Hit-or-Miss Heating
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From: J.B. Wood on 14 Dec 2009 06:59 Hello, all. My 1990 Mercury Sable has lately been displaying some unusual heating behavior: With the passenger compartment temperature set at 85F I only get cold air coming out of any of the ducts even when the engine temp is nominal (mid range on the temp gauge). The weird thing is that after I drive the car to work and it sits outside all day I always have loads of heat available when driving home. The coolant level is where it should be and the water pump and thermostat were recently replaced. Does anyone have an idea? Thanks for your time and comment. Sincerely, -- John Wood (Code 5550) e-mail: wood(a)itd.nrl.navy.mil Naval Research Laboratory 4555 Overlook Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20375-5337
From: m6onz5a on 14 Dec 2009 09:18 On Dec 14, 6:59 am, "J.B. Wood" <john.w...(a)nrl.navy.mil> wrote: > Hello, all. My 1990 Mercury Sable has lately been displaying some > unusual heating behavior: With the passenger compartment temperature > set at 85F I only get cold air coming out of any of the ducts even when > the engine temp is nominal (mid range on the temp gauge). The weird > thing is that after I drive the car to work and it sits outside all day > I always have loads of heat available when driving home. The coolant > level is where it should be and the water pump and thermostat were > recently replaced. Does anyone have an idea? Thanks for your time and > comment. Sincerely, > -- > John Wood (Code 5550) e-mail: w...(a)itd.nrl.navy.mil > > Naval Research Laboratory > 4555 Overlook Avenue, SW > Washington, DC 20375-5337 maybe a sticking heater/exchange box unit
From: hls on 14 Dec 2009 09:25 "J.B. Wood" <john.wood(a)nrl.navy.mil> wrote in message news:hg59bg$52u$1(a)ra.nrl.navy.mil... > Hello, all. My 1990 Mercury Sable has lately been displaying some > unusual heating behavior: With the passenger compartment temperature > set at 85F I only get cold air coming out of any of the ducts even when > the engine temp is nominal (mid range on the temp gauge). The weird > thing is that after I drive the car to work and it sits outside all day > I always have loads of heat available when driving home. The coolant > level is where it should be and the water pump and thermostat were > recently replaced. Does anyone have an idea? Thanks for your time and > comment. Sincerely, Was it like this before you had the thermostat replaced?
From: J.B. Wood on 14 Dec 2009 11:51 hls wrote: > > "J.B. Wood" <john.wood(a)nrl.navy.mil> wrote in message > news:hg59bg$52u$1(a)ra.nrl.navy.mil... >> Hello, all. My 1990 Mercury Sable has lately been displaying some >> unusual heating behavior: With the passenger compartment temperature >> set at 85F I only get cold air coming out of any of the ducts even when >> the engine temp is nominal (mid range on the temp gauge). The weird >> thing is that after I drive the car to work and it sits outside all day >> I always have loads of heat available when driving home. The coolant >> level is where it should be and the water pump and thermostat were >> recently replaced. Does anyone have an idea? Thanks for your time and >> comment. Sincerely, > > Was it like this before you had the thermostat replaced? Hello, and thank you and others for the quick response. I had drafted my OP up last week and while it was true I've since stopped getting heat going home as well. A couple observations: 1. I'm not sure if the '90 Sable has a heater core flow control valve. Even if it does and it's intermittent would that explain: 2. There have been several isolated instances where the temperature indicator (engine has been running for a while) has gone to its maximum value and just as quickly dropped down below below the midpoint before returning to the midpoint. My conclusion here would be low coolant but the coolant appears to be full. I'm speculating that something is restricting coolant flow such as a partially-blocked radiator or somewhere else other than the heater core but before the thermostat. Any further insights are most welcome. Sincerely, -- John Wood (Code 5550) e-mail: wood(a)itd.nrl.navy.mil Naval Research Laboratory 4555 Overlook Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20375-5337
From: jim on 14 Dec 2009 11:58
"J.B. Wood" wrote: > > hls wrote: > > > > "J.B. Wood" <john.wood(a)nrl.navy.mil> wrote in message > > news:hg59bg$52u$1(a)ra.nrl.navy.mil... > >> Hello, all. My 1990 Mercury Sable has lately been displaying some > >> unusual heating behavior: With the passenger compartment temperature > >> set at 85F I only get cold air coming out of any of the ducts even when > >> the engine temp is nominal (mid range on the temp gauge). The weird > >> thing is that after I drive the car to work and it sits outside all day > >> I always have loads of heat available when driving home. The coolant > >> level is where it should be and the water pump and thermostat were > >> recently replaced. Does anyone have an idea? Thanks for your time and > >> comment. Sincerely, > > > > Was it like this before you had the thermostat replaced? > > Hello, and thank you and others for the quick response. I had drafted > my OP up last week and while it was true I've since stopped getting > heat going home as well. A couple observations: > > 1. I'm not sure if the '90 Sable has a heater core flow control valve. > Even if it does and it's intermittent would that explain: > > 2. There have been several isolated instances where the temperature > indicator (engine has been running for a while) has gone to its maximum > value and just as quickly dropped down below below the midpoint before > returning to the midpoint. My conclusion here would be low coolant but > the coolant appears to be full. I'm speculating that something is > restricting coolant flow such as a partially-blocked radiator or > somewhere else other than the heater core but before the thermostat. > Any further insights are most welcome. Sincerely, You could have air in the system. That could have happened when the thermostat was changed. I didn't see where you gave an answer to the question in the post you are responding to: "Was it like this before you had the thermostat replaced?" -jim > > -- > John Wood (Code 5550) e-mail: wood(a)itd.nrl.navy.mil > > Naval Research Laboratory > 4555 Overlook Avenue, SW > Washington, DC 20375-5337 |