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Heater problem - Civic 2003

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Old Oct 25, 2010
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Heater problem - Civic 2003

Hello,

My ac heater is not working properly, the fan is working fine and blowing air .. but the problem is that, the fan is blowing cold air or warm air (from far away), almost like the temperature is set at medium. The air is never HOT (temperature set to hot - max). Even when i am driving, i get the same result.

- The car never over heats
- Car temperature is at the right tempereture.

I checked the 2 pipes that the water passes through .... The top one is HOT but the bottom one is cold ... what does that mean?? is that how its supports to be.

Please help, winter is almost here....

Thank you in advanced...
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Old Oct 25, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

try flushing, filling, and bleeding your coolant system.
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Old Oct 25, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

How do i do that???

regarding the 2 pipes .... hot and cold. .. is that the right behavour?
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Old Oct 25, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

I would recommend that you go to the dealer for that. If you try to do it yourself there are a lot of harmful chemicals that you'll have to properly dispose of.
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Old Oct 25, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

Originally Posted by 316
How do i do that???

regarding the 2 pipes .... hot and cold. .. is that the right behavour?
What is your skill level for repairing your car? You have hot water going to the heater core(which is what those two pipes are) so that is good. From the other one, it should be at the very least, warm to the touch. Unclamp both of them and use a water hose on the one that was hot and see if you can get water to pass out the other pipe. If it doesn't, your heater core is clogged up. If it does, your heater control valve might not open as much as it should. Had this happen on a CRX I owned.
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Old Oct 25, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

when i first bought my car it did that till i looked and saw there was barley any fluid in the system if you want to flush it whichis extremely easy go to pepboys and buy a HAYNES repair manual there like 15-20 dollars.
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Old Oct 25, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

What about the coolants level ?? Any in the reservoir when car at temp ??
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Old Oct 25, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

Originally Posted by Staninator
I would recommend that you go to the dealer for that. If you try to do it yourself there are a lot of harmful chemicals that you'll have to properly dispose of.
Or.. you can collect the coolant you drain, put it in an old container, and take it to an automotive shop to dispose of. And make sure you wash your hands afterwards..

basic flush/fill procedure (at least, how I did it)
1) buy coolant flush solution at auto parts store
2) Drain coolant using drain **** valve. close valve after draining.
3) add flush solution to radiator, add water to fill the rest of the radiator
4) with heat to full blast, turn car on and let it sit for 15 minutes (or whatever the manual/bottle of solution says)
5) drain radiator
6) fill radiator with 50% water, 50% coolant. I just refilled with prestone 50/50 mix stuff.
7) with rad cap off and heat to full blast, start car. As coolant level in radiator lowers, add more coolant mix. Add until it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling that the radiator is full
8) Add coolant mix to coolant overflow so it sits at happy spot. Turn off car.
9) Reinstall rad cap, pour old coolant into (presumably) empty coolant bottle.
10) take bottle to auto parts store for disposal. if you don't care about fines and the environment and ****, look over both shoulders before dumping in a storm drain.

If you pay a dealership to do that, they'll charge a gah damn arm and leg for something that'll run you MAYBE 30 bucks. plus another $25 or so if you buy a haynes manual. I've used and abused the **** out of mine, so I'd recommend picking one up. It actually stays in my car underneath the passenger seat unless I'm using it.
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Old Oct 25, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

Originally Posted by xRiCeBoYx
It actually stays in my car underneath the passenger seat unless I'm using it.
lol. Me too. Hardly ever leaves the car.
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Old Oct 25, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

It also leaves my car if I'm researching an electrical job I want to take one (i.e. wiring some sort of LED.. thingy to turn on when something happens, troubleshooting electrical problems, etc) or if I feel like being generous and describing wiring diagrams/colors to someone less fortunate than I, in the fact that they do not own a Haynes manual.
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Old Oct 26, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

Thanks everyone for your help ... in the radiator, there is no coolant, one car engineer put 100% tap water in there. Could this be the reason why??

The water level in the radiator is FULL ....

I will now go and buy coolant flush solution to attempt to flush the coolant system.

Because i have limit knowledge in this field, i need to ask .... after completing flushing the system, what do i put in the radiator? coolant flush solution 50% and 50% water ... or a different type of coolant + water?
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Old Oct 26, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

50/50 coolant/water mix
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Old Oct 29, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

i flushed my coolant system, after that, i put in new coolant (mix 50% water) ... but the heater is still not that hot .... i get some sort of warmth but its not hot ....

What else could it be??

please help ....
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Old Oct 29, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

you did make sure your engine temp was at normal operating temp to check your heater's heat level, right?
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Old Oct 29, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

Your water valve may not open completely, or the heater core is still clogged.

Look for a blue cable running from the firewall to a valve in one of the coolant lines running to the heater core, set the temp dial to full hot, pull the hoses off the valve and secure them upwards to keep coolant loss to a minimum. Then inspect it to see if its clogged or not completely opened, you can also pull that cable off and manually open and close the valve to see if it sticks.

If it seems fine, pull the other heater core coolant line and then stick a water hose on one of them and flush out the heater core until water flows out the other hose just as fast as its going in the other one, and until its clear of coolant and debris.

If you cant get the water to come out fast enough theres a serious blockage in the heater core (which is actually possible since there was only WATER in the cooling system, the heater core can rust and clog itself up), and the heater core will have to be replaced. And thats all it really can be assuming the heater core lines are intact and dont leak.
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Old Nov 1, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

xRiCeBoYx - YES, the engine temp was at normal operating temp ... thats when i checked.

02_d17a1_dx - Where can i find the blue cable?? is it inside the car or outside the car?
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Old Nov 1, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

Originally Posted by 316
xRiCeBoYx - YES, the engine temp was at normal operating temp ... thats when i checked.

02_d17a1_dx - Where can i find the blue cable?? is it inside the car or outside the car?
Its along the firewall in the engine bay, follow the heater core coolant hoses and youll find a black box in one of them with the blue wire running to it, its pretty much against the firewall I believe, I can post a pic of where it is later if you need me to.
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Old Nov 1, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

02_d17a1_dx - Yes, please ... can you do that please ...much appriciated
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Old Nov 1, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

Originally Posted by 316
xRiCeBoYx - YES, the engine temp was at normal operating temp ... thats when i checked.

02_d17a1_dx - Where can i find the blue cable?? is it inside the car or outside the car?
lol, just making sure. Sometimes I have to dummy check myself for that kinda thing
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Old Nov 1, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003



Circled in yellow is the valve

Circled in blue is the cable and its path since you cant see all of it in the crappy pic I took, sorry, lol.
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Old Nov 2, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

xRiCeBoYx - thats ok, to be honest flushing the coolant system did help a bit, the heater is a bit hotter than it used to be ... but not hot enough like the way it was a year ago.

02_d17a1_dx - Thanks a lot for the pic, this should help. i will follow your steps and see if that solves my problem.
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Old Nov 2, 2010
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

Really good info, this is exactly what is going on with my bros Si
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Old Jun 9, 2023
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

Originally Posted by 316
Hello,

My ac heater is not working properly, the fan is working fine and blowing air .. but the problem is that, the fan is blowing cold air or warm air (from far away), almost like the temperature is set at medium. The air is never HOT (temperature set to hot - max). Even when i am driving, i get the same result.

- The car never over heats
- Car temperature is at the right tempereture.

I checked the 2 pipes that the water passes through .... The top one is HOT but the bottom one is cold ... what does that mean?? is that how its supports to be.

Please help, winter is almost here....

Thank you in advanced...

When both hoses / pipes do not feel the same temperature, this would lead that the thermostat is defective because it is not opening thus not
circulating properly. "
Just a suggestion". "Hope this helps"
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Old Jun 9, 2023
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Re: Heater problem - Civic 2003

This thread is 13 years old...
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