clarkd

Hey I have been scanning the forums for threads that could help, but I decided to post finally.

My fiancee has a 2001 XJ, and it has very little heat coming out of it. About a month or two ago we found out that she was driving with no anti-freeze. The short version of that story is that the Jeep's temp gauge started to randomly jump and then go back to normal, then finally she was driving home one night and finally smoke came out from under the hood on the passenger's side. I assume that the antifreeze that was left came out of the overflow reservoir and hit the engine block and smoked up. The remaining antifreeze was rust orange and had the consistency of whipped cream.

Anyway, I replaced the thermostat and flushed the cooling system with just water to try and get it cleared out before I put in new antifreeze, but the water was still rust orange after 10 minutes so I left it at that since I thought I would play with it again in the spring when it wasn't so friggin cold, and I don't have a garage. Regardless, the overheating problem was fixed.

Now before I did anything with the overheating problem we knew she had little to no heat. Just today I tried to run water through the heater core backwards using a drill pump since I thought that the whipped orange antifreeze could be plugging it, and it seemed to work. In fact, I was able to blow out the liquid from the hot side to the cold side when I was done.

However, there has been no improvement with the heat. One other thing I noticed is that only the hose from the thermostat is hot the other is not. I don't think it is a blocked heater core since I was able to blow out the water. My next step is just to run some actual flush through the heater core just to be sure there aren't any blockages.

I will be honest in that I am somewhat of a newbie when it comes to auto repair, but I actually enjoy working on the Jeep since it isn't sitting in front of computer which I do for my job. Although this month has been pretty brutal with the wind. If anyone has any suggestions on what to do to get the heat working again I am open to them.

mike albo

did you put the tstat in the wrong way? or it may be stuck closed

clarkd

I am pretty sure I did put in right, but even if I did put it in wrong wouldn't the hose going to the heater core from the thermostat be cold once it was up to running temp?

mike albo

is the upper radiator hose getting hot or just the lower hose?The heater hose is on the out side of the tstat,the water in the block heats up, then the tstat opens when its at temp to let the water flow all the way through the system.

clarkd

I just went out to check and the upper radiator hose is getting hot as well as the hose coming from the thermostat going to the heater core. I am pretty sure that the thermostat is fine since we haven't had any overheating issue since I replaced it.

The funny thing is that the hose returning from the heater core to the block(the bottom hose) seemed to warm up as well this time. A few hours ago it didn't seem to (unless my fingers were numb from the cold).

mike albo

may have been some build up of crud that finally broke loose,when you get the chance do a real good flush of the whole system,when you did the enisciel work stuff may have broken loose

clarkd

Ok I thought so, I am just going to have to wait for a day where it isn't cold enough to freeze my nuts to the fender.

mike albo

Oh I am glad it doesn't get that cold here.

96Cherokee113

Took me a minute to figure out that you meant "initial". I also have luke-warm to slightly warm heat. A lot of people said change out he heater control valve, but I'm not too concerned yet.

clarkd

Yeah it's real fun according to Google it's 14 degrees with 23 mph winds.

mike albo

can't spell, I know

96Cherokee113

Eh, no biggie. I figured it out eventually. I sounded like a three year old trying to pronounce it, but I got it, haha.

mike albo

you got it though

clarkd

Well I am hoping not to touch the dashboard since that is a job in itself Not to mention that I am not to keen on discharging the AC to get to the actual heater core since that was completely overhauled just last May and is working great. I am praying for a clogged heater core.

I keep seeing things about a blend door, but I am going for the easiest stuff first.

96Cherokee113

The heater control valve is under the hood, not in the dash. Here's a pic, in on the passenger side located above the dipstick. It's got four heater hoses that run into it.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/attach...lve_leak_1.jpg