Strange and puzzling.......

[SuzukiGhostRider]

So, anyhow... Didn't get to dropping the lines and flushing the core today. If memory serves though from looking at it yesterday under the car it appears the lines for the heater core protruding from the firewall are METAL which would mean it has been replaced I would think. Weren't all replacement cores PLASTIC until recent history?

Hoping to get to this tomorrow. It's been one thing after another lately. I can't WAIT to see what breaks once I fix the damn heater! I'm anal about my cars being 100% all the time and Quads are true to their "high maintenance rep" about wanting constant attention, even if it's NOT expensive.

[DTMAce]

Earlier beretta's had metal. Later ones had plastic. Don't know the year they changed either. I know cause I fucking broke mine when I replaced the rack about ... 8 years ago I think it was. Replaced the core later when I moved up here back in 04 with the metal version.

[SuzukiGhostRider]

Just hit me like a ton of fucking bricks..... It's my t-stat, bet money on it. Bet it's stuck open. Damn thing is new like 3 months ago too. But I realized tonight driving to the casino and back, the gauge (on the highway) never went higher than 160* F which means it's not hitting operating temps. Which means the t-stat is stuck open. Cheap goddamn Duracrap Vatozone parts. I KNEW I shouldn't have bought my T-stat there!

[SuzukiGhostRider]

So, screw it. Here's what I'm going to do. Why mess around, right? I'm buying a brand new water pump and associated gaskets, a NAPA premium t-stat and associated gaskets, and finish making the entire coolant system sans lower rad hose and heater core, brand new. I'm done fucking around. If that doesn't fix it for good, I'll blow the damn car up.

[speedy]

do it, and again, i dont see how they could have "bypassed" cooling lines to the throttle body, when theres 2 problems with that, theres nothing on the throttle body for the lines, and the water outlet on 93 and 94 is different due to the thermastat being located under the water pump wich is amongst the dumbest thing they ever did if you ask me...

[3X00-Modified]

Newer beretta's did not come with metal cores... I just pulled my stock core from my 96 this winter after ~16yrs of duty and it was plastic and ready to crack like Patrick's did at NE fest.

So anything metal is a replacement and typically the $28-$30 brands... Delpi and the AC Delco ones are still plastic base caps and lines and cost $36-$78

[DTMAce]

So, screw it. Here's what I'm going to do. Why mess around, right? I'm buying a brand new water pump and associated gaskets, a NAPA premium t-stat and associated gaskets, and finish making the entire coolant system sans lower rad hose and heater core, brand new. I'm done fucking around. If that doesn't fix it for good, I'll blow the damn car up.

Kinda like what I had to do with the 03 Caravan. It had a seep when I bought it at the intake to the rad, so I trimmed the soft part off the hose and reclamped it. Then it starts leaking from the bottom hose. Went to replace that, saw it was seeping around the water pump too. Replaced all the hoses, the pump.... and then the rad started leaking! So I replaced that!

The only things I haven't changed were the stat, the heater core and heater lines. LOL
I think the original owner must have had a bad mix at one point and the system froze. The only thing that would explain failure everywhere for me on that. Thankfully it seems fine now.

[ronaconda]

Newer beretta's did not come with metal cores... I just pulled my stock core from my 96 this winter after ~16yrs of duty and it was plastic and ready to crack like Patrick's did at NE fest.

So anything metal is a replacement and typically the $28-$30 brands... Delpi and the AC Delco ones are still plastic base caps and lines and cost $36-$78

I don't know of any GM that came with all metal cores...both original cores from my beretta and the 89 cavy i had had plastic caps and hose nipples.

[SuzukiGhostRider]

Speedy, I think you're right on that call as '93 was the switch over year for the dumbass new water outlet housing and bad "new" t-stat placement. My '93 SCX did NOT have TB lines, I just looked at some old pics. My mistake. But my '92,'91,'90 all have/had them. So I guess they quit in '93 on the Quads.

Picked up my brand new lifetime warranty water pump and associated gaskets today along with some high temp atv made for water pumps and t-stat housings from NAPA. Lifetime premium T-stat (195*) will be in tomorrow morning. Also have the new gasket for it.

So tomorrow or Saturday, one more time on the cooling system. Hopefully the last for awhile.

[90GTZHO]

hell, i would almost Mike, just replace the core while your at it if your gonna get that involved with it all. I mean, the system will be open, pump and lines replaced, you might as well kick out another 30 bucks and change the core out. If its the original, i would suggest changing it before those plastic fittings blow out on you. Yes its a pain in the ass cause of the newer style heater ducts, but might as well do it all at once and eliminate it all. Your putting new parts in, might as well make it all new I did the core on a 94 GA (similar heating duct setup) in about 2 hrs with beer drinking and pissing around. Not hard to do really.

Hope things work out for ya. If not, sell me the car

[SuzukiGhostRider]

Was actually thinking the same thing just now. I'm about to head out and drain the system and get to work. I might just order a new heater core as well.

Quite honestly, the heater core is about as involved as a water pump on this car,lol. You have to take half the damn engine bay apart to GET to the water pump. They can be a real PITA.

[SuzukiGhostRider]

Well, I was right all the way around. T-stat (one of them at least, yes one of them, read on) was stuck open. Also, being the WRONG head (or so I had always presumed on this motor) no notch in the cylinder head next to the t-stat. In other words, when I plugged off the TB lines, I plugged off the car's bypass to feed the heater core hose.

I had always assumed this was an HO with the wrong crank pulley and a new 456 "wrong" head. Well, as I dug into the motor today deeper than I ever have, I discovered this motor is a '94 Low Output Quad 4. I am PISSED.

Hints:

1. "Remanufactured in Mexico" sticker on the timing cover.

2. 456 cylinder head.

3. T-stat located in the lower water pipe. (But get this! When I GOT the car and first switched the t-stat it HAD one at the cylinder head water outlet housing! WTF?!? So, it had TWO t-stats one top and one bottom!)

4. Fact that this motor was almost EVENLY matched by a late model STOCK TC 2.4L a week ago.

5. LO crank pulley.

6. LO style lower rad hose water pipe.

I no longer harbor any doubt that this motor is an LO. I have all the necessary components to swap it to an HO and that is beginning today. I have the HO pulley, I have HO cams, I have 086 heads. This fucker will be an HO when I'M done!

See my Member's Rides thread for continuing progress if you're interested in following along.

This thread is solved.

No notch in the head (which I had forgotten I saw when I switched the t-stat last time) = no flow to heater core hose when TB lines are plugged off thereby blocking off the passageway to the heater core inlet line.

[ronaconda]

Wow...i'm speechless.