CJ5 Heaters

I did the upgrade about a month ago. I did notice a difference, not the mind blowing difference everyone talks about, but it's well worth it. I also think that I am going to plumb in an auxillary heater. last christmas the

4hr highway driving in -25C got a little chilly.

I also did the upgrade last year, 81 CJ7, and like the other poster, better but not the 100% better that others talk about, more like 20% better.

Bill that will increase the flow of hot water only. It doesn't address the airflow problem with the fan. The blower upgrade works well, but as I and the other posters have found out, it's not the cure all for CJ heater woes. I even put a new heater core in my CJ (for $25.00 it was worth it while it was out) and performance was better with the new fan but still far short of ideal. It's a fact of life when you drive a Jeep you either live in a warm place or drive a cold ride. Last year I moved from San Diego to Rhode Island (You think dirvers in Califoria are bad you should see what they do out here.). I now drive a cold Jeep. Gloves, coats and hats I already have, an Aux heater is not in the stars for me. One thing that helped was to use my Besttop Windjammer in the winter. It compatmentalizes the interior of the Jeep and makes it so the heater only has to heat the front seat area. Cheap fix for someone who doesn't need to use the back seat. Rich

I'll try that.

I thought real Jeeps didn't have heaters...

You might also want to lay some scraps of carpet, etc, on the floor to give a bit of insulation

I did the upgrade as well. My old fan hardly moved air. After the upgrade the low setting moves about as much air as the old one did on high. It now moves as much air as I would expect a car to move, it is much better,

Course now...... I'm getting kinda old for heaterless vehicles. My last one with no heater died after 18 years in the family in the later '70's.

Its all what you're used to I guess. No heater did not bother me until I started having kids and their mom would dress them up like Eskimo babies.

It is not a "fact of life" that a Jeep is a cold ride. My Wrangler is comfortable, even though I live above 9,000 feet in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, and it is darn cold in the mornings. The Wrangler does not have a lot of insulation either, like the "Girl's Jeeps" mentioned in other threads. All I have are vinyl floor mats, without even insulating pads under them. You can lose heat capacity from a clogged, partially obstructed, or even just dirty heater core, either in the coolant passages or in the air part. Any air leak, either in the vehicle or in the heater/defroster system, is going to cause problems. Replace the thermostat if the engine isn't running hot enough. This will make the engine last longer too. The Windjammer helps too. If you really have to, put some cardboard in front of the radiator. I haven't found this necessary. In my experience a properly operating thermostat is adequate.

It also helps to have genes, from people who weren't afraid to make an Atlantic crossing in the dead of winter, in an unheated wooden ship. Or going further back, whose preferred battle attire, was a coating of blue clay. People are too soft now. I once drove a Honda 600 passenger car, an air cooled vehicle with hardly any heating system, thirty miles in Western Massachusetts, in the dead of winter, with no windshield, to the glass shop.

Earle

Wow, I used to have to wear ski warm ups and felt boots with mitts and a scraper in one hand on highway runs before I changed the blower motor and tuned the heater. I now can drive the same trip with pants and shoes and the coat wide open, let alone bare hands.... I do sometime still wear a left hand glove in the real cold.

I got a radical difference.

I flushed the heater core and got a bit hotter heat, but the large temperature increase I got was when I rerouted my heater hoses. I had cold heater hoses when compared to my rad hoses.

The heater hoses have a tendency to physically run higher than the level of coolant in the radiator. This makes for an air lock that only lets half the volume of coolant that could flow pass into the heater core. Mine was high in two places, the hose from the pump to the intake manifold wasn't a molded hose so it went up too high as it passed over the valve cover and the long line back that passes over the alternator.

We had the exact same issue with our Cherokee. The level in the reservoir was 1" too low so the long hoses were above it.

I do have to warm them both up 'before' hitting the highway though. If I start out cold at -25 or so, it doesn't really warm up.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >

I moved from Phoenix, AZ to eastern Washington state. My heater did not get used for 22 years, so I replaced, the duct work and the heater core. (The nasty/high mineral AZ water had plugged the core completely) I was going to do the blower motor upgrade, but mine blows so much hot air now that I don't need it. I'm looking forward to testing my defrosters when the temperature gets below zero. I'll post here if it doesn't keep me warm this winter.

Norman

1982 CJ-7

Now THAT explains a lot of things .

When I was a kid, the thermostat was set between 60 and 65 degrees F for the heating. In my house, I don't heat my bedroom ; just get a thicker duvet if it gets cold. I can't bear hot rooms (where hot > 70 F)

Dave Milne, Scotland '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ