johncruz

I had a mechanic friend look at my car and he recomemded changing the thermostat. Well that didn't work, so he says get it flushed. So I do that at the dealership cause they have that special machine for flushes, cost me a fortune, one hour labour plus the cost of a flush, $270.00 cdn. They say it was plugged. Car comes back, I had heat till I got home, take it back, It's air locked and they bleed it and this and that. Same thing again, take it back. John it's your heater core, wait it's not leaking though? How can it be the heater core it's only got 35,000km. Doesn't matter they say. I talk to my mechanic buddy who looks over the car again. Out of no where he says head gasket. No ****** way. Any one out there encounter some thing like this before. I just can't see it. There are no signs at all except the no heat part, no internal or external coolant leekage, oil's good and clean. Not over heating, no white smoke. Should I replace the heater core?

john

av8er

When they flushed it, did they specifically flush the heater core? Check out this site.

http://www.carissma.com/tech_tips.htm

I used to have a f-body specific heater core flushing web page book-marked. However, seem to have lost it. Anyway, it should be mostly the same.

Hope this helps,

JeffA

RENE95Z

I would have to ask the same question as above; did they flush the heater core specifically? Do a search on heater cores and you will find plenty of responses on how to flush it out. I had the same problem and flushed it, now I have heat.

Wild1

Disconnect the heater hoses and run a hose with good pressure through then reverse. There are many messages here but it is a simple process. It doesn't seem to be a head gasket if all other conditions are fine... just no heat.

Remember, techs are paid based on job orders, not diagnosis. That's due to the flat rate system.

BennyBoy

This the link you guys are looking for?
http://www.vifbody.ca/articles/displayarticle.php?id=4

av8er

Yeah, that’s it! Re-bookmarked. : )

JeffA

johncruz

you guys are awesome! I'll try that tonight, i'll let ya know in the morning.
john

Wild1

Great link!!! Thanks!!!

abecker_xr250

Careful though, I just flushed my heater core, both ways, and all kinds of crap came out. As soon as I started the car after that there was coolant spraying out of the stupid thing though, all over my interior so apparantly whatever crap was in there was sealing it. Just something to watch out for, maybe be careful how much pressure you use.

shoebox

That is a good point. With gunk sitting in the heater core, there is more chance that it will rust out. It's in everyone's best interest to keep their cooling system maintained. The coolant loses it's corrosion inhibiting properties over time.

Wild1

Good point, when I was running Chase at the SCORE Baja 1000, one of our vehicles flicked a rock into the radiator. It was a small leak but in the middle of the Mexican desert. The locals were throwing eggs and zig-zags into the radiator to stop the leak. The moral of the story is to maintain your system because you have no idea what the previous owner put in the system. Don't ask how we refilled the coolant...