Heat went away

toddr124

toddr124

Hagerstown, MD
I drove my X1/9 last Saturday in ~20 degree temperatures. The car is stored in my garage between drives. The car drove great once it warmed up and had plenty of heat.

After 3 hours of driving, we parked the cars and had a long 2+ hour lunch. I had no heat on the way home (about an hour of highway driving). I check the water/coolant level in the tank and the tank is still 2/3 full.

What stole my heat?
 
A Few Quick Checks

First, just on the off chance that the heater control lever was moved, check to ensure it's still connected to the heater control valve and it's still moving properly.
Second, you can never go wrong by bleeding any air out of the cooling system at the radiator bleeder. Air bubbles find high points and the heater core is one of them.
Good luck,
Dave
 
Heater valves work fine

I checked them. I thought of air bubbles and I will bleed the system again soon.

Any chance of something freezing causing the problem?:confuse2:
 
Todd...

Air in, water out... Water out, air in...

That's the way it usually works... and I find that many have a hard time remembering that. If you need to bleed air out, then you've lost coolant somewhere.

My best guess is something froze. But what would I know... its been 70 degrees out here most of my life! HA!

I betcha if you park it in a relatively warm garage that it works again. I would suspect the heater core, or lines leading up to it and back. If you get things flowing again... ya might try flushing out just the core using water hose pressure from your home. I would remove them both off the engine and apply hose pressure to one and see what happens. Go EASY at first, don't wanna bust nuttin'!

Let us know what ya find...
 
Frozen I think!

Two hours in 20ºF temps is long enough for a heater core or related line to freeze, I would think. Especially if the coolant/antifreeze mix is old or not strong enough. A 50/50 mix is usually only good to what, about 32ºF?

Watch for leak when it thaws.:eyepop:
 
budgetzagato said:
Two hours in 20ºF temps is long enough for a heater core or related line to freeze, I would think. Especially if the coolant/antifreeze mix is old or not strong enough. A 50/50 mix is usually only good to what, about 32ºF?

Watch for leak when it thaws.:eyepop:
Click to expand...

This is my worry. I replaced the radiator last year and added new fluid in a 50/50 mix, but I had to top off when my cap failed this summer. I might have used water instead of antifreeze. I just do not remember.

I will have to check the antifreeze tonight.
 
Prestone 50/50 mix protects to -34F

Not sure about other brands, but I have always used Prestone in my cars in a 50% mix. Here in the Midwest it gets pretty cold in the winter, never had a freezing issue.

Also protects to +265F for boil over. Probably not a problem right now! :)
 
-20 Degrees?

If it truly got that cold, maybe it could freeze up something in your cooling system. (and wind chill doesn't count, as it's not going to affect your X's engine when it's sitting for 2 hours after a long drive) However, living slightly North of you, with the same weather you experienced, I doubt anything froze up in your cooling system. Make sure your mixture is decent, then bleed the system.
Dave
 
Heat maybe be back

Okay I am an idiot. I checked the metal coolant tank and there was a little under a half a tank of coolant. I decided to top the tank. It took over a gallon of antifreeze and the tank is still not full.

I need a better way to tell how much fluid is in the expansion tank. I am making a dip stick with markings for full.

How far from the mouth of the tank should I full the tank?:confused:
 
This is a problem.

The basic problem is that any excess will be deposited onto the ground through the tiny hose form the tank neck. A better system is to provide a reservoir/catch tank which the expansion tank can fill and drain from.

I refill to about 3/4 and let the system find it's own level. But this does make me want to create a reservoir. There are many potential candidates for this part.

So this begs the question, do you have a leak? Not unexpected given the cold temps.
 
thermostat... food for thought...

Just wanted to throw out there that the stat may have stuck open as well.... just in case the additional fluid doesn't resolve your issue...

I'm thinking the tilde ( ~ ) is meant as approx 20 degrees vs. 20 below?
 
Dayton Tom said:
Just wanted to throw out there that the stat may have stuck open as well.... just in case the additional fluid doesn't resolve your issue...

I'm thinking the tilde ( ~ ) is meant as approx 20 degrees vs. 20 below?
Click to expand...

You are correct ~ means about not negative. Replaced the thermastat last spring when mine went bad.

In the last 2 years I have replaced the radiator, thermostat, all hoses, all hose clamps, radiator cap (twice) and all fluid. I am going to add an overflow bottle next.
 
You added a gallon of coolant to a system that holds 12 quarts, so that means it was down by a third.

There is a leak, we just haven't found it yet.....
 
Todd... by BOTH...

... Do you mean the SYSTEM and the CAP?

Many problems such as this are from a cap that will not hold pressure to approximately 13 pounds.

Secondly, I fill the system via the reservoir tank... to about 2/3 full, leaving about 1/3 for expansion. Mine never coughs... so I don't see a need for an overflow tank.

BUT... my Vette does tend to... You can spend HUNDREDS on an overflow tank (BILLET anyone???). I found an inexpensive one with a mount and hoses for about 15 bucks at my local CarQuest Auto Parts Store... Nothing fancy, but works well.
 
No need for an overflow tank but...

It could help. It would prevent air from being drawn in, via the cap anyway. Also, for those with a stainless or metal tank, provide some measure of fluid level.

The idea is that with an overflow, you could fill the tank to the top, and also, in general it would be self-bleeding.
 
Could be...

It has a cold-weather leak, or a headgasket issue. I'd be hard pressed to lose a gallon of fluid and not see or smell it unless it was being burned internally.
 
There is a faint smell of antifreeze

For the 1st minute I turn the heat on. This goes away quickly and does not come back.

We have discussed the head gasket many times for fluid loss. I even bought all the gasket needed for the job, but the compression checks out great on all cylinders. I hate to replace the head gasket if it is not needed.:confused:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top