Manager Forum

"No heat at idle, turns ice cold. Radiator low, added one quart. Filled and bled system. Plenty of heat while driving, coolant gauge normal".

(The above is in quotations, because tech wrote it down for me, as we have often had "communication" issues when I've posted in this thread.)

I would check the water pump flow. If the coolant was low for long, it will cavitate and can wreck the impeller on the pump, also I would like to know where the quart of coolant went if I were working on it. The resivore was probabl;y empty too, which makes it equal more that a quart of coolant.

John C. wrote:"No heat at idle, turns ice cold. Radiator low, added one quart. Filled and bled system. Plenty of heat while driving, coolant gauge normal".

(The above is in quotations, because tech wrote it down for me, as we have often had "communication" issues when I've posted in this thread.)

it's been a while but if i recall correctly you have to darn near stand this on it's rear bumper to bleed the system. joe's correct on "where did the coolant go" aspect of the job. i strongly suggest finding the leak or this will come back for the same problem. a restricted heater core or control valve will cause this issue. getting back to properly bleeding the system, if it's not done correctly an air pocket will form in the heater core. jack the front f the car up and bleed it completely. i've had great success using the lisle cooling system filling
funnel to assist bleeding the system. it holds the coolant level high enough to easily bleed. the other tool i use is a vacuum fill. the tool allows you to pull and hold a vacuum then fill the system with coolant by placing a hose in a pail of coolant and releasing the vacuum. it's never failed me yet.

Sorry (this is John C., not Mark F. typing here, I'm on his computer). Anyway, this past summer the car overheated, we (techs) told him it had a bad head gasket, and that he should get rid of it. Customer wants to keep the car because he thinks it's a "chick magnet". So, all we are trying to do is keep his "chick magnet" running as long as possible, because he does not want to put "lotz of money into it".

We know that it was properly bled, and is full. Also, flushed the heater core, seemed to be no restrictions. It takes about two months for it to go down ~1 quart.

Basically, we know what the deal is, but we're wondering if we possibly missed something?

Just check the flow. I have a couple of clear tubes that I install and can watch the coolant move. Maybe gas bubbles from the bad head gasket are ending up in the core?

Chick magnet? Um....

Sounds like ya'll found the real problem with the car and the real problem lies in the customer that expects us to be able to do miricals on cars and fix any problem for no money. Sometimes that is just not the case. Wouldn't really want to see the chicks that are magnatized by a maxima

even a small amount of air will mess up the flow through the heater core. at an idle see if both heater hoses cool off. if one is hot and the other cool the care may be restricted enough to cause this problem. try reversing heater hoses. mercedes solved this issue by installing a circulation motor in line to keep water going into the core going at a good clip. as soon as there is any air in the system it will effect the core flow as well as forming an air pocket around the thermostat. the engine cooked a while ago, the impeller on the pump comes to mind. i've seen plastic ones melt without the engine really cooking. you've already made your diagnosis. now he's forcing you to second guess yourself. drag your feet a bit more. spring is coming.