i have 2001 Ram 4x4. i have had the truck for 5 years and only put 20-ish grand on it since i have owned it. i only use the truck in the summer to tow my boat and a few trips here and there. well the past 2 months my heat has been working for CRAP!! early spring last year i did the hughes air gap intake and a programmer. never used the heat since then, never needed to. about 45 days ago i drove the truck and almost no heat. i pulled the 180 stat and installed a 195. No Difference. i went ahead and blocked halk the grill with cardboard and drove it. No Difference. i read some posts about parking the truck on huge incline to get the raditor cap higher then the heater core to Maybe bleed out a air pocket. did it twice. No Difference.

Saturday i drove the truck to the local car wash/power washer. i pulled the heater hose off the waterpump and pulled the other hose apart in the middle. and Yes... i jammed the powerwasher in the heater hose on the pass side and slowly let it rip. the heater hose on the drivers side did nothing at first. i then gave it more pressure. the hose looked like a toilet bowl flushing with a huge number 2 dump... came out brown as can be. then slowly had some green antifreeze tint to it. i then ran the power washer into the heater hose on the drivers side and watched a little brown come out of the pass heater hose. and them flushed it one more time until clear water came out both sides.

hooked up the heater hoses, topped off the cooling system. started the ram up and extra extra HOT heat................ cheapest fix ever.. i will most likely do a heater core when spring hits but i wanted to post this. i read several posts on many forums and hope this may help the next ram owner.

 

Congrats! Most with heater core problems don't get so lucky. However, if the heater core was really badly corroded you might get a leak. Those can be nasty. Had one in another vehicle years and years ago, and even after changing out the heater core I had to rip the carpeting out to try and rid the car of the anti-freeze smell.

Just a warning.

 

I am rather curious just how much pressure is 'too much' for blowing out the heater core..... I don't wanna get improved heat, at the expense of blowing it apart.

 

i was worried about blowing it apart myself so i slowly pulled the trigger on the power washer, i was extra careful believe me i was. it's too cold to do a heater core right now so i was hoping in one hand and praying in the other this would help. iam just glad i have heat........ i will only drive the truck if the weather is bad and if that's the case i need heat. i will do a heater core in the spring when i don't need heat... HA

 

Dont blame you a bit worying about the heater core. I was worried about the core when I did Mrs N's 89 so I flushed it with the garden hose both ways about three times. It took that many flushes to get it to run clear. That was the fall before last and the old heater core still is holding up. Nobody that has changed that core, (or the A/c evap), never ever wants to do it again.

 

I just picked up a 95 1500 5.9 and it has poor heat saved me sometime thanks

 

So you dumped anti-freeze in a public car wash to do this?

I think if people would flush their cooling system every few years, cores wont corrode and rot out.

 

Gotta remember that most of us here bought our trucks used.... and the cooling system is often one of the most neglected parts of a vehicle.

 

the heater core really had no antifreeze in it at all so i only dumped a few cups if that. but yes i dumped a few cups on the ground in a public car wash, oh well. iam just glad i have heat that warms the cab and will burn your hand. i bought my dodge five ago next month and it just sits and sits. and yes most people do neglect cooling systems. it happens.

 

That little bit of coolant isn't going to hurt anything Plus you don't know if the waste water is routed to a treatment plant.