Hello gents brand new here but have read thru many posts so far and theres alot of outstanding tips and advice. I tried the search first before deciding to post my first of probably many questions. I am no mechanic by any sense of the word I know just the very basics, so I have asked friends and family and have gotten many conflicting answers. I just bought a 98 Ram 1500 Sport V8 5.9L 4WD about a month or so ago. The serpintine belt I currently have on is the one that bypasses the A/C. Do I need to get the belt that doesnt bypass it so my heat will work? The heat mostly blows cool which here in upstate NY kind of feels warm but it doesnt cut it when the temp drops down into the negatives. The thermostat is new made the dealer replace it before i bought it, havent had the coil flushed or anything but after reading alot of these posts that will be done in the next day or two. Any advice is greatly appreciated thanks.
Eric

 

hey Eric..welcome

whats your temp guage sit at when you try the heat..like is it at running temp 185-200ish*?

usually your a/c is bypassed for a reason..but as far as i know..it only affects your defroster..

this could possibly be a plugged heater core..ive only delt with leaking heater cores so ill let the pros give you ways to find out if yours is clogged

 

Thanks for the fast reply and for the welcome, the temp usually sits 140ish never goes higher. What would a reason for the A/C being bypassed be? I need a defroster absolutely so looks like Ill have to change the belt over.

 

140ish??

id hit up the dealer that you bought it from and see just exactly what kinda T stat they put in there

driving in new york winters id want at a 195 t stat

IIRC theres 160,180,190,195

check with the dealer and see what temp they put it..and also while your motor is cold (so the cap dont blow in your face) check you radiator fluid level

and usually an a/c condenser gets bypassed either because it has stopped working or leaks...id be carefull though..take the ac condenser and try and move spin it by hand..see if it budges..theyve been known to seeze and when they do..oh man is it nasty LOL..not to scare ya

 

The ac motor moves very freely was messing with it earlier today, has a little rust on the pulley but it looks ok from the outside as far as I can tell. Is there any other way to check which thermostat was put in besides asking the dealer? It was a small shady dealer who outsourced the fixing to some hole in the wall mech. Also the fluid it toped off poped that open earlier too and was so full it was touching the cap.

 

no real way of telling what T stat you have in..

the only things that it can be..is T stat (which is my vote if your only sitting at 140) or a clogged heater core

if i was you..go out get a 195 t stat..and throw it it..it comes with a gasket and is fairly simple to replace

 

Thanks much Wake, Tstats are rather cheap so your idea sounds good to me. I have also been looking up how to flush the coil and it seems a bit out of my league, wouldnt know which hoses are which. Ill end up taking it to a mechanic for that most likely. Thank you very much.

 

Just take the hoses off and stick a garden hose in the heater core and flush it out. Flushing your cooling system is easy, I wouldnt pay the $100 for a mechanic to do it.

 

that is why mine is bypassed (temporarily) it was a mess when it seized too....too cold out right now to change the ac bearing

 

Purpl I agree something that just takes a water hose shouldn't need to be paid for but I was going to take it in for two reasons. The first being I have no idea what I am looking for when locating the heater coil, I browsed some online and was able to find most said look for hoses running into the firewall on the p/s. I found two potential things that looked like they fit the bill and took pics, if one of you would tell me if I am in the right spots or which one are the hoses I need to disconnect. The second issue was my water pressure here in my house is rather poor, doesn't flow fast nor hard. Again from what I read the water should be ran thru many times to get out debris and build up inside the core. Will my mediocre water pressure do the job? I am going to spam 2 more posts right after this posting the pics, if yall don't mind telling me which one is the correct one, (If its neither well then hope its worth a laugh at my non mechanically inclined self )