Re Calls please

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WVBiker

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If the heater/AC fails, isn't a sigh for a re-call?? No defrost is a safety issue.

When the cams fail to lift the valves---isn't that an engine recall???

Who is in charge of this machine????
 

quietpeen

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I'm guessing there has to be a high percentage of vehicles that have the same issue before they decide to do a recall.

Sure it would be nice but wanting it just because your vehicle is out of warranty and it is an expensive fix doesn't warrant it being a recall
 

Karlsweg

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I believe the blend door problems there are a high issue with these. The problem is most happen after warranty runs out. Same with cams.
 

ST-8

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The cam problems are on the 09+ hemis not 03-08

Dude ******** about a 10+ yr old truck having problems LOL
 
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WVBiker

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Happy to learn the older engines are good to go. Compression on the barrels looks alright. Sorry about that, it isn't a Harley or Triumph. Piston chambers is the correct wording??? BAck to the original post-----Yea, its an older buggy---why does it blow cold air out the drivers side and only has heat on the passenger side???? Ya think there might be a mouse nesting in there???
 

Karlsweg

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Happy to learn the older engines are good to go. Compression on the barrels looks alright. Sorry about that, it isn't a Harley or Triumph. Piston chambers is the correct wording??? BAck to the original post-----Yea, its an older buggy---why does it blow cold air out the drivers side and only has heat on the passenger side???? Ya think there might be a mouse nesting in there???

Blend/mode door broken
 
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WVBiker

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Your funny. 12GA shotgun, .22/250, 6.5X55, 0.38, 44mag, still doesn't help with the air flow in the truck. I suppose I could shoot the truck into submission but that would not help with the heat or AC. Blend doors work properly, direction doors are at fault. I am asking for advice on the air system of the truck, killing----done too dayumm much. Nam Vet. Screw me very much. VA hospitals are getting better.
 

TERRY G ABNEY

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do you have dual zone controls? or just one temp adjuster?,,most likely still one of the blend doors as I know that one of them can break in half an only operate on one side correctly,, but have heard that a heater core could cause this type of issue as well

here is a quote from one of the forums I am in ,,

If the dash vents are blowing cooler on the driver side than they are on the passenger side, the problem is with the heater core. It is partially blocked or plugged up somehow.

I know this because I just went through it - twice.

You have two options (assuming the core isn't leaking).

1. Try flushing the heater core. To do this you'll have to remove both coolant lines from the heater core at the firewall. You could remove the lines at the waterpump as well, but you'll end losing a good portion of your coolant. If you're going to flush the coolant anyway as part of the job, then this may be the better option. If you know your coolant is good, then pulling the lines at the firewall will minimize coolant loss to maybe a cupful.

With the coolant lines removed, get yourself some surrogate lines to attach to the heater core. You'll only need a couple feet for each. Dump some CLR (or muriatic acid) into the lines and let it sit for a bit, maybe 30 minutes or so. After you've let the CLR do its thing, hook up a garden hose to the OUTFEED line, not the intake line, and give it a good blast of water. Running the water backwards through the heater core should flush out any debris that's lodges in there.

Lastly, hook the coolant lines back up and start up the truck and let it run for a bit. Make sure you burp all the air out of the system before closing up the rad cap.

Note - this is note a guaranteed repair. It may or may not work depending on how plugged up the heater core is. It is, however, a good inexpensive first step to fixing the problem.

Option 2 - Replace the heater core

Okay, this is a pain in the hind end. I'm not going to go through all the steps to doing it, there are a couple good youtube videos out there that'll show you most of the steps. Suffice it to say, if you've never done it before, or are a novice with the tools, plan on a full day to do the job, maybe even a second.


My heater core first failed back in early December. I tried flushing it, but it only helped marginally. I still didn't have good heat. I then decided to replace it. It took me all day Saturday and a little bit into Sunday to finish it. My heat instantly returned.

Now fast forward to about 2 -1/2 weeks ago. Here in the Toronto area we had about three solid days of -25C temps. It turned out my coolant wasn't up to ***** and it froze solid, at least in the heater core. The truck sat for about a day and a half. I went out that Sunday afternoon to run an errand. No heat! None whatsoever. After about 3 hours of the truck running, it finally came back, but with the same problem again - cool on the driver's side and warm (not hot) on the passenger. F@*K!!! I was pissed.

I tried flushing it at first but it didn't work. So last week, I changed the heater core again. Fortunately, this time because I kinda knew what I was doing, it took me a little under three hours start to finish.

After I removed the heater core, I took it into my kitchen and ran hot water through it (both directions). I could feel the temperature change on the upper half of the core (got hotter), but the bottom half of the core stayed cold. And when you look at how the heater core is positioned in the air box assembly, the bottom half of the heater core is the side that feeds the driver side.
 

jerryt

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Terry, How did you swap out a heater core in only 3 hours ? Doesn't the dash have to be removed to do this ?
 

TERRY G ABNEY

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The quote was from another forum on the 3 hour , I was just posting some information with copy paste,,,,but pulling dash isnt that hard ,,you can drop steering column and then have dash out in about an hour or so ,,then depending on whether you unhook A/C lines as I did do on mine you have a few hours of work at replacing the heater core ,,On my truck it took me about 8 hrs or so to replace my blend doors an heater core and get it all put back together
 
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joepenguin

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Dealer quoted me $1200 to replace my leaky heater core last year. I also had the broken blend door issue going and my AC cooling fan was locked up so my AC didn't work. This winter I put it in the garage for 3 days, took everything apart and replaced blend doors with aluminum doors from BlendDoorUSA, cheap heater core from RockAuto and fan from RockAuto. So for less than $400 I did what would have probably cost over $2k from dealer. I enjoyed getting in my truck every cold day this past winter and basking in the heat! The job is tedious but not horrible, I could probably do it again in under a day.
 
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