Heater Problem

A

alitz

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Well here is whats going on I have an 02 V8 and the heater just doesnt blow out hot air...Its kinda a hit and miss you can say, sometime it blows out somewhat warm air and sometime it doesnt. The car is at normal temp. when it warms up.

So what should I check to see what the problem is, I would like to have decent heat (it 9 degrees with a wind chill of -10 degrees good old Nebraska weather), so any help would be great

Thanks
-Ali
 
Do a search forr DCCV and do some reading. compare symptoms
 
It sounds like it is never hot. If so, you can discount the aux pump. On the other hand, if the problem is mostly at idle, your electric aux coolant pump may have failed.

DCCV failures are common, but it is more common for them to go to the full heat position than to no heat.

Cooling system problems will cause no or little heat.

A gunk'd up cooling system (due to the coolant not being flushed every three years or so) can clog up the DCCV, or the tee in the upper radiator hose. A good flushing and the system may be enough to correct this. The DCCV may have to be removed and cleaned or replaced.

Air in the cooling system will also cause heating problems. It is not uncommon for the degas bottle and other plastic parts of the cooling system to crack and let air in. Follow the air bleed procedure in the tech articles section. If that momentarily improves the heat, you will have to find and replace the cracked parts.

It could be the thermostat, but that is rare compared to the other suggestions.
 
joegr said:
It sounds like it is never hot. If so, you can discount the aux pump. On the other hand, if the problem is mostly at idle, your electric aux coolant pump may have failed.

DCCV failures are common, but it is more common for them to go to the full heat position than to no heat.

Cooling system problems will cause no or little heat.

A gunk'd up cooling system (due to the coolant not being flushed every three years or so) can clog up the DCCV, or the tee in the upper radiator hose. A good flushing and the system may be enough to correct this. The DCCV may have to be removed and cleaned or replaced.

Air in the cooling system will also cause heating problems. It is not uncommon for the degas bottle and other plastic parts of the cooling system to crack and let air in. Follow the air bleed procedure in the tech articles section. If that momentarily improves the heat, you will have to find and replace the cracked parts.

It could be the thermostat, but that is rare compared to the other suggestions.
Click to expand...

Thanks a ton.
I've been reading alot about the DCCV and flushing out the system. I've been trying to find info about the aux pump but havent had the best of luck, where is it?
My goal for this weekend it to go through the whole cooling system and check for cracks.

Thanks again
 
alitz said:
Thanks a ton.
I've been reading alot about the DCCV and flushing out the system. I've been trying to find info about the aux pump but havent had the best of luck, where is it?
My goal for this weekend it to go through the whole cooling system and check for cracks.

Thanks again
Click to expand...

The aux pump is directly under the DCCV.
 
For the Gen 1, the Aux Pump is really easy to find. Locate the upper rad hose - goes from front of the engine to the top passenger side of the rad. There's a big plastic T in the line. Follow the small hose downward. The big thing connected to that and bolted to the fan shroud is the aux pump. The output of the pump comes out the side and quickly turns down to get to the DCCV. You may need to remove the air tube to get to it.
FWIW, the prior owner of mine had used a generic-fit hose from the upper rad hose to the aux pump. It was about 6" too long, so they just coiled the hose. Naturally, it just collapsed so no water could flow through it.
Very tight working spaces, still have a bunch of scratches on my arm from working on that five months ago. Watch out for the shroud - lots of sharp edges, and mine had a fine coat of ATF which I think tattooed me. Should've thought ahead and scratched "LS 4 LIFE" or something.

I think Joe was talking about the Gen 2 ;)
 
On the Gen 1, the DCCV mounts to the frame rail at the very bottom of the car, where on Gen 2 the DCCV is mounted to the shroud. So, yes, they swapped.
The Gen 1 DCCV has a couple of extra hose connections - 5 total - compared to Gen 2 also.
 
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