epricedright Posted December 20, 2005 Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 My feet have been freezing lately! The floor heat on the driver side is cold while on the passenger side it is warm. Air is blowing to both sides equally, but on the driver side, it's not warm. Any ideas what the problem could be? Are there separate doors on the floor heat for each side? It's like the air coming from the blower is bypassing the heater coil on the driver side. I've messed with all the settings (auto, econ, defog, defrost, fan speed)...no help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted December 20, 2005 Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 There is a theory stating that the lower part of the vertically positioned heater core is responsible for driver side. If for some reason it is plugged with say, sediment the driver won't get what he deserves. The cure is flushing and backflushing the heater core with a garden hose. Have you ever done it on that car? The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epricedright Posted December 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 There is a theory stating that the lower part of the vertically positioned heater core is responsible for driver side. If for some reason it is plugged with say, sediment the driver won't get what he deserves. The cure is flushing and backflushing the heater core with a garden hose. Have you ever done it on that car? Nope, I only changed the coolant after purchase. Have you ever backflushed your heater core? Where would I attach the hose---is that done in the engine compartment where the hoses come through the firewall or at the core itself? How hard is it to get to the heater core? Boy, terrible time of year to pull out a garden hose! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted December 20, 2005 Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 There is a theory stating that the lower part of the vertically positioned heater core is responsible for driver side. If for some reason it is plugged with say, sediment the driver won't get what he deserves. The cure is flushing and backflushing the heater core with a garden hose. Have you ever done it on that car? Nope, I only changed the coolant after purchase. Have you ever backflushed your heater core? Where would I attach the hose---is that done in the engine compartment where the hoses come through the firewall or at the core itself? How hard is it to get to the heater core? Boy, terrible time of year to pull out a garden hose! Disconnecting the hoses on the firewall is not fun. You better disconnect one hose where it is connected to the heater valve (plastic "T"), and the other from the cooling pipe on the engine. See the GREEN arrows for directions. You need to remove front passanger wheel for better access. Cutting off the connector from the garde hose is a good idea too. BTW, after flushing, my heater core started leaking. Old gaskets dried out I guess... I had to replace it eventually. Not fun either! The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epricedright Posted December 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 Thanks adallak for the pic! Ok, I have a coolant flush kit that has the hose adapters. Where would I attach the fresh water garden hose, the upper green arrow or lower? I'm guessing the coolant naturally goes from the heater valve (upper green arrow) to the heater core and then to the lower cooling pipe on the engine, so to backflush, I would need to connect the fresh water hose to the lower hose (lower green arrow-the one that connects to the engine) and another hose to the T and out to the driveway. Is that correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted December 20, 2005 Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 Thanks adallak for the pic! Ok, I have a coolant flush kit that has the hose adapters. Where would I attach the fresh water garden hose, the upper green arrow or lower? I'm guessing the coolant naturally goes from the heater valve (upper green arrow) to the heater core and then to the lower cooling pipe on the engine, so to backflush, I would need to connect the fresh water hose to the lower hose (lower green arrow-the one that connects to the engine) and another hose to the T and out to the driveway. Is that correct? That is correct. Just do not put a lot of pressure at once. Flush-backflush-flush-backflush while increasing the pressure is the way to go. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justgreat Posted December 20, 2005 Report Share Posted December 20, 2005 there is an air handler underneath the dashboard vent (on my 90 anyway) that controls the distribution of air. when the air handler breaks (mine did) it has a "default" position (for safety reasons) to the defrost vents. since yours is only one side of the footwell, it sounds like your problem is further down into the dash. jackg 90seville 99k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 I'm with "justgreat" on this one. My '99 had a similar problem which was solved by replacing the air distribution door actuator. Earlier years may be quite a bit different though..best to get it into the dealership for a proper diagnosis. Never underestimate the amount of a persons greed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted December 21, 2005 Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 there is an air handler underneath the dashboard vent (on my 90 anyway) that controls the distribution of air. when the air handler breaks (mine did) it has a "default" position (for safety reasons) to the defrost vents. since yours is only one side of the footwell, it sounds like your problem is further down into the dash. jackg 90seville 99k All I said was "there is a theory". I never had a chance neither to test that theory nor dig into air distribution system. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epricedright Posted December 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2005 I was there under the dash looking around when I replaced the blower motor and the floor vents and door actuator looked almost impossible to get to without ripping out the dash. I'll have another looksey down there and see how close I can get. I'm trying to avoid a trip to the dealer...not in the budget this time of year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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