I bought my '97 Ram 1500 about 2 months ago, and i knew there were heater troubles. Of course the dealer said he had no idea what i was talking about. I thought I could easily fix it, by putting in a new thermostat and flushing the radiator and heater core. Well I flushed the coolant twice within a month and it was the bright green it should be and now a couple weeks later it is rust colored again, and even with the new thermostat I still have only medium heat after about 30 minutes of running. I have been told that i could have my radiator boiled out and that should fix the problem with the bad coolant, but do i need to replace my heater core even though it doesn't leak?? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Sounds like the heater core is your problem.
Its more than likely plugged up pretty good which is holding the gunk and is not able to be flushed out clean. Some of the new coolant is making it through and picking up build up, discoloring the coolant.
Did you run a bottle of super flush through?
Did you use a flush kit?
I would replace the heater core first,then flush.
Should take care of the problems.

 

I serviced it at my local Jiffy Lube and its hooked up to a vaccumed machine that is supposed to flush the heater core as well as the radiator, some pretty gunky chunks came out both times i flushed it.

 

Did they flush it reverse of the normal flow, backwards. That helps flush out any stuff that might be hung up in there.
Take the heater core hoses loose at the motor and flush it in reverse flow seperately.

Have you taken the cap off, ran the motor until it is hot and looked in to see what kind of flow you have running through.

 

I have had my dodge for a while but never knew where the heater core was. Its a 95 1500 Ram. Could someone tell me where it is at? I hate to ask stupid questions but knowing where stuff is always helps.

 

I dont know how to tell the way the flow went, and yes i've run it hot without the cap...and as for dodgeboy, i've never removed a heater core in a dodge but if its anything like my fords, than it should be located on the passenger side behind the dash...

 

as for your rust problems you should try draining the block. at the bottom sides of the block next to the freeze plugs there little plugs on both sides of the block take these out, they might be pretty stuck. when you have them out coolant might not flow out yet but take a screwdriver and poke into the hole there could be a great amount of rust blocking the hole.

As for the heater core have fun taking out the dash.

 

g

 

1997 PU with a 318....when I remove the radiator cap and the cap to the overflow and then open the radiator drain, I get nothing. I've tried a piece of wire, but am afraid to dame the valve. Any trick on getting things to flow. Also, now I'm not sure if the valve is opened or closed (can't remember the original position) so I'm afraid to leave it as it is.

 

the radiator drain on my 01 is a funky little plastic plug that not only turns, but also pushes in/out. so to open it you turn it left about a 1/4 turn and pull out. it might take a pair of pliers to make the pull. i think it has an o-ring on the plug.