Hi, i have a 1997 dodge dakota V8 318 4X4 and im having heating issues woth it, its not blowing hot and it bearly blows warm, and sometimes it wont blow warm at all just cold...very cold, so im thinking it may be my bland door getting stuck or hung up? any help with this and where to find the bland door actuator under the dash to manually move it ? thanks for any help and ideas!

 

It could be the heater core is clogged up. You can disconnect the heater hoses, leave them connected at the firewall, direct one hose into a 5-gallon bucket and put a water hose to the other hose and flush it out. You will probably see a lot of gunk come out. Flush it that way for a few minutes, then reverse the hoses and flush in the opposite direction for a few minutes. Don't use a lot of water pressure, you don't want to dislodge any gunk or foreign material that could get lodged in the engine block. Reinstall the hoses and top off the antifreeze and see if the heat works any better. Clogged heater cores are a problem on Dakota's. You may find more info on it with the search box, use "heater core flush" or "clogged heater core" and it will probably list more info for you.

Your 97 has mechanically actuated blend doors. You may be able to follow the cables from the control head panel on the dash down to the HVAC housing to see if there is a problem there.

Jimmy

 

Have you tried replacing your thermostat, to get to see if you have heat in the heater core take truck for a drive, with heat on high the inlet (top) hose should be quite warm and the other should be less warm. The heater core flush is also a good idea .

 

Yes try your thermostat (just replaced mine) and make sure you're coolant level is full.

 

keep the ideas comming, i havent had time to get into my truck to do a flush of the heater core just yet but i know its full over coolant.
been busy today and havent gotten much done so ill be trying as soon as i can get to it. thank!

 

hi! today i flushed my heater core, the water wouldnt go thru one so i tried the other and my god and all that nasty stuff that came our of it! so i kept switching hoses until the water came out clear on both sides hooked em back up filled up my coolant levels and boo ya! i got heat and its hot as hell! thanks everybody for your wonderful help on this !

 

Did your anti freeze look bad? Just wondering, I have never back flushed mine and have almost 100,000 miles. My coolant has always been in good shape though.