FIXED: Little to no cabin heat 1998 Grand Cherokee

Inlet hose to firewall VERY HOT.... outlet hose from firewall COOL.. Pulled off both hoses at the front of engine and blew compressed air 1st in one h ose (dumping the gunk out) then reversed and used a funnel to pour in WARM water then forced the compressed air the other direction (hose). Cabin nice and toasty now !

Also note there is a VERY THIN vacuum "T" just to the right of the engine c oolant overflow bottle. If this comes loose, you lose the ability to choose where air comes from inside the cabin. Just an FYI if this happens to you.

Reply to
ndccpf1
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COOL.. Pulled=

Yep, that heater core can build up a lot of crud over the years. Especially if at any time the system has had any anti-leak stuff put in it or if the local area has hard water. My 93 still can drive me out of the cabin.

It is a good idea to check all the hoses and hard-lines, they seem to develop cracks about the same time.

Reply to
DougW

I'm "lucky" enough to have an 88 MJ with the !@#$%^ closed coolant system. On that one I can run a water hose in one side (bypass the vacuum valve!) and out to a short dump hose on the other. Amazing how much crud comes out if I do it once every couple of years!

Be careful with any of the pressure cleaning methods. The flow is what does the work and you risk rupturing the heater core with anything over 20-25 psi whether it's water or air pressure. My street-side water pressure is right at 90 psi and I recall seeing one guy hook his heater up and just crank the water wide open with that kind of pressure. Talk about a mess...

Reply to
Will Honea

Doug,

My ex managed to get a leak in a freeze plug of the 72 Charger (400/ 2bbl, T-Flite, 3.23 axle) we had and one of her boyfriends (yep, now you know why she's my "ex") dumped some stop leak in.

I ended up recoring the radiator, replacing the freeze plug and the heater core.

And she got the car in the divorce.

Will,

Check with Jeg's and Speedway and you can convert your system to an open type and probably eliminate overheating or get a 98 radiator which has a pressure cap.

I converted it on my son's 88 XJ with Speedway parts back when I had it and will be doing it, probably with a junk yard radiator, on my 89 before I get the AC converted to R134.

The 88 runs the mechanical fan only with no AC condenser in front of the radiator and hasn't overheated in 100+ degree heat.

Reply to
Budd Cochran

I rebuilt the AC on mine - it has the aux electric fan - and made something like 15 trips to South Texas in the summer a few years back. It got warm just going up Ute Pass before the first trip as I hadn't flushed the radiator in several years but once I flush out the crud it ran just fine in

110 degree sunshine with the closed system. I did turn an adapter on the lathe to replace that crappy plastic cap that came on the bottle. That got me a brass screw on adapter with a standard cap on it - the plastic one wasn't holding pressure. That solved the heating problem.

I had to completely rebuild the compressor to get R134 to work with mine, BTW. Gaskets + separator + lube ran me something like $45.

Reply to
Will Honea

My closed system pressure cap on the 89 isn't holding well anymore and it's only 3 years old!

Which is why I'm doing the conversion.

On the 88's open system, I removed the pressure cap innards and refit the bottle as my overflow tank.

The closed system seems, from what I've read, very sensitive to anything not within specs while an open system is far more dependable. : : I had to completely rebuild the compressor to get R134 to work with mine, : BTW. Gaskets + separator + lube ran me something like $45.

Where did you find them? I can do the rebuild and my middle son is automotive AC certified. : : -- : Will Honea :

Reply to
Budd Cochran

I found an outfit down in Phoenix that carried all the parts. Take the compressor model you have and do a Google search on "J(xxxx) compressor parts". Quicker than me looking it up ;-) but holler if you can't find them and I'll dredge thru old emails for it.

BTW, I also found a compatible compressor in the junk yard complete with what looked like new hoses and fittings. Guys want $40 for the whole thing but my old one was working like a champ until a hose split so I passed. Just make sure the compressor rotates freely with no grinding you can feel if you go that way.

Reply to
Will Honea

I like rain ... you don't have to shovel it.

Reply to
Budd Cochran

This recent weather is starting to look more like what I grew used to in the years I spent up here in the 60's thru the 90's - if you don't like the weather wait 20 minutes and it will change. You may recall that last summer we had floods here after a 10 year drought - Ft. Carson had one 24 hour total of nearly 12 inches OF RAIN! Tomorrow's high temp is forecast to be 6 degrees. I need an oil change but that will have to wait for the thaw just like yours.

If you are planning ac work and don't have the gauge manifold, watch the Harbor Freight adds - they have a pretty good one at the best price I've seen. I a cheapy little compressor to pull a usable vacuum since the air here is usually dry enough that you don't need the long pumpdown to clear the system like we did in Texas. A 28 inch vacuum held 4-5 hours is more than enough while the Gulf coast usually needed a hard 29 inches for 12 hours or more once the system had been opened.

Reply to
Will Honea
6 : degrees. I need an oil change but that will have to wait for the thaw just : like yours. : : If you are planning ac work and don't have the gauge manifold, watch the : Harbor Freight adds - they have a pretty good one at the best price I've : seen. I a cheapy little compressor to pull a usable vacuum since the air : here is usually dry enough that you don't need the long pumpdown to clear : the system like we did in Texas. A 28 inch vacuum held 4-5 hours is more : than enough while the Gulf coast usually needed a hard 29 inches for 12 : hours or more once the system had been opened. : : -- : Will Honea

Hmmm ... I have this little 12V compressor that will pump up 60 psi pretty quick maybe I'll see what vacuum it'll pull.

Harbor Freight is fine as long as you don't buy the super cheap stuff.

Go up a price level or two and you usually get pretty good stuff.

We're going to see about the same high as you but we're both in the foothills.

But sometimes this cozy little valley stays warmer than the rest of the state ... which is why the Native Americans loved it for wintering.

Reply to
Budd Cochran

My first trip here was in the summer of '59 when I entered the Academy. During the next 4 years, -20 in the parking lot was common and you could set your watch by the time the afternoon thunderstorm started. Year after I graduated, I25 was washed away between the Springs and Castle Rock. When I came back on the faculty in '72, they had to shovel the stadium to have a ball game on 12 Sep, then we got 36 inches on Halloween. I've been snowed on every month of the year in the 50 years or so I've in and out of here. I watched cars floating down Ute Pass last summer so I am less than impressed by the global warming crowd, especially as it's 6 below outside right now with a 25 knot wind and a fresh 6 inches of snow...

Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get.

We live on the northern edge of the Chihuahua desert - if you don't believe it, watch some footage from the dustbowl days.

Reply to
Will Honea

I got to hear a lot about those days.

Did you teach at the Academy?

Reply to
Budd Cochran

AH! 35 Plymouth - heck of a flathead 6. I had one of those in high school - until I challenged a guy in a Chevy Coupe. I was tight, rods weren't - that mill never would take high revs...

I taught EE and flying as extra duty as I had over 3000 hours of IP time by then.

Reply to
Will Honea

I have to admit I'm not sure what EE is but I love flying ... to the point I volunteered to serve chow from a Huey as an E-6 in the Indiana National Guard!

I was looking at joining the USAF in '68 and trying for some kind of flying tech schooling even if it was as bombadier on a B-52.

My very first flight was with a young friend that had just got his private license in a Piper Chrokee around 1970.

And when I went to Army Basic in Ft Leonard Wood, I'd sneak home on weekend passes by hopping a flight from St Louis to Indianapolis.

Unfortunately, I never got the money together to take lessons ... dang it.

Now, the old ticker can't handle it, I'm afraid.

Reply to
Budd Cochran

EE was/is Electrical Engineering. I started teaching on vacuum tube designs...

I went from pilot training straight to instructor pilot for 4 years - lots of flying time with lots of acrobatics and formation flying. After a year in Vietnam flying A-37s (380-odd combat missions) they sent me to grad school then back to the Academy faculty. With all that time as an IP, they "asked" me to instruct in the T-41 (Cessna 182) then the T-37 when that showed up. Got ready to leave the Academy in 76 and they had so many pilots that I had too much flying time to go back to the cockpit so I exercised my walking rights and got out. Flew all sorts of private light a/c but I haven't flown for about 10 years now - too blasted expensive. I did get the cardiologist and FAA to sign off on the heart attack 3 years back but I just can't justify the cost anymore unless I fly on company time.

Reply to
Will Honea

Those first few flights for me way back when required I share the plane rental and the fuel / oil costs ... I think it came to about $20/trip.

I miss flying and for a long time considered getting an ultralight but the wind currents around the Royal Gorge area can be nasty even with light breezes.

What I know of EE can be rattled around in the valley of a 4-40 thread nut.

I learned some things about electrical wiring in 4H and as a millwright apprentice but I never learned much about circut engineering.

Reply to
Budd Cochran

I had about decided to retire some years back when I got a call from one of the telecom biggies wanting me to come work for them supporting their "legacy" systems. The pay was outrageously high so I did. I wound up running that part of the shop and had a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears college grads working for me. They could not understand why someone with graduate degrees in electronics, a few patents to my name, etc would have a garage full of tools - milling machine, lathes, welders and a full woodshop. Their "knowlege" was so narrow I don't think most of them could tell the difference between there arse and a hole in the ground unless both were clearly labeled.

Glad you got the heater going - it's been so cold I even fixed the manifold preheat line just to keep it running in the morning.

Reply to
Will Honea

In a similar vein, I've been asked why I have so many basic level skills: Pneumatics, hydraulics, capentry, woodworking, plumbing, welding (mostly gas or stick, some tig), brazing, machinery fabrication, industrial design / construction, business management (and owner), artist (various genres), author (various Christian genres), small engines, automotive mechanics, heavy equipment mechanics, groundskeeper, hospital housekeeping / janitoral, and security.

I just reply that my step-dad (WW1 Navy Vet born in 1890) always said the day you stop learning is the day they throw dirt on your coffin.

: Glad you got the heater going - it's been so cold I even fixed the manifold : preheat line just to keep it running in the morning. : : -- : Will Honea

I think you have me confused with the OP, my friend.

Reply to
Budd Cochran

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