No heat again!!! Grrrrr
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Joined: May 2010
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I'm not saying the other suggestions are wrong because the blend door is most definitely a possibility with our trucks. I too have an '02 with the 4.7 and I too was having the same heat issues described here. Little to no heat with the fan on position 1 and even less the the fan running at higher speeds.
I did the coolant system flush and I also disconnected the hoses to do the radiator, motor and heater core individually. Installed a new 180 thermostat after verifying it worked properly and had heat for a short period of time but it faded out again.
Long story short, I read up on all the possibilities and one by one eliminated them. Turns out that even though I had used the vent screw on the motor to vent the air out it still left some in the heater core.
I had grabbed the heater hoses after driving home from work and they were both hot, it wasn't until I checked them with an infra red thermometer that I found that the inlet hose was at 180 degrees and the outlet was at 120/130 degrees. This was checked with the fan off. That's too much of a difference and told me I wasn't getting the flow I needed.
I temporarily installed a flushing tee from a kit into the outlet hose and used a small low volume transfer pump to force anti-freeze into the core. There was air trapped in the core because the level in the reservoir dropped almost 1/4". I've had great heat now for about two weeks. The inlet side is still at 180 degrees and the outlet side with the fan on the highest setting is at 150 degrees.
You may be tempted to leave the tee in for future use but it is plastic and didn't look like it was made all that well, take it back out. I didn't want to drain the cooling system so I used quick clamps to pinch off the hoses.
I have a write up with pictures if anyone's interested, if I can post it with so few posts here.
Take care.
Don
I did the coolant system flush and I also disconnected the hoses to do the radiator, motor and heater core individually. Installed a new 180 thermostat after verifying it worked properly and had heat for a short period of time but it faded out again.
Long story short, I read up on all the possibilities and one by one eliminated them. Turns out that even though I had used the vent screw on the motor to vent the air out it still left some in the heater core.
I had grabbed the heater hoses after driving home from work and they were both hot, it wasn't until I checked them with an infra red thermometer that I found that the inlet hose was at 180 degrees and the outlet was at 120/130 degrees. This was checked with the fan off. That's too much of a difference and told me I wasn't getting the flow I needed.
I temporarily installed a flushing tee from a kit into the outlet hose and used a small low volume transfer pump to force anti-freeze into the core. There was air trapped in the core because the level in the reservoir dropped almost 1/4". I've had great heat now for about two weeks. The inlet side is still at 180 degrees and the outlet side with the fan on the highest setting is at 150 degrees.
You may be tempted to leave the tee in for future use but it is plastic and didn't look like it was made all that well, take it back out. I didn't want to drain the cooling system so I used quick clamps to pinch off the hoses.
I have a write up with pictures if anyone's interested, if I can post it with so few posts here.
Take care.
Don
Professional
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 130
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From: Chicago suburbs
If you smell coolant, yes, it's the core.
Good luck. I just replaced mine.
while you are in there, it may be a good idea to change out the evaporator.
They are cheap, considering the amount of labor you are going to invest.
Good luck. I just replaced mine.
while you are in there, it may be a good idea to change out the evaporator.
They are cheap, considering the amount of labor you are going to invest.
Captain
Joined: Oct 2009
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I remember reading a thread a little while ago that had a shortcut for replacing the blend door, that's definitely worth a search. Seemed to be successful for quite a few. You could also look into aftermarket solutions for the heater vent, it's supposedly pretty straightforward and a lot quicker. I'm losing my heat in my truck, I'll have to do the same thing soon. Hopefully before it hits -40! haha
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Joined: Nov 2012
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If your getting a strong anti freeze smell then chances are you have a leaky core, are you losing any anti freeze? I am more than happy to post my write up but it has pictures to make it more easier to understand. How many posts do I need before I can attach pictures?
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hey can you please post your write up. i just started doing this about 2 hours ago. its 100% my heater core as my carpet is soaked and stinks like coolant. so i started taking everything apart. i cannot get this thing to budge i have tons of screws out, a bunch of connectors undone. it would be great to have pictures of steps because i am missing something. now i heard you have to drop the steering wheel? i have not done this. also i also saw you have to take the screws out the hold the plastic vents to the dash itself? if anyone can help me please do so.
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update: got the steering column all disconected and its laying on the floor. its dark out now so i have to stop. the passenger side frame can wiggle around but im having trouble moving the driver said at all. i dont know if i missed bolts somewhere.
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Joined: Jan 2010
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hey just did mine last week so heres a list of bolts
2 bolts aluminum block the steering column attched to( these go up into dash)
3 bolts on drivers side by door
2 on paasenger side by door
2 under cup holder by air bag module
1 bolt behind glove box panel this one is a vertical brace with 2 bolts take the top bolt out and swing it down and your good
also the bolts at the wind sheild i think theres 5
im pretty sure i got them all when i did mine it took about an 1 1/2 hours to move dash. just remember you dont remove the whole dash just swing the pass side and rest it on the seat. if you go on youtube and look up ram heater core theres a video for 3rd gen rams very good video it helped me a lot
2 bolts aluminum block the steering column attched to( these go up into dash)
3 bolts on drivers side by door
2 on paasenger side by door
2 under cup holder by air bag module
1 bolt behind glove box panel this one is a vertical brace with 2 bolts take the top bolt out and swing it down and your good
also the bolts at the wind sheild i think theres 5
im pretty sure i got them all when i did mine it took about an 1 1/2 hours to move dash. just remember you dont remove the whole dash just swing the pass side and rest it on the seat. if you go on youtube and look up ram heater core theres a video for 3rd gen rams very good video it helped me a lot
Thread Starter
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Rookie
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 62
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hey just did mine last week so heres a list of bolts
2 bolts aluminum block the steering column attched to( these go up into dash)
3 bolts on drivers side by door
2 on paasenger side by door
2 under cup holder by air bag module
1 bolt behind glove box panel this one is a vertical brace with 2 bolts take the top bolt out and swing it down and your good
also the bolts at the wind sheild i think theres 5
im pretty sure i got them all when i did mine it took about an 1 1/2 hours to move dash. just remember you dont remove the whole dash just swing the pass side and rest it on the seat. if you go on youtube and look up ram heater core theres a video for 3rd gen rams very good video it helped me a lot
2 bolts aluminum block the steering column attched to( these go up into dash)
3 bolts on drivers side by door
2 on paasenger side by door
2 under cup holder by air bag module
1 bolt behind glove box panel this one is a vertical brace with 2 bolts take the top bolt out and swing it down and your good
also the bolts at the wind sheild i think theres 5
im pretty sure i got them all when i did mine it took about an 1 1/2 hours to move dash. just remember you dont remove the whole dash just swing the pass side and rest it on the seat. if you go on youtube and look up ram heater core theres a video for 3rd gen rams very good video it helped me a lot