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Heat Problem

My heater doesn't seem to work right on my 85 22RE Pickup. If I just let it idle to warm up it doesn't get very warm at all. If I drive it and get the RPM's up to 2000 or so it does get warm but never hot. The needle on the temp guage goes up to about 1/3 of the way to the red but never farther. I tried putting some cardboard in front of the radiator but that didn't help much until I drove 20 miles or so down the freeway, at which point the needle did go up almost to the red zone and the temperature at the outlets did get pretty hot but I was afraid that it was going to overheat so I took the cardboard out and went back to the lukewarm air. Does this sound like a thermostat problem? I stuck a thermometer in the radiator yesterday and the water is getting up to about 175 degrees. Would a new 191 degree thermostat actually get the radiator water up to

191 degrees and would that extra 15-20 degrees make a noticible difference in the amount of heat coming from the heat outlets? Any recommendations??? TIA. JM
Reply to
Jack
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I run a 190F/88C t-stat in my '85 and I get lots of heat (no overheating either):

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Also, you might try back flushing the heater core, pull the hoses at the firewall, shove a garden hose nozzle up the outlet line, run water through for a minute or so, then run water in the inlet hose for a while too, until it runs nice and clear. Check the heater control valve to make sure its not clogged and that it opens and closes fully with the heater temperature control cable.

Do you hear and gurgling sounds when the heater is on and you rev the engine? Might have an air pocket in there, make sure and get all the air out of the system. If the gurgle remains, you might have a head gasket leak.

-- Roger

Reply to
Roger Brown

Go to the dealer and pick up a fresh thermostat, it will probably be a 194F unit. And will only be a couple dollars more than the generic.

Taking the thermostat out or leaving a bad one (failed open) is actually bad for the truck, since the engine never warms up the EFI runs rich in 'open loop' and your fuel mileage will suck. Can toast the catalytic converter.

If someone put a 180F thermostat in the truck thinking "cooler is better" (which it isn't) the engine will warm up and go into closed-loop, but wont be operating in the optimum range. On most properly set-up Toyotas, the temp gauge will go to straight-up middle and stay there like it's bolted down (1/8" movement max). If it moves, you've got problems somewhere.

We hear about a lot of aftermarket t-stats that don't work right, even when new. Not sure why, but there's a design issue somewhere when they try to build a "universal" part versus Toyota-specific. Jack of All Trades, Master of None...

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

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