95 suzuki sidekick with bad heat

[stinger]

I have a 95 suzuki sidekick jlx, 16v, auto, that has never had good heat since I've owned it. I have changed thermostats many times, new water pump, tried bleading system many times also, but still doesnt have much heat. Looking in radiator when its warm I never see coolant circulating loke it should by filler opening, making me believe there is air trapped somewhere in the engine. Has anyone ran accross this before or have any ideas of something I may be missing?

Thanks, rick

[jtgh]

yah , you keep putting in the wrong termostat.

frigid kick you have?
there are 2 manifolds used.
one deep
one shallow.
the deep one has special O-ring stat.

most stores are clueless .

there is TSB to cover it.

the thermostat properly installed and fitted can block all water flow to the Radiator.
that is a qoute from the FSM.
when this happens , all coolant flows thru the bypass tube back to the block in a small
tight circle , making lots of heat real fast.

this also causes, slow warm up and very poor gas mileage.

hope that helped you.
how to purchase parts

[stinger]

The "original"thermostat I removed had the O ring gasket so I made sure to replace with the same type(even though they tried to sell me the one without O-ring), so I am pretty sure its the correct thermostat. Still very little heat. Is there a special bleading proceedure for the cooling system? I've even tried jacking up right side of vehicle while bleading to try getting any trapped air to come up thru therm housing to radiator. I will test thermostat again in boiling water to make sure it is opperating properly.Any other ideas?

Thanks, rick

[ranger88den]

Have the radiator and heater core checked for blockage.

[jtgh]

gee, looks like we, are going to have to stop guessing here.?

1: wont make heat, ( cab heater dead ?)
2r is the top thermostat housing cool? which is it.? nothing else matters.

two different and distinctly different issues.

IR Heat thermal gun (On sale at harbor freight for $7.99) shined on the stat housing will
give a an instant answer) see link below for rubber meets road.


the heaters in the kick run 100% full time, NO water VALVE!
it is blocked by a damper on hot days and heat off.
damper = door inside unit.

the first test for (STAT is hot but my heaters dead) is:

move the heat lever on the dash, red to blue.
now at the same time look at the cable for this on the left side of heater unit
and all the way to the rear.
does the end of said cable connect to the bell crank?
does the bell crank move in direct proportion to your moving the lever.
if no, then cable is bad.
if yes, you must remove the dash to fix it , ugly job.

sorry , i assumed you alread took the engines temperature.

the old fashioned way for measure the coolant is dangerous and goes like this.
it involves a real mercury thermomenter (better is modern digital kitchen thermometer)
insert therm,.in neck of RAD cap port (cap off , ENGING COLD)
warm up engine and get it as hot as you can idling and take a high reading.

Yes, coolant will expand and will dribble down to floor. catch it.

Arnt IR guns wonderful.

over-heating-why?


http://carfix.stufftoread.com/Coolin...t-housing2.jpg

amazing huh?


95JLX.zip | FreeDrive.com | Online Storage and Social Utility

hit blue arrow and learn how to fix dampers that are bad INSIDE, not outside.

cheers.


once the STAT housing is 170f or more.
then point it at the heater lines,
are they hot?
then the problem is 100% heater mechs

no need to guess.

IR guns can be rented too, at any auto store, common as nails today.