heater problems, and a leak.....

[carpetguy00]

ok my 97 I4 has 113k on it. i put a new radiator in it 3 months ago. The problem is that when at idle, the heater gets cool. but when you are driving at any speed its good and toasty. I dont believe this to be a blend door issue. it seems like maybe there is a coolant circulation problem going on, maybe a clog in the heater core. I flushed it with the thermostat out when the rad was installed. today i flushed it again. I could not find my 10mm wrench to take the thermostat housing off, so i flushed it the best i could. the water ran clear... when i refilled, the rad only took half gallon of antifreeze. i let it run for 15 mins, to normal temp. it stayed there, but the heat didnt get too hot. gonna take it for a run tonite, but im lost here. maybe this indicates my water pump is dying?? not sure why, but the hose coming off the thermostat housing down to the bottom of the rad did NOT get warm at all the whole time the car was running.... the top hose did get hot.....

Something else guys... ive been loosing power steering fluid since i got it in feb. it was just a tiny bit but recently its been leaking more. maybe someone could point me to a thread or something i could start with? I really cant tell where its coming from. i did the fluid change from the DIY thread months ago, it didnt seem to make any diff with the leaking....

On a good note.. i did the LED cluster bulb swap. ordered from superbriteleds.com and got blue bulbs. Man, it looks good, and everyone that gets in my car thinks it looks bad ass!

[carsrus]

Stuck open thermostat.

Powersteering could be as simple as a loose clamp on the resevoir.

[mspringer]

+1 on the thermostat.

Power steering fluid leak - There are a lot of threads on this. The pumps tend to leak. I just finished swapping mine last week, and so far, so good...

Its not too difficult a job on the 4cyl, although it takes a 12mm, 14mm, and 17mm sockets, as well as several of the same wrenches, and I needed 2 15/16ths wrenches to get the sensor off the top.

[fenixus]

yup, thermostat is the prime suspect.

my '02 v6 may need a new one too as it takes considerably longer time to warm up in cold weather than my '00 i4 (new thermostat, replaced last year).

[pmesfun]

+1

I had a stuck open thermostat, replaced it, no more problems. Although it does take a little longer to warm up.

[JohnGD]

What brand of thermostat and how old? What's the total amount of coolant you managed to get into the system?

The lower hose will be cooler than the top, but I'd be surprised if it stayed cool after a good highway run.

Originally Posted by carpetguy00

but the hose coming off the thermostat housing down to the bottom of the rad did NOT get warm at all the whole time the car was running.... the top hose did get hot.....