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Heater is only luke warm when engine is up to temperature

Discussion in '1st Gen. Tacomas (1995-2004)' started by longwaytothetop, Feb 4, 2009.

  1. Feb 4, 2009 at 6:58 AM
    #1
    longwaytothetop

    longwaytothetop [OP] Member

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    Hey everyone, so ive had my 1996 tacoma 2.7 for about 4 months and everything about it has been awesome. (my previous mazda b2300/ford ranger started itself on fire...so that was it for my attempt to make a domestic truck part of my future) Anyway, since the weather has been cold the temp gauge gets up to normal within a few minutes and when the heater is on all the way it gets luke warm at most. My first thought was maybe the Tstat so i replaced that and flushed out the whole system with water, including the two hoses that run into the heater core, and replaced all the coolant. After doing that everything ran great, but still only had luke warm heat. The upper radiator hose is hot..but only a little pressure is felt inside the hose, but the lower rad. hose is cold. This makes me think the Tstat would be stuck but the engine is not overheating. My next guess is that maybe the water pump isnt pumping efficiently, therefore not making it past the Tstat very much. Any thoughts?
     
  2. Feb 4, 2009 at 7:10 AM
    #2
    paintdiddy

    paintdiddy Machine gun shits

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    maybe the new tstat is bad too? i bought alot of crap from autozone,pepboys,and r+s straus that was no good and had to return it.that is the cheapest try before you do a water pump. is the water pump leaking at all?
     
  3. Feb 4, 2009 at 7:35 AM
    #3
    Rtrn2taco

    Rtrn2taco Nostalgia...

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    I had symptoms similar to this on my 99. My problem was the linkage coming off the back of the "sliding temp. control selector" had come off (stuck on cold) of some other mechanism. Not sure what technically was the cause of the lack of heat but I know it solved my problem. I was able to see the problem by looking underneath the passenger dash.

    It was a relief that that was my issue but with my truck only being a year old at the time your issue maybe more complex.
     
  4. Feb 4, 2009 at 1:48 PM
    #4
    longwaytothetop

    longwaytothetop [OP] Member

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    I suppose the new Tstat could be bad...i mean it was only $12 at autozone so i could give that a try and see what happens. Otherwise there is no leakage around the water pump, and Ill take a look under the dash on the passenger side to see if the lever/flap mechanism is stuck on cold or something. Thanks for the info :cool:
     
  5. Feb 4, 2009 at 2:00 PM
    #5
    Snipe

    Snipe Well-Known Member

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    Testing a thermostat should be pretty easy if you have access to a thermometer such as the kind that you use for making candy, just toss the thermostat in question in a pan of water on the stove and see that it opens at the temp it is supposed too, make sure it opens completely and not just a tiny bit.
     
  6. Feb 4, 2009 at 2:40 PM
    #6
    Ry1984

    Ry1984 Well-Known Member

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    x2
     
  7. Feb 4, 2009 at 9:50 PM
    #7
    longwaytothetop

    longwaytothetop [OP] Member

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    Well, I fixed it this evening guys. turns out the control cable attached to the heater box under the dash board came unattached at the control knob. I simply pulled the center part of the dash off( only 4 attachment brackets ) and i could see right away that one of the cables came disconnected from the lever that controls the temp... since the cable was stuck in the medium range, that explained why it only got a little warm. Thanks for the advice guys, ill let you know if anything else comes up.
     
  8. Feb 5, 2009 at 5:57 AM
    #8
    Rtrn2taco

    Rtrn2taco Nostalgia...

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    Glad you got it fixed !!!!!
     
  9. Feb 5, 2009 at 6:09 AM
    #9
    Ry1984

    Ry1984 Well-Known Member

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  10. Nov 26, 2014 at 4:22 AM
    #10
    ckracing

    ckracing Member

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    Hey Guys my 2003 tacoma 4 cyl water temp gauge needle is stuck on cold?? The heater works fine. Does anyone know what is causing this?

    Thanks in advance

    Charles
     
  11. Nov 26, 2014 at 4:25 AM
    #11
    ckracing

    ckracing Member

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    Sorry I didn't mean to hijack this thread.

    Charles
     
  12. Nov 26, 2014 at 8:44 AM
    #12
    Darryle

    Darryle It is just a truck

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    Probably a bad gauge, have access to a code reader or ultra gauge/scan gauge?
     
  13. Nov 26, 2014 at 11:20 AM
    #13
    Indy

    Indy Master of all I survey.

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    Stuck needle, bad sender, broken wire, off the top of my head.
     
  14. Nov 28, 2014 at 11:33 AM
    #14
    ckracing

    ckracing Member

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    I disconnected the cable from the sending unit and grounded the wire with the truck running. No change in water temp gauge needle moving. Was that a valid test?

    Thanks

    Charles
     

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