Living Legacy Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Can you help me figure out what is going on? Recently I noticed that my heat only likes to work when I'm under throttle. Temp gauge shows normal all the time including when I'm warming the car up. When I'm accelerating, the heat works great. Once I coast or stop, the heat slowly goes cold - blower motor continues to work as usual, but the temperature gradually cools off to the point where I have no heat, just cold air. A couple other things I've noticed: My radiator fan has been kicking on after light driving (7 miles) in cool temperatures (20F)After normal driving (on occasion) I've heard my coolant boiling over into my over flow tank. It has never spilled over that I'm aware ofAfter I shut my car off, I usually (not always) hear a repeated clicking noise from the middle of the dashboard that eventually goes away (after 1-2 mins). It sounds like the CD player is switching CD's continuously, but I have the feeling this might actually be something within the HVAC system that is trying to open/close, or maybe even something else Background: Car ('05 LGT) has 140K, stock minus APAll maintenance, including coolant and water pump, has been serviced on timeReplaced the radiator within the last 20K milesPretty sure the thermostat has not been replaced Can you help me diagnosis this issue? I'd love to stay away from the dealership if I can, but without help, that's exactly where it's going (when they replace my damn airbag that's being recalled). TIA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solidxsnake Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 The repeated clicking noise is quite common it seems. Related to the HVAC door that isn't actuating properly (as you suspected): http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/bubbling-noise-after-turn-off-cari-227004.html?t=227004 I'm curious if when you coast/stop and rev the car (throw it into neutral or hold in the clutch, depending on AT/MT) if the heat returns. I'm curious if the problem is RPM related or load related... I'd suspect RPM related. If that is the case, I'd suspect that something is keeping the cooling system from staying correctly pressurized at low/idle RPMs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Living Legacy Posted December 10, 2016 Author Share Posted December 10, 2016 Really appreciate the reply, glad to learn more about that damn clicking. Strangely enough, the heat problem appears to be intermittent as it recently has started working all the time. We're in for some nasty cold in the next few days so I'm sure there will be plenty of time to test. I'll try as you suggested (I have a manual) and will let you know what I find, though if I'm remembering correctly, I had no heat at a stop, rev'd it and the heat came back without moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnyJagaru Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 I had an old car that did this and it was low on coolant is all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.lee89 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Make sure your coolant is full in the rad. If its full make sure it has no air in the cooling system. Worst cause is head gasket is blown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
08SpecB_DE Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Low on coolant Air in the system Coolant system is plugged (i.e. heater core, radiator) Water pump is failing Have you put stop leak or any type of sealer in the coolant system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Living Legacy Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 I'm curious if the problem is RPM related or load related... I'd suspect RPM related. If that is the case, I'd suspect that something is keeping the cooling system from staying correctly pressurized at low/idle RPMs. Confirmed, the issue is RPM related (heat blows cool once the RPM drop and rise back up with the RPM). Also checked the coolant levels. I was able to put maybe 6-8 ounces in? Wasn't thinking this was the issue, but it did have a little bit of air in the radiator. Wouldn't coolant be mixed in with the oil if the head gasket was toast? Finally, I have not used stop leak. Just dropped it off at the dealership for the airbag recall, they said they might be able to clean and lube the HVAC actuator tracks while they are in there! I'll pot an update if they figure out what's going on with this. Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Living Legacy Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 Just got the car back from the dealer (yes, 20 calendar days later ). Lucky for me, they agreed to lube the HVAC actuator tracks while they had the dash off for the new air bag. Haven't heard the clicking noise since, but it was intermittent. No charge, so I don't really have any room to complain. As for the real issue, apparently I must have switched the two coolant reservoir caps (the one on the radiator with the one just above the passenger side valve cover). They bled the coolant, topped everything off and told me to see what happens (but that it could be a head gasket:mad:). Crap. Only good news is that I haven't seen the issues repeat themselves yet, though it's only been 15 miles. I really hope it was just a low coolant issue, which would make sense to me. I'll keep an eye out for elevated temps, coolant smells, steam from the hood and changes to the coolant overflow tank. If you know of any other signs of head gaskets going out, I would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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