I have removed the waterpump and the fins are in place and not corroded; I have flushed the heater core with garden hose and water flows freely and full; I have flushed all connecting hoses and they run free and full, including the bypass hose; I have checked thermostat and it works fine; I have a relatively new radiator; I checked the electric motor on the air mixer and it moves up and down with the manual movement of the heat dial on the dash; I love my 97 Sable and am at wits end on where the problem may be, but somehow I have to believe it''s water flow in some fashion ?? HELP !

 

Do both heater hoses get hot to the touch when the engine is at operating temp? All hoses are hot too, right? What does your temp gauge read?

 

Try a higher temperature thermostat.

 

My hoses were hot to the touch at operating temp. ... Not so hot that I would be burned easily though.... the hoses are hot also.... the Thermostat is 192deg, I''m gonna put in a 195deg which is about as high as you would need to go I believe... the temp guage reads at about 8:00 to 8:30ish on the hour hand if it were a clock, if that makes sense ? Thanks for the interest here...

 

If you have a good cooling system and a low temperature thermostat, it will let the water through before it gets hot enough. And you won''t keep the water in your heater core long enough to get hot enough to heat the cabin. I think a 205 will do better than a 192.

 

Good Point,... Since I just bought and installed the 195, I''ll see if it gets any warmer... the deal is that I don''t get ANY heat... maybe a 2 or 3 deg change when opening up the heat vent,... so , when it''s really cold outside, say 40 deg or so, and the regular airflow is say 42 deg, then opening up the heat vent with the dial on the dash just changes the temp enough that I know something changed, but not really any heat at all.... P.S. I''m also putting in a brand new Water Pump just for the heck of it to see if that was it anyway...

 

If your heater hoses are hot and you are still getting cold air, it is going to be your heater core. You can flush the core, but if it is corroded inside it is not going to get hot due to most of the core not getting any of the hot water. How was the coolant condition when this all started?

 

Thanks to everyone for great responses and ideas.. current state... I did have the entire system redone 7 years ago or so when they had that assanine recall by Mercury on the heater coolant problem where it all turned to mud / rust ! They even had to take out and replace all of my freeze plugs... that''s another story in itself... anyway... I''ve just replaced the waterpump that was replaced by Mercury during that recall and the new one from NAPA seem to have fins closer to the edge of the pump housing ? I did stick with the 195deg stat, and put everything back together ( remember I had already flushed everything to running full and clear )... I NOW HAVE HEAT at least to a comforting level... not HOT like when I first bought the vehicle,.. but enough heat to defrost and be comfortable.... I don''t know what''s in store for the 20''s and 30''s when they get here.. maybe I''ll do the 205deg stat then... I feel like I''m lucky here.


Padge

 

Hey, when it gets down to the 20''s and 30''s the heat will feel even warmer! LOL! Good luck.