a 96 accent with no heat....how much of a pain in the *** is it to swap out the heating coil???? now that i think back it has seemed that the heat was getting colder and colder...i thought it was because it was just really cold out and the heat just wasnt enough.....but its freaking 1 degree and an hour commute sucks! any help...i tried hmaservice but i had no luck.....anybody??? thanks

 

does the car have heat when its not moving? Like if you let it sit, parked for 15 minutes?

 

Moving to the Help forum...

 

Are you sure that it's the heater core thats causing the problem, I have seen some bad heater cores but they still would put out some heat. It could be your heater controls or heater box itself, make sure when you put the heat on that the doors inside the box are closing, check the cables that operate them or it could just be that you have no coolant in your car. I would check for all other problems first before you change the the core.

 

I'm with MAXXTIB. Its very doubtful that its your heater core. Check the cables, vacuum hoses (if your has that), and if reachable, the door that controls the temperature. If that is all in check then you lost your coolant, but that means your car would over heat.

[ January 17, 2003, 11:44 PM: Message edited by: MadElantra ]

 

everything is in order its just that it has absolutely no heat....maybe the thermostat? it has no heat no matter what whether i'm moving or not....i thought that maybe it was just because of the incredibly cold air that it was cooling the engine off,but no matter what i have no heat. i think part of my toe is frostbitten!!!!j/k

 

Is the temperature gauge acting normally? That's a tell tale sign. If the gauge is showing lower than normal temps, or if it never reaches the normal spot where it rests when the car is warmed up, it could be the thermostat is stuck open. Many are designed to fail in the open position, so the engine won't overheat.
Even if that's not it, it's a cheap part and is easy to replace, and may be worth trying.

If the gauge is moving, then it's something else... If the heater core were bad, it would probably either be leaking onto your feet, or there's a blockeage, causing the car to overheat.

I'd try the thermostat first.

 

Like others said, if the temp gauge is acting normally, (the engine coolant is heating up), that leaves only 2 options.

#1. The heater core
#2. The switchgear for the heater/ac is bad/not working.

Crawl under the dash. look for the heater temp control cable. Move it through it's rotation while you watch the flapper valve. The flapper should go through it's complete rotation, (about 40 degrees). If the flapper doesn't move, or doesn't move completely, you found your problem.

If the flapper valve is moving, check your fuses. Make sure the one for Heater is good.

If those fail to show any improvment, you can always try to flush out the coolant system with some coolant system flush. If done properly, it can "unblock" a blocked heater core and restore heat to you.

Lastly, if the engine coolant temp is good, and the flapper valve operates properly, and the fuze is good, and the coolant flush doesn't work....it's time to replace the heater core.

it's located between the dash and the firewall. it is a MAJOR PITA to get to, and to replace. You want to make sure you have EVERY OTHER BASE COVERED before resorting to this.

 

got heat yet? i've got a few more obscure suggestions if the ideas above didn't work, eg broken water pump, water pump belt,etc.

 

If the water pumpelt were malfunctioning, he would have larger problems than no heat... Namely Overheating.....I agree with Random.. Check that bastard switch under the dash.. Is there more tension in the toggle knob than usual? I am not sure about the Accents, but on my tib when you pull the dash to paint it, you disconnect that switch.. Have you pulled your dash recently? Also, odds are if your heater core was bad, you would have water somewhere.. In the cabin, most likely.. Check the passenger seat foot "rest" and see if it is wet.. You SHOULD have smelled the waterantifreeze if this is your problem though.. And yes.. The Heater core is a S.O.B. I am sure...

Hope this helped..

~Matt