Shoestring
Junior Member
I have a 2013 Ram 1500 4.7 with single zone heating. I had just fair heat on the passenger side and almost none on the driver side. The cure for this, in my case at least, was to flush the heater core with CLR. I know it's not recommended by some but by this point I thought I had very little to lose. I disconnected the heater hoses at the water pump because it is very easy access and heater cores can be quite delicate. I then blew the coolant out of the heater core and hoses using low pressure, 20 psi, air. Are then filled heater core with CLR and let it set for 15 minutes. I then flushed the heater core with low pressure water from a garden hose.I was very disappointed when I didn't see any goop, gunk or dirt.
I then refilled the heater core and hoses with coolant and reattach them to the water pump.
I then took the truck for a drive even though I was quite sure I had accomplished nothing because I didn't see any sludge come out of the core.
I was pleasantly surprised when two miles down the road the heater is blowing hot air out of both sides and I mean hot. As good as new.
JUST A FEW THOUGHTS
My research was telling me that one end of these heater cores is prone to clogging but why would this make such a drastic difference in the amount of heat from one side of the truck to the other in a single zone heat system. I think, and this is just a guess, that RAM are using the same plenum in both single zone and dual-zone heat systems meaning the plenum is divided internally. .A single zone heat system has one actuator and one large blend door a dual zone heat system has 2 actuators and 2 blend doors.
The air for the left side of the truck is travelling over the clogged end of the core and picks up very little heat and then enters the plenum section for the left side of the truck.
I don't know if this is the best way of going about this but what I do know is that it's getting cold in Nova Scotia and I have heat again.
I then refilled the heater core and hoses with coolant and reattach them to the water pump.
I then took the truck for a drive even though I was quite sure I had accomplished nothing because I didn't see any sludge come out of the core.
I was pleasantly surprised when two miles down the road the heater is blowing hot air out of both sides and I mean hot. As good as new.
JUST A FEW THOUGHTS
My research was telling me that one end of these heater cores is prone to clogging but why would this make such a drastic difference in the amount of heat from one side of the truck to the other in a single zone heat system. I think, and this is just a guess, that RAM are using the same plenum in both single zone and dual-zone heat systems meaning the plenum is divided internally. .A single zone heat system has one actuator and one large blend door a dual zone heat system has 2 actuators and 2 blend doors.
The air for the left side of the truck is travelling over the clogged end of the core and picks up very little heat and then enters the plenum section for the left side of the truck.
I don't know if this is the best way of going about this but what I do know is that it's getting cold in Nova Scotia and I have heat again.
