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Heater Problem

Tiny
DOYON8
  • MEMBER
  • 2002 SATURN SL1
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 143,000 MILES
My 2002 Saturn, Blows hot air when I am traviling on the freeway, but when I get off and I'm driving down city streets, the air is cold. Thermosat is new, the water pump is new, cap is new, hose's are new. What could cause the problem
Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 5:46 PM

16 Replies

Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
First of all thank you so much for donation. So do you have your a/c on and it blow's warm on the freeway and cold in town?Because if your heat is on then it should blow hotter around town then on the freeway less air coming into your radiator around town.
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 5:54 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
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Is the engine running at a normal operating temp? Also, was the cooling system bleed?
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 5:54 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,867 POSTS
Is the engine running at a normal operating temp? Also, was the cooling system bleed? It sounds like there is an air pocket.
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 5:55 PM
Tiny
DOYON8
  • MEMBER
  • 15 POSTS
I did a cooling system flush. No I do not have the a/c on. Just running the heat and after the car warms up. When Im on the freeway, its hot, when I get off, it imeatialy gets cold
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 6:16 PM
Tiny
DOYON8
  • MEMBER
  • 15 POSTS
And yes, it is running at normal temp
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 6:16 PM
Tiny
DOYON8
  • MEMBER
  • 15 POSTS
I was told by someone at autozone, that my heater core was blocked so I did what he told me. I drain the radiator, took off the hose going into the heater coor, and blew air into from my air compressor and that completly fluhed out the system. I filled it up and let it run, and then filled it up the rest of the way, and as of right now it is still full
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 6:31 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
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That model saturn doesn't get air pocket's there is no bleeding procedure for air in the cooling system it's self bleeding. It's really strange how on the freeway when it should be running the coolest it's hot and in town it's cold when it should be running hotter.I would check and make sure your a/c isn't staying on also when your just sitting at a stop and you move the heater control from hot to cold can you feel the air change temp at all?
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 6:32 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
So is the heater working correctly since you blew the heater core out?
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 6:34 PM
Tiny
DOYON8
  • MEMBER
  • 15 POSTS
Thought of that. The A/C seamed like it worked just fine. I was on the city streets when I tried that.
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 6:38 PM
Tiny
DOYON8
  • MEMBER
  • 15 POSTS
At first it was overheating and not supplying any heat. So thats when I blew out the heater core. And that seamed like that fixed it, but It started to overheat again. Then I replaced the cap because the one that was on there was not holding pressure. So that fixed the overheating problem, but now the heat thing is messed up.
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 6:42 PM
Tiny
DOYON8
  • MEMBER
  • 15 POSTS
After I blew out the heater core, it seamed like it was fixed. It was fine for a week. But it wasn't that cold last week so I don't think my wife used the heat all that much. I never noticed the problem of it working on the freeway and not the streets before.
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 6:47 PM
Tiny
DOYON8
  • MEMBER
  • 15 POSTS
Am I right to say that if the heater core was bad that there would not be any heat at all?
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 7:08 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
When the heater core's go bad they leak usually into the car if it was bad you would smell the antifreeze or see your floor board wet. Sound's like it might be fixed why don't you when you get a chance go out and let the engine warm up and see if the heat work's.
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 9:48 PM
Tiny
DOYON8
  • MEMBER
  • 15 POSTS
Well, I came to the conclusion that I am a complete *****. Sometimes the easiest answer is the right one. After I flushed it last week, I let it run when I filled it up so I could make sure that it was full, but I did not have the heat on so don't think that antifreeze circulated through the heater core. So naturally it never got filled up completely with antifreeze. So I filled it up just before I left work, One mile down the road, my car is warmed up and BAM! HEAT. So I'm a *****. Hope you get a good laugh, I sure did. So hopefully that fixes the problem permanently because I have had enough of heating and cooling. But knowing her, I'm sure she will find something else wrong with it. So I'm sure I will be back sometime or another. Thanks for all your help. Wish you would of called me a ***** from the get go and it would of saved us both a bunch of time. Thanks again.
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 10:46 PM
Tiny
DOYON8
  • MEMBER
  • 15 POSTS
**** is not a bad word. But insert any **** word you want and that's me today
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 AT 10:48 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
If it makes you feel any better you don't have to have the heat on to get coolant into the heater core that model doesn't have a heater valve the coolant goes into the heater core no matter what. But glad to hear you got it fixed that's what we like to hear. Talk to you next time your wife find's something wrong lol.
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Thursday, November 18th, 2010 AT 12:44 AM

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