Hey guys, I've always had this problem since I've had the car and I haven't ever been bothered enough to fix it, but my heater seems like it does not work very well at all. It just got really annoying when it took forever to defog windows (whereas newer cars do it in a matter of seconds, mine takes minutes). What can I do to check that it's actually working normally? I am doing a full hose replacement that I bought from Ray Crowe later this month, and wanted to see what exactly could be done.

Thanks!

 

are you talking about with the engine fully warmed up? A/C on or off?

 

Clean the windows so they don't fog up as much?

 

that's weird...i have the same problem as well.
it takes forever...and the heat is not even hot as well.

 

when the engine is fully warmed up. does turning on the AC actually make a difference? I thought that was a separate system? Also, recirculate helps, but I think that's just because its taking already slightly warm air from the cabin.

It's more than just cleaning windows, the actual heat coming out of any vent isn't up to par. I'm sorry if that was not clear.

 

On my car, the door that mixes the hot and cold air doesn't work. I get no heat. The motor that is supposed to move the door doesn't seem to have any power to it. Maybe you have the same issue. I have had no heat for several years.

Suggestions on fixing this?

 

Same topic just a few threads down from this one... Looks like bajaman has a solution...

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/no-heat-heater-928354/

When I get my car running again I'm going to have to try his method. My heat sucked last winter and didn't know why I was freezing while driving! LOL!

 

hey adam! been a while.

How much access do you have to the motor? if you can pull it out and apply voltage you would be able to tell if the motor failed or if it's just not getting the correct signal/power.

Thanks so much! I want to try this but I don't have access to a pump.

 

Randy I just used a hose. Sealed it on there best i could with my hand and flushed water through it tell it went clear. It works pretty good now before i got 0 heat.

 

You don't need a pump. Disconnect the lower heater hose on the lower passenger side at the fire wall. Also disconnect the upper hose. The bottom is the outlet while the top is the inlet. Take another piece of hose and attach it to both leaving enough to run outside the vehicle into a bucket. Turn your key on and turn temp **** to heat, blower to 1. Pour a little water into the outlet side of the hose and use your mouth to back flush it. All your doing right now is checking to see if its clogged. If you can actually blow through then your ok to attach a garden hose and reverse flush it at very low flow. Remember NEVER EVER clamp the garden hose to your hose as the pressure can cause damage. Just use your hands to hold the lines together.

My Fd sat up for 4years with the heater cores hose removed while it was in my shop. This is exactly what I did to flush the rust out. My heater works great. Also remember the higher the water % in your coolant mixture, the hotter your heater will be.

 

Hi Randy.

The motor is under the passenger side of the dash. There isn't room to do **** over there. I don't think the motor is getting any power. You may want to check yours before trying to flush your heater core.

 

Also guys...remember that on the FD and pretty much every Japanese car of that era, the system is DELIBERATELY designed to NOT provide hot air to the face vents, due to their studies that this caused sleepiness.
You SHOULD however, be able to get very hot air out your windshield defroster. And yes...use the a/c compressor to greatly reduce the amount of time it takes to defog, as it dehumidifies the air.

 

Nice, I will try this as well as bajaman's fix..

 

My Fc and my M5 do the same thing. Well actually on the Bimmer there is a dash vent switch to actuate between hot and cold. I actually really like the cold air feature because when I'm on the highway I can set it so my feet stay warm and my face gets a nice cool breeze. It's very therapeutic and keeps me awake. To add to your post, some of the newer vehicles automatically turn on the compressor in windshield defrost mode.

 

Just another thing to sort out before I can bring my car back to SLO, Tyler. I'm going to have my hands full this break.

So there's no practical way for you to pull it out? I will check mine, but since I'm doing a complete coolant/heater hose job it won't hurt to try and flush things out while I'm in there.

Thanks for the details t-von, this will help out a lot when I'm actually going to flush.

 

I'm interested in this. My heater does kinda work, but I did a test, and putting the air on recirculate and letting my own body heat warm up the car works better than the actual heater.

 

Really??? Wow, I did not know that! Good to know, thanks!