Help - Car has no heat, what should I do?

[mvsmith12qw]

I recenty bought a 97 VT. There is no heat. I had the thermostat replaced and it didn't fix the problem. The temp of the air from the vents seems to always just match the outside temp. I can't defog either.

What should I do?

Thanks for any help.

[vecommo]

Sounds like the heater tap is not opening... Check that the vacuum hose that runs to the heater tap hasn't come off or split, the heater tap usually sits just above the rh chassis rail.
Other than that, the heater tap itself could be faulty or the heat selector switch itself could be faulty.

[rpm308]

there is a vaccum hose at the back of the motor that has come apart it for heater controls happend to a mates

[mvsmith12qw]

I had a look at the hoses and there is something strange afoot.

There is a little black thing (i think its plastic... and it has a little black cylinder-shaped thing attached to it) in the driver side of the engie compartment that has 4 hoses coming out of it. Two of the hoses are then connected to the front of the engine. The other 2 hoses are actually only one... the hose is looped around to go back into the black thing.

Then, I also noticed that at the back of the engine compartment... going into the dash... there is a hose that is connected to the back of the compartment at one end and connected to nothing at the other end... it's just hanging there. Near that connection into the dash there is another connection with no hose attached at all.

So I'm thinking one end of the hose that is looped around should go into the connection with no hose and the hose that is hanging there should go into the black thing.

But which end of the looped hose should be disconnected?

Also, maybe the hoses were connected that way purposely to fix some problem??? Why would somebody do that? Any ideas?

[JezzaB]

It should go from the MAP sensor (back of the manifold) to the Check valve (black and white cyl thingo) to into the cabin. This keeps the interior controls under vacuum. Thats what runs em. When you turn the dial for the controls when the engine is off (and on but you can hear it better) it should go "woosh" when you change it.

Hope it makes sense and helps
Jez

[vt748]

Sounds like the heater core is leaking. Someone has disconnected it to prevent coolant leaking into the car. No coolant flowing through heater core = no hot air

[chris_vysv8]

Sounds like the heater core is leaking. Someone has disconnected it to prevent coolant leaking into the car. No coolant flowing through heater core = no hot air


Agree with the above - someone has disconnected the coolant pipes from the dash to prevent leakage. I had a 97 VT with exactly the same problem. It's expensive to fix - around $800 I was quoted because the entire dash needs to come out in order to get at the heater core.

I ended up doing it myself, and I can tell you they were telling the truth - I had to strip it back to the firewall to get the darn thing out. Also you have to disconnect the aircon system which means losing all the gas. Wasn't much fun but saved myself 800 bucks :D

[Boom]

Are they thin hoses that are disconnected or thick hoses? Thin hoses would be a vacuum issue, thicker ones a heater core issue.

[zorro]

I ended up doing it myself, and I can tell you they were telling the truth - I had to strip it back to the firewall to get the darn thing out. Also you have to disconnect the aircon system which means losing all the gas. Wasn't much fun but saved myself 800 bucks :D

you may have saved $800, but it is illegal to dump R134a into the atmoshere yourself.

[mvsmith12qw]

Are they thin hoses that are disconnected or thick hoses? Thin hoses would be a vacuum issue, thicker ones a heater core issue.

They are big thick hoses... I would say about 2.5-3.5 cm in diameter.er

So if i disconnect that looped hose and there is liquid in it, does that mean the problem is the heater core?

I remember the guy who sold the car to me said there was a leak inside the engine compartment and that caused something to have to be replaced.

Umm... I dont want to remove the dash because when i put things like that back together they tend to not fit properly and i tend to have lots of extra screws. But... is there some way I can confirm the problem is the heater core?

[XR-boy]

Did you buy the car with a RWC ?? If the heater / demister doesn't work you can't get an RWC. If you did, I'd go back to the seller and quiz how the RWC was obtained with no functioning heater. State issuer of RWC licences would be interested too if it was a bodgey.....

[macca_779]

Did you buy the car with a RWC ?? If the heater / demister doesn't work you can't get an RWC. If you did, I'd go back to the seller and quiz how the RWC was obtained with no functioning heater. State issuer of RWC licences would be interested too if it was a bodgey.....

It's NSW dude. You don't need a RWC when transfering a car. Its just an annual RWC (pink slip) that gets done for yearly rego. So the heater could of been bypassed just after last rego and hasn't had an inspection since.

[mvsmith12qw]

Did you buy the car with a RWC ?? If the heater / demister doesn't work you can't get an RWC. If you did, I'd go back to the seller and quiz how the RWC was obtained with no functioning heater. State issuer of RWC licences would be interested too if it was a bodgey.....

I bought it "as is" from a private seller about 2 months ago. Rego is in December so they probably didn't check heat/demister. Or maybe the problem happened after rego.

But I knew car had a few problems... the air con didnt work, the indicator keeps clicking non-stop, the driver side rear door handle is broken. i missed that the heater didnt work.

Also, the body is in great shape, car only had 132k kilometers, and was only $5,000. So I have actually been paranoid about it having some hidden massive problem.

Took the car to Holden. You were all right, except it will be $1,200, not $800. Had them check aircon as well and they say a valve has to be replaced and then aircon gas refilled. Another $300. I had already spent $53 on a new indicator. They will put it in for me. So now I'm hoping those are the only reasons the car was so cheap.

Thanks for all the help. Saved me from trying to fix it myself and ruining everything and fixing nothing.

[full house]

Burn it and it will feel some heat!

lol

how about this if Thermostats get STUCK. Either open of closed. If it's stuck closed your car will get too hot, if it's stuck open, you car will never get up to normal operating temperature, unless you're on the freeway going full speed or something.

If your car doesn't heat up, and go to normal operating temperature, like it stays cold all the time, it's might be this. The life span of that are about 5 years in my experience.

1. Drain the coolant

2. Put a bucket under the thermostat

3. Unscrew the housing (10mm)

4. Take out thermostat, and put a new thermostat housing gasket on it.

5. Put new thermostat back in

6. Screw housing back together

7. Refill coolant, enjoy!

maybe this would help!

[vecommo]

Took the car to Holden. You were all right, except it will be $1,200, not $800. Had them check aircon as well and they say a valve has to be replaced and then aircon gas refilled. Another $300. I had already spent $53 on a new indicator. They will put it in for me. So now I'm hoping those are the only reasons the car was so cheap.

Thanks for all the help. Saved me from trying to fix it myself and ruining everything and fixing nothing.

Do yourself a favour and get a second opinion from a reputable mechanic or somebody you know you can trust. I wouldn't trust a Holden dealer, they could just be saying that to rob you of $1200 when it could be only something minor.

[Mungrel]

hey guys, quick question. (here seems like a suitable place)
In the process of stripping a vt commodore to turn into a track / drag car project.
Lookin at getting rid of the heater box behind the dash.
All thats left to do is yank that bugger out, but i'm wondering, what do we do with the heater hoses?
(its a holden 5L motor) From memory the two heater hoses come off the top of the water pump. Can we just put 2 plugs over the outlets on the water pump these connect to?
After reading a few posts above, yes i can, but can someone confirm this for me please?

[EpOcH]

hey guys, quick question. (here seems like a suitable place)
In the process of stripping a vt commodore to turn into a track / drag car project.
Lookin at getting rid of the heater box behind the dash.
All thats left to do is yank that bugger out, but i'm wondering, what do we do with the heater hoses?
(its a holden 5L motor) From memory the two heater hoses come off the top of the water pump. Can we just put 2 plugs over the outlets on the water pump these connect to?
After reading a few posts above, yes i can, but can someone confirm this for me please?

Ahh taking me back to the days of the ol 253 hq statesman ;)

From memory , yep, there was even official holden parts to block them off.

[Mungrel]

Ahh taking me back to the days of the ol 253 hq statesman ;)

From memory , yep, there was even official holden parts to block them off.

haha we got a 253 block in the shed if ya want :p :rofl:

Cheers for the quick response mate, i had a feeling i could just block it off, and i was certain that some of the older v8s had it blocked off as well. Good to know i wasn't hallucinating or dreaming haha.

Well now, i know what im doing tomorrow :D