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No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far...


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Shawn9191
Novice

Nov 20, 2013, 3:59 PM

Post #1 of 15 (1928 views)
No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In

Hi everyone. I have a 2002 Ford Taurus that's having heating issues. Here's what I have so far...

Thermostat is new/functional, water pump as well. There is no leak in the coolant and it's at a good level. When I have the fans in the car turned off, I can "let it build up" and when I turn the heat on, I will get warm air for up to 20 seconds tops, then it gets cool. During this time, the temperature gauge on the dash goes from sitting a little past 1/2, to the needle dropping down around 1/4 of the way. This is when the heat gets turned on.

Starting up the car and letting it warm up in the frost is worthless, the fans need to be turned off until the engine is warm.

Any advice is appreciated! I'm a broke college kid and the Ford garage claims it'll easily climb up to $1300, which I don't have. Thanks everyone.

Shawn


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Nov 20, 2013, 4:31 PM

Post #2 of 15 (1912 views)
Re: No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In

Stumped? You must be asking the mailman.

Of course it's going to require some testing and observations but it can be systematically diagnosed.


With the engine at full operating temp, locate the 2 heater hoses where they go into the firewall and feel them to see if they are both hot to the touch. If not too hot to hold, then you have to look at the actual engine temp and if that is up, if it is, then your looking at a restricted heater core or poor circulation for some other reason.
If you find that they are both too hot to hold, then the heat in that vehicle is controlled by a blend door that regulates heated air flow. it is operated by an electric motor/actuator. The problem can be that the actuator is stripped or inoperative or the door itself could be damaged. This is what needs to be determined by examining the actuator and see if it is responding to heat change commands or not.



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Shawn9191
Novice

Nov 20, 2013, 4:39 PM

Post #3 of 15 (1910 views)
Re: No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In

Thanks for the reply!

The Ford dealership, Autozone, and Napa employees need to think about becoming mailmen then.

I'm sorry I forgot to mention this in my original post. I am aware of the blend door and I have gotten to it to check it out. It is functional and the plastic gear is in place, and the door opens and closes. Also, the air is cool, not cold when the heat is on, and when I switch the dial over to cold the air gets extremely cold. So the blend door is OK.

The hoses are also hot when running the engine. So it looks like it's leaning toward a restricted heater core? If it is poor circulation, would a flush be worth a try? The fellow at Ford told me it would do more harm than good, but I'm not so sure he is right...


Hammer Time
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Nov 20, 2013, 5:06 PM

Post #4 of 15 (1900 views)
Re: No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In

Is one hose hot or both? If both hoses are hot, then you have no restriction and the blend door is the only possibility.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Shawn9191
Novice

Nov 20, 2013, 6:08 PM

Post #5 of 15 (1896 views)
Re: No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In

Well there is the possibility I'm looking at the wrong hoses completely. I'm not well versed on cars. I just went out with a friend and felt a bunch of hoses we thought might be the correct ones, and all of them were cold (the engine was at full op. temp). Tomorrow my uncle will be around, he will be able to show me exactly where they are.

I'll let you know what I find out tomorrow, if you're still around. Thanks for the help!


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
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Nov 20, 2013, 6:11 PM

Post #6 of 15 (1895 views)
Re: No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In


Quote
I just went out with a friend and felt a bunch of hoses we thought might be the correct ones, and all of them were cold (the engine was at full op. temp).


That's not what you said the first time.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Shawn9191
Novice

Nov 20, 2013, 6:20 PM

Post #7 of 15 (1890 views)
Re: No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In

You're right its not what I said. I never checked myself the first time. but when I went out myself and with a friend we felt the hoses we thought were correct based off an image in the repair manual. None were hot.


Hammer Time
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Hammer Time profile image

Nov 20, 2013, 6:31 PM

Post #8 of 15 (1889 views)
Re: No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In

There are 2 hoses that actually enter the firewall and attach to the heater core. those are the 2 you are looking for.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Shawn9191
Novice

Nov 20, 2013, 6:49 PM

Post #9 of 15 (1886 views)
Re: No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In

OK I got some more experienced help from another friend. The hoses I was originally feeling were the wrong ones. I now am certain I'm feeling the right ones. top hose is too hot to touch and the other hose is slightly warm.


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Nov 20, 2013, 6:51 PM

Post #10 of 15 (1885 views)
Re: No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In

Have someone rev up the engine and see if the other one gets hot.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Shawn9191
Novice

Nov 20, 2013, 6:59 PM

Post #11 of 15 (1883 views)
Re: No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In

Just tried that. Still not hot.


Hammer Time
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Nov 20, 2013, 7:05 PM

Post #12 of 15 (1880 views)
Re: No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In

OK, this comes down to two possibilities. Either the core is plugged up or there is no circulation pressure. One problem that I have seen on Tauruses specificcally is the fins rotting right off the water pump impellar. not saying that's what you have but it's a possibility. The first thing to try is to remove both heater hoses off the core and backflush it in both directions with a garden hose. See if that improves anything.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Shawn9191
Novice

Nov 20, 2013, 7:11 PM

Post #13 of 15 (1875 views)
Re: No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In

Alright I will try that. That is a project for tomorrow though. I will get some help and post how it turns out. Thanks for all of your help!


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
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Nov 21, 2013, 2:47 AM

Post #14 of 15 (1870 views)
Re: No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In

Shawn, there's a clue in how much temp drop at heater core hoses have. With that, where did the heat go? If that was VERY slow flow it could drop a lot or other things like coolant isn't really properly filled and air will make the whole show erratic even the dash gauge can be confused reading air (vapor actually) vs liquid.

Way too strong antifreeze mix can screw things up. Even pressure cap. Seeing coolant level at recover tank isn't proof that the system is full and vapor free.

The people at parts outlets may or may not be very much help for diagnosis. Not to bash them but their job is to sell parts, your job is to know which ones.

Dealer techs are not necessarily perfect or allowed much time. You've been told is seems what is known good and I'm not so sure so far on any of it.

I'm not even convinced the new thermostat is really good yet either.

Understand your frustration but one real good check out by the right tech should find this or have it diagnosed out without too much trouble -- so far much is not conclusive IMO,

T



Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Discretesignals profile image

Nov 21, 2013, 5:31 AM

Post #15 of 15 (1858 views)
Re: No heat in my Taurus, I've stumped everyone so far... Sign In

I'd back flush the core first with a water hose. It won't hurt the core to flush it unless you flush it with a 3000 psi pressure washer...lol





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