I just started having heat problems and i don't know whats goin on. When i go my heat will stay hot but when i come to a stop it blows cold air. The other day though it stopped blowinghot air and it was all cold air. Then my boyfriend said to get on it and hammer down so i did cause he said the thermostat might be stickin but that worked for that time. But it also seems like the engine gets warmer than it everdid before. Can anyone give me some ideas as to what could be wrong. Not really lookin forward to this weekend when i look at it. >__<

 

it may not be as bad as you think! get "green" long-life anti-freeze for your truck (I used Prestone, but any quality brand will be fine). don't be talked into pink or orange...they may be the problem! carefully drain and flush the system (some old school mechanics are great at this...use to have to do it about every year!) and then allow everything to cool off. disconnect both hoses going to the heater core (on the pass. side on firewall). use a garden hose (outside, this is messy) with gentle waterpresure to rinse outthe core from each heater core pipe (some have used air pressure, but the water is safer, my $.02). justhold the hose up to the pipe and let it flow for a few minutes in each side, rinse back and forth a couple of times. refil the system following normal practice with anti-freeze. run to temp and get air out of the system andclose it up. you should notice heat by the time you reach about 150-160 degrees.i did this on our 2000 about three months ago and can hardly runthe heater above the blue marks or it gets too hot!

the problem seems to bethe factory coolant gelling in the core. hopefully you've caught it early enough it hasn't damaged the core...not a cheap repair from whati understand.

while you have it all drained, replace the hoses and thermostat if they need it. good luck!

 

In some cases isnt it that like when you put the water through it removes the clogs sometimes revealing a crack in the core and it leaks in your passenger carpet?

 

if it reveals a leak...well...you have a leak that needs to be fixed! not sure what the draw back is...damp carpet or overheated engine when it finally blows out on the highway somewhere!most often i think it's just partially blocked and reduces flow.

 

I need to get this done as well cause I have the same problem, now like if I go to a shop and get this done they say they suck all the old stuff up and put the new stuff in, and I told them and they said they it sucks the stuff up from the core as well, now do you think this would be just as good? they dont take any hoses off though.