I had to do it with mine. Just go to the junkyard and find one with cover bolts that don't break off. Then swap it over. The dealer has the D-shaped oring too. Or at least they did a couple years ago. Otherwise, it's RTV time.

After getting another chance to look at it it appears my unit has nuts that need to be removed to get the main housing off vs more bolts. Is this what you meant or is this normal? Or was you meaning there is another style where the thermostat bolts in?

[danny nr crew]

i got the same problem but in my case the needle doesnt go down on the interstate it just stays at 1/8 above the the cold line so my heat is never hot in the winter. i did replace my thermostat as well but that didnt do anything. also my heater also does get colder as the temp goes down. could this be the heater core?

[POS carb]

Does the car run cold too or just the heater? If the car runs cold, replace your thermostat. Beyond that, check the heater valve on the firewall that lets water into the core. If that checks okay, then you're looking for malfunctioning heater doors in the dash.

^x2^
if you look under the dash on the passenger side near the radio you will see a cable. this is connected to the temp slider and to the heater valve. move the temp from cold to hot and note the movement. once you adjust the temp to max heat see if you can push the lever farther with your finger. if you can then the cable is probably sliding and not being held stationary by the clips. there is a clip behind the temp slider and another one on the heater box. this pushes the flaps that direct the air through the heater core. if it doesn't go all the way then some air will bypass the heater.

[Dr_Snooz]

After getting another chance to look at it it appears my unit has nuts that need to be removed to get the main housing off vs more bolts. Is this what you meant or is this normal? Or was you meaning there is another style where the thermostat bolts in?

The thermostat cover has bolts. The housing has nuts. You want to make sure that the thermostat cover bolts work before removing the housing nuts. Sorry if that wasn't clear. It's a bugger getting it out. Look for a car that is already torn down to make it easier.

[pink_sleeve]

Got the thermostat bold drilled out. Fired the car up and thought it was running funny so I shut it off and checked the oil. Blown head gasket. Ya for me. Idk if I should try to fix it or send it to the scrap yard :(

[pink_sleeve]

Got the thermostat bold drilled out. Fired the car up and thought it was running funny so I shut it off and checked the oil. Blown head gasket. Ya for me. Idk if I should try to fix it or send it to the scrap yard :(

[Dr_Snooz]

What condition is the rest of the car in?

[pink_sleeve]

It's not as bad as alot of older Ohio cars I've saw. I'm gonna try doing the headgasket myself with some help from my uncle. Also gonna be doing the timing belt since it looks like it has never been replaced.

[Dr_Snooz]

The junk it or not question really hinges on a number of things, including the general condition of the car and the range of options in a similar price range. It's almost always cheaper to fix the car you have than to buy something else.

[pink_sleeve]

The junk it or not question really hinges on a number of things, including the general condition of the car and the range of options in a similar price range. It's almost always cheaper to fix the car you have than to buy something else.

I def can't afford to buy another car right now so I don't have much of a choice. Plus I just like the 3rd gen Accord though I wish it was an LXI model lol.

[pink_sleeve]

Anybody know of any other places to order from that are comparable in prices to rockauto ? After adding things to the cart it shows things coming from 4 different places sending shipping pretty high. I would like everything to come from one place and show up at the same time if possible. Also where can I find the torque specs and sequence for the head bolts.

[Dr_Snooz]

Torque sequence is on p. 6-17 of the manual (http://honda.roadpwnage.com/manuals/pages/usdm-accord-1989-full.php).

[pink_sleeve]

Thank you for the link.... Does anyone know off the top of their head what size wrenches the egr pipe and the other pipe require. The biggest I have access to right now is a 7/8 and they are bigger then that and I'm assuming they will be metric? Thanks again for all the help guys.

[ecogabriel]

Anybody know of any other places to order from that are comparable in prices to rockauto ? After adding things to the cart it shows things coming from 4 different places sending shipping pretty high. I would like everything to come from one place and show up at the same time if possible. Also where can I find the torque specs and sequence for the head bolts.

Order the part (or parts) you really want to be from a certain brand first. Their webpage will tell you whether the parts you are adding to the cart ship from the same location or not.

Those are good cars if taken care of. You can rent a torque wrench from autozone or advance auto

[pink_sleeve]

Order the part (or parts) you really want to be from a certain brand first. Their webpage will tell you whether the parts you are adding to the cart ship from the same location or not.

Those are good cars if taken care of. You can rent a torque wrench from autozone or advance auto

Yeah I noticed that but I'm ordering the following parts, head gasket, valve cover gasket, crank seal, cam seal, oil pump seal, timing belt and tensioner, water pump, water pump seal, valve cover gromets, exhaust manifold gasket, upper radiator hose, radiator, and the accessory belt that goes on the crank, water pump, and alternator. The parts come to around 160 and another 60 in shipping. Should I be ordering any other things I'm missing? Also I already have a few torque wrenches. But thanks for the info.

[ecogabriel]

Yeah I noticed that but I'm ordering the following parts, head gasket, valve cover gasket, crank seal, cam seal, oil pump seal, timing belt and tensioner, water pump, water pump seal, valve cover gromets, exhaust manifold gasket, upper radiator hose, radiator, and the accessory belt that goes on the crank, water pump, and alternator. The parts come to around 160 and another 60 in shipping. Should I be ordering any other things I'm missing? Also I already have a few torque wrenches. But thanks for the info.

60 for shipping looks like too much; try pricing the same stuff say with NAPA online and see how much it would cost. Some things are not really that much expensive locally; when that is the case I buy locally (unless there are no stores where you live)

[pink_sleeve]

60 for shipping looks like too much; try pricing the same stuff say with NAPA online and see how much it would cost. Some things are not really that much expensive locally; when that is the case I buy locally (unless there are no stores where you live)

My friend is a manager at Napa and he can't even come close to that total even with shipping. I guess ill look around some more but I need to get stuff on order asap. I'd rather get more parts then waste so much on shipping though.

[ecogabriel]

My friend is a manager at Napa and he can't even come close to that total even with shipping. I guess ill look around some more but I need to get stuff on order asap. I'd rather get more parts then waste so much on shipping though.

Wow if it is that bad then I would order some extra parts as you say.


One thing I would suggest doing - since you'll get the cylinder head out of the car - is replacing all the small odd coolant hoses under the intake manifold. I don't know carbed cars but EFI ones have 3 or 4 of them that are f... hard to access.
Another thing to replace is the D-shaped seal in the thermostat housing (where it attaches to the cylinder head) that get hardened with time and eventually leak.

[pink_sleeve]

Got all my parts in from rockauto and went to work on the car. The project is on halt because I can't get the crank bolt free. Electric impact no go, breaker bar no go, lower the car on the breaker bar no go, head gasket is blown so I can't drive the car anywhere so right now I'm kinda dead in the water.

[TotaledTL]

After you get your proj. restarted def. do what ecogabriel said & replace all the hoses you see while you can get to them. They can look ok but be near failing. Good luck.

[pink_sleeve]

I have had zero luck in getting this F N crank bolt out. Is it possible to replace the head gasket without removing the crank pulley and timing belt to get the car back running. Then I would be able to take it to a friends house who has a 1" drive Ingersol impact to break it free. Only problem is he lives about 40 min away and I don't have a compressor to run any air tools at my house... I thought I have saw somewhere where someone had took of the cam pulley and zip tied the belt to it to remove the head. Is this possible?

[Dr_Snooz]

If you take the bolt out of the cam pulley, you can remove the pulley along with the belt. You won't be able to remove the lower timing belt cover though. As long as you don't need to, you should be good.

For the crank bolt on an AT car, drop a heavy socket extension down the timing sight hole between the block and trans bell-housing. It will jam the drive plate and prevent it from turning.

For the crank bolt on a MT car, leave the car in a high gear and one wheel on the ground. That will prevent the crank from turning.

To avoid problems in the future, be sure to torque the crank bolt to proper spec (108 ft-lbs) and no more.

[pink_sleeve]

Got the Cam pulley off and just about everything to remove the head. How do you remove the throttle cable from the carb? it looks like some funky clip deal?