ericcs
Member
my heater doesn't get very warm now, worked ok last week. i have read a few posts here with people having much the same issue, but no one ever replied to say they fixed the problem.
i found this bit of advice from tony, but before i go and pull thing heater hoses off, do i first turn the heater dial on while the car is running. i am lead to believe it's vacuum controlled?
The EGR cooler is directly in the flow path of the heater matrix inside the cabin, so it absolutely might be an issue!
Luckily there are a couple of things you can check.
Look at the EGR cooler (gold pipe that runs around the front of the engine, has two rubber hoses connected to the top). One of those hoses will run back to the firewall (this is the EGR Cooler Outlet), the other is connected to the side of the engine (EGR Cooler Inlet). Disconnect the inlet and outlet and pump water through the EGR cooler itself. If there's flow out the other side, you can ignore this component and move on. If there's no flow, this is your problem and there are two options. 1) replace the EGR cooler (if your EGR is still being used, this is suggested, but if you've blocked the EGR then who cares) or 2) if you've blocked your EGR, just put a joiner between the two hoses that went to the EGR cooler.
If that didn't fix it, you might check the flow through the inner matrix just in case. This is easy - that hose that came off the EGR cooler that heads to the firewall is the intake hose for the heater matrix. There'll be another hose coming from the firewall that heads back out to join up with all the others (connects to the thermostat housing). Undo this hose at a convenient spot and pump water into the inlet.
If those two checks don't provide an answer, you might slip a clear piece of hose into the EGR Cooler Outlet line and warm the engine up, watching that hose for flow. If there's no flow, it's possible that there's a blockage somewhere in the inlet side of the EGR cooler line (and perhaps in the block, the EGR Cooler Inlet hose should connect to the side of the motor, it might be blocked there).
i found this bit of advice from tony, but before i go and pull thing heater hoses off, do i first turn the heater dial on while the car is running. i am lead to believe it's vacuum controlled?
The EGR cooler is directly in the flow path of the heater matrix inside the cabin, so it absolutely might be an issue!
Luckily there are a couple of things you can check.
Look at the EGR cooler (gold pipe that runs around the front of the engine, has two rubber hoses connected to the top). One of those hoses will run back to the firewall (this is the EGR Cooler Outlet), the other is connected to the side of the engine (EGR Cooler Inlet). Disconnect the inlet and outlet and pump water through the EGR cooler itself. If there's flow out the other side, you can ignore this component and move on. If there's no flow, this is your problem and there are two options. 1) replace the EGR cooler (if your EGR is still being used, this is suggested, but if you've blocked the EGR then who cares) or 2) if you've blocked your EGR, just put a joiner between the two hoses that went to the EGR cooler.
If that didn't fix it, you might check the flow through the inner matrix just in case. This is easy - that hose that came off the EGR cooler that heads to the firewall is the intake hose for the heater matrix. There'll be another hose coming from the firewall that heads back out to join up with all the others (connects to the thermostat housing). Undo this hose at a convenient spot and pump water into the inlet.
If those two checks don't provide an answer, you might slip a clear piece of hose into the EGR Cooler Outlet line and warm the engine up, watching that hose for flow. If there's no flow, it's possible that there's a blockage somewhere in the inlet side of the EGR cooler line (and perhaps in the block, the EGR Cooler Inlet hose should connect to the side of the motor, it might be blocked there).
