No heater in my fox.

codemonkey

Hungrymonkey's helper monkey
Nov 4, 2004
537
0
16
Wilsonville, OR
So, I bought this white fox a while back, in the spring and noticed it had no heater, but it wasnt a big deal. But now, in the winter, it certainly is. My car puts out zero heat.

Can anyone help figure out why my heater doesn't work?

I'm running the 4-row aluminum radiator in it, and I think that might have something to do with it. I disconnected the black magic, and it doesnt get very hot, maybe 190-200 or so max. Just the wind blowing through it while driving is adequate enough to cool the car, believe it or not.

I put a new 190 thermostat in it, hoping it would get a little warmer, but that didnt help, I disconnected the hoses from the heater core and ran water thru it to make sure it wasn't obstructed, and it isnt. There doesnt seem to be any problems with the heater core, but i havent pulled it out yet. I may do that next.

Does anyone have any tips for this? The air it blows out is just cold air, and if the car gets really hot, the air will be slightly warm, but its never enough to defrost the window on it's own. I'm kind of puzzled here and was wondering if any of you had any tips or things I should be looking for here.
 
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Maybe not enough antifreeze? Or none? Um if it is the heater core that is bad then if one from a 95 gt will fit i have one for ya, or possibly one from a 89 this weekend? My griffin alumn. radiator keeps my car very cool i only turn on my fan if i'm stuck in mass traffic on hot days also. But like yours just the air weather summer or not keeps it cool! peace



john:p
 
water alone is better at conducting heat then mixed with antifreeze. is the routing of the heater hoses stock. do you have under drive pulleys if so at idle the watter is flowing alot slow then entended. the radiator should not matter on how hot the car runs at idle or moving down the road unless the thermostat is not working corectly. i have bought thermostats in the past and had a brand new one be bad.
 
does it have proper control of air flow, eg. when you turn it to "panel" does it actually come out the panel or does it stay on the defrost vents? A disconnected vacuum supply or leak in the system will cause it to default to defrost only and it may also keep the blend door from moving

and whatever yo do, never...i mean NEVER replace a bad heater core with a used one, that is just plain stupid. Is it really worth a days labor to install a used part and find out its bad too?
 
..... and whatever yo do, never...i mean NEVER replace a bad heater core with a used one, that is just plain stupid. Is it really worth a days labor to install a used part and find out its bad too?

I would guess that it's probably the heater core, which is no small task to replace in a Fox. Do it right, and make sure you get a good replacement part.
 
Dude. I was driving with no heat for a year. Literally me and Saleen09 from SVTP did my heater core last night in 4 hours, and the feel of heat is amazing. My car did the same thing, it would just blow cold air. If you need help, let me know.
 
I forgot, the blend door on Foxes are cable operated so apart from checking to see if the blend door is moving, your looking at tearing it all apart anyway.

One thing you should try is take a temp gun to both sides of the heater core and make sure coolant is flowing- both sides should be hot.
 
Dude. I was driving with no heat for a year. Literally me and Saleen09 from SVTP did my heater core last night in 4 hours, and the feel of heat is amazing. My car did the same thing, it would just blow cold air. If you need help, let me know.

lol I just fixed mine last week. After almost a year, took me two hours, this is my third time though.

Back to the subject. you should have plenty of heat. I got a 160 in mine and I still get enough heat. Just make sure your all toped off. Heat core is the highest point.

Matt
 
John, I definitely appreciate the offer on the heater core, but I think if I do it, I'll probably just get a new one because I really hate mechanic work sometimes, and I don't have a lot of time, so I will probably pay someone to do it. But I do appreciate it man.

does it have proper control of air flow, eg. when you turn it to "panel" does it actually come out the panel or does it stay on the defrost vents? A disconnected vacuum supply or leak in the system will cause it to default to defrost only and it may also keep the blend door from moving

I dont have a panel setting on mine, but I do have a "vent" and it comes out of the dash, but when I turn it to "mix" it doesn't, it only mixes the defroster and floor.

I guess the guy that owned it before me (randall) "just replaced it" but I'm not sure how it was done. I think you may have a point yello05 about a leak in the system. I do hear a vaccum actuator moving when I turn it on, but the blend door may not be moving. And I seem to remember in my other foxes, when I put it on "mix" that some air came out of the panels on the dash.

Could another possibility be the shrouding around the core? I admit I'm no expert here, but it seems like if the heater core was replaced, but the shrouding around it was borked, it may not pass enough air over it to grab heat. I'm kind of pulling this out of thin air, but I've only done heater cores on *cough* chevys, and I know you have to be careful with the shrouding.

I think I may embark on project heater core next weekend if I can find the time. I am going to go buy a temp gun (I've been looking for a reason, now I have two) and I'll try hitting the core to see if it is getting hot.

Thanks for all the good replies here!