Heating stopped working??

Johnny Bitte

Hey all,
Just a quick what to check.

Drove 2okm this morning heating to extra long to start working but got hot eventually.

Spent about 30 mins out of the car and on the journey back I couldnt get the heating to heat up. Just blew cold air.

What could cause this?

pajero12

The cold air could be cooling the water in the cooling system too quickly,What kind of car is it?

peasant

possible causes from harmless to severe:

- it actually IS too cold for your heater to produce significant heat (unlikely)
- your heater controls are broken and stuck on cold (also unlikely, as it worked , kind of)
- you have a leak in the heater and hot water doesn't reach
- you have a leak somewhere else in the cooling system
- you have not enough anti-freeze in your coolant and your coolant circuit is actually frozen/blocked

The last three could result in expensive engine damage. Check your coolant levels and stop driving until you have determined the cause (and remedied any problems)

Sids Not

You're thermostat is stuck open...

irelandspurs

Sids Not wrote: »

You're thermostat is stuck open...

This

peasant

Sids Not wrote: »

You're thermostat is stuck open...

yepp ...forgot about that one ..that would slot in place number three on the list

Johnny Bitte

Ok coolent is just below min, likely the cause i suppose.

Its a 06 Nissan Almera.

Do I need to get specific coolant or could I just pick up stuff out of petrol station?

Anan1

The_Goose135 wrote: »

Ok coolent is just below min, likely the cause i suppose.

That won't be the cause, it'd have to be far lower than that to affect the cabin heating. I'm with the thermostat camp.

Johnny Bitte

Anan1 wrote: »

That won't be the cause, it'd have to be far lower than that to affect the cabin heating. I'm with the thermostat camp.

Where would find the thermostat to fix it or will it come right by itself?

doctorchopper

The_Goose135 wrote: »

Where would find the thermostat to fix it or will it come right by itself?

No offense but by the sounds of your last couple posts changing your thermostat is not a job for you. You need to drain your coolant, remove the heater hose from the radiator, remove the thermostat housing that is bolted to the engine, change the thermostat, seal the thermostat housing to the engine, re fill the coolant system and possible bleed the air from it if it i air locked, that is if it is the thermostat in the first place, which i sort of sounds like it to me. Is the temp gauge on your instrument cluster registering heat? Should be around 80-85 deg (some are just a gauge with h and c, if so should be around 1/4 to half way from c to h, it should raise to normal operating temp within 10 min of driving.

Johnny Bitte

doctorchopper wrote: »

No offense but by the sounds of your last couple posts changing your thermostat is not a job for you. You need to drain your coolant, remove the heater hose from the radiator, remove the thermostat housing that is bolted to the engine, change the thermostat, seal the thermostat housing to the engine, re fill the coolant system and possible bleed the air from it if it i air locked, that is if it is the thermostat in the first place, which i sort of sounds like it to me. Is the temp gauge on your instrument cluster registering heat? Should be around 80-85 deg (some are just a gauge with h and c, if so should be around 1/4 to half way from c to h, it should raise to normal operating temp within 10 min of driving.

:eek:
Yeah, wont be doing that
Wont be going anywhere for a couple of days anyway so I ll bring it in to be checked out roper rather than feck it up.

Could it cause damage if it is the thermostat?:(

caseyann

Incase of leak drop in an egg

doctorchopper

Could it cause damage if it is the thermostat?:([/QUOTE]

Not if it is stuck open, Yes if it stuck closed, but if that was the case your temperature gauge would be way up and you would have all the heat you needed .

Anan1

doctorchopper wrote: »

Could it cause damage if it is the thermostat?:(

A thermostat stuck open will have the engine running cold (and therefore rich) for far longer than necessary. The extra fuel will wash the oil off the bores, leading to accelerated bore wear. I'd sort it ASAP.

Sids Not

Anan1 wrote: »

A thermostat stuck open will have the engine running cold (and therefore rich) for far longer than necessary. The extra fuel will wash the oil off the bores, leading to accelerated bore wear. I'd sort it ASAP.

+1
you'll cook the lower part of the engine, keep to short trips if you can, one should be to the garage..;)

Satts

The_Goose135 wrote: »

Just blew cold air. What could cause this?

Faulty heating control valve. ( As opposed to engine thermostat )

On my car there is a heating control valve that I have had to change to fix this problem.

The valve has a "H" shape. Two pipes in, two out and a bypass in the middle.

This is how it works.
When the valve is open, it lets hot water in one leg of the "H" to the heating heat exchanger rad (Not main rad) and a fan blows air at this rad, this heats the air, which in turn heats the car. The colder water leaves the heat exchanger rad through the other leg of the "H" valve.
If you want to have cool air in the car, the control valve prevents hot water going in to the heat exchanger. It goes in one leg of the "H" but is prevented going out the other side, and is bypassed through the horizontal bit of the "H" and back out the leg on the other side sending the hot water back to the engine.
In my valve there is a piston and it is moved by sending it 12 volt pulses. Varying the amount of pulses (Heating controls), varies the heat in the car. The piston can get stuck open or closed.

Mine cost 28 euro.

Johnny Bitte

Is there any chance that when things warm up it will come right?

This ****ing car has cost me close to 3 grand in the past year, sick to my teeth!
Tyre was wrecked coming home in the snow Friday and prob damaged the alloy too so at least another 150 to fix to that : (

Johnny Bitte

: ) well the heat back working after the coolant was topped up, but my da topped it up with screen wash with anti freeze?????!!!

That ok?

gondorff

I'm guessing you suspect that it's not ok. You'd be right too.

By the way, what's an okm?

Johnny Bitte

gondorff wrote: »

I'm guessing you suspect that it's not ok. You'd be right too.

By the way, what's an okm?

Ah crap, should I get the stuff out?