no heat - replaced EVERYTHING! Really frusterated.. plz help

[tvc3-gtz]

I have a 1990 Beretta GTZ, as most of you know. It had its head gasket replaced, and I also had the heater core, power steering belt, and thermostat changed. I am still not getting any kind of heat in the car, and I even replaced the climate control gauges with ones from my old Beretta Indy that I know worked fine.. I am very frustrated because I wanna go on a date with my fiance tonight and I'd like the heat to work so it won't be a cold ride back home... any help will be greatly appreciated.. please..
- Tom

[themixer]

car could be is airlocked. Take out your tstat and drill a 1/8 inch hole in it. Wont change your heat and is just enough to let the air out of the system. Besides that do you hear the vac line switching the heat around? do you just get blasted with cold air? or the fan will not turn on?

[tvc3-gtz]

could you pour antifreeze into the car while its running (in the radiator cap area) to fix the airlock? The vac line definitely switches it over, the climate controls were working in the other car too, new heater core + new thermostat... and .. where am I drilling? I get blasted with cold air.. no heat at all...

[Barry]

You probably have air in your heater core. Get the engine up to temperature so the t stat is open. Rev it up for a while(hard). You can also squeeze your rad hoses to "burp" the system. Eventually you will get all the air out/

Its also possible that in your heater core box your door is not switching between your ac and heat and is stuck on AC.

[tvc3-gtz]

a brand new heater core would have that kind of issue? jesus....

[DTMAce]

What issue? Air pockets? Of course.

[SuzukiGhostRider]

Take your radiator cap off. Make sure coolant level is at proper level for cold full marking. Start car. Let idle until fan cycles on and off TWICE with cap OFF with the heat set on HIGH and fan on HIGH. Keep an eye on the over flow tank for overspill. Once the fan has cycled on and off TWICE, replace radiator cap , THEN kill car. Repeat as many times as necessary.

I'm quite sure if you watch the tank , you'll see the bubbles from the air coming back through the system.

Two reasons this should have been done by the shop that did the work.

A. Good way to over heat a new head / headgasket by having air pockets that don't allow the t-stat to work right.

B. The heat also has trouble working.

I almost guarantee you , you have an air pocket or several. If you had a shop do your heater core and headgasket, bitch them out for being too inept to know to bleed the coolant system. If you did them, then now you know. GL.

[SuzukiGhostRider]

car could be is airlocked. Take out your tstat and drill a 1/8 inch hole in it. Wont change your heat and is just enough to let the air out of the system. Besides that do you hear the vac line switching the heat around? do you just get blasted with cold air? or the fan will not turn on?

Almost all new t-stats already have the hole Mixer. If he just had his head done, it's safe to assume the t-stat is new as well.

[Cliff8928]

I guess I would start on this with asking if the heater hoses get hot where the go in the firewall? It's a quad so you've got plenty of room back there.

[tvc3-gtz]

I have the heat working, but once it starts up and drives.. I rev it a bit and it will kick in after making a weird almost popping deflating noise.. I'll do the radiator cap removal and flow trick and see how that helps.. its definitely air bubbles and I certainly do not want to overheat/ruin my new gasket job .. thanks guys... yet again you prove to be way more helpful than my effing mechanic

[SuzukiGhostRider]

No sweat man. I think it may be time for a new mechanic , no? This is a very "procedural" thing and simple. I can't tell you to put faith in a mechanic that doesn't even do the "simple things".

[tvc3-gtz]

yeah.. I hear you.. so the reason why I had to rev it is because there are still air bubbles in it?

[SuzukiGhostRider]

Well, momma taught me never to answer a question with a question, but I have to this time. I'm curious about something. Was your water pump also replaced when the head was done as it should have been? I'm wondering now from your description. The reason I ask is because , if once you bleed the air bubbles all out and you STILL don't have working heat, I would readily point to a set of weak or rusted off impellers on your water pump if it was not replaced. Or a bad bearing in the shaft of the water pump. BOTH will cause flow issues. If it wasn't DO NOT take this car back to that mechanic ever again.