The heater core thing..I didn't tell enough . The thermostat has been changed(hopefully the right one)?

Question

has been flushed twice. Is a 1997 f-150 truck. No steam on windows ,No wet floor, Some heat..just not hot enough to keep warm. The person that flushed it said we had the wrong thermostat , another person said it is the right one.How can you tell?

Answer 1

If you have only a little heat then its almost certainly not the right one. Go to the dealership to get the right one, its not expensive, then change it yourself. Any backyard mechanic can change a thermostat. If you're not sure how get the repair book for your truck and follow the instructions (you'll need to change the gasket too).

Answer 2

What are you talking about. ?

It sounds like you continued another question on this one - the net result is something that doesn't make sense.

Let me try a guess... your heater core or your hot water hoses blew.. you replaced them and now the heat in the truck is verrrrry low.?

Ok.. the thermostat doesn't matter. Its function is to retard the water flow thru the engine block so that the engine heats up faster. When the engine heats up, the thermostat opens and lets more water thru to keep the engine at that temperature and no hotter. You can REMOVE a thermostat and just have an engine that takes longer to heat up.. BUT IT WILL HEAT UP.

Soooo.... you problem is one of several things

You get some heat so the system must be connected. (but check it anyway... there should be two hoses into the heater core. One from the water pump and one returning. If that checks, remove the thermostat that everyone is so concered about, reseal the housing and check the following:

a) If you replaced the core, then maybe something is faulty inside of it (a plug?). Your mechanic can test this by simply hooking your system up to a garden hose and seeing if the water flows thru it with some velocity.

b) Your heater hoses are bad. Hoses can swell and plug.. same test as in #1 will tell you that.

c) The heater hose clamps are not on properly. If they are not placed over the inlets, the net effect when they are tightened is to sqeeze the hose shut. Remove and reposition the clamps. (Sounds like a dumb thing doesn't it, but you would be surprised how many times this happens).

d) Water pump is out. I doubt this.. your car would be having a major problem if it was....

its got to be one of those...

Next time write a better question.... please.

Answer 3

Thermostat? not likely.

I'd hazard to guess the heater core is plugged up.
It's basicaly like a little radiator with small ports that water runs thru. If these are plugged up, the hot water from the engine will not be able to flow thru it very well.

The other option is the blend door in the heater box. It opens and closes to let more or less air to flow past thru the heater core.
It could be stuck in one position.

To test that theory, put the heater control to "cold" (don't turn the A\C on)
If it's about the same temperature as the outside air, then the door closes off the heater core.

If you move the temperature control to hot, you should feel the air warm up as the blend door opens to let air pass thru the heater core.

Some trucks use a flow valve to control water flow thru the heater core intead of air flow.

I'm not much of a Ford man, and I'm not sure if I helped much, but between my answer and others you should get a good idea of what to look for.