90 Bronco 302/ Auto

[Stubby1971]

I just bought this truck, 90 FS with a 302, and 20 miles into the 220 mile drive home I lost what little heat the truck had, and in wisconsin that's bad. Tonight I changed the coolant and the thermostat- The old thermostat was not working properly- stuck open. The coolant I pulled out looked new and tested well. I also checked the temp comtrol slide inside the truck to make sure it was connected and working properly. Now after burping the system and driving around in the snow for a hour- I have not so cold heat- not hot and not even warm, but at least it doesn't feel like the A/C is on- I can also watch the thermostat open and close with the gauge. My question- Could it be that the heater core is plugged up? Or does someone know of a sensor that could cause this?

 

[Roadkill]

I can't think of any sensor that would cause your problem. Here is a way to see if water is flowing through your heater core.

1) Start the engine and get it up to operating temperature with the heater running.

2) From under the hood, feel the two water hoses that go into the firewall on the passenger side of the engine.

3) If only one is hot, then water is not flowing through you heater core. You may need to flush the system or replace the core. I would try flushing it first since that is cheap and easy to do.

4) If both hoses are hot then water is flowing. The problem could be with airflow through the core.

I think I remember reading a TSB (technical service bulletin) on some kind of airflow issue with these trucks. You can find TSB's here on miesk5's website:

http://home.comcast.net/~miesk5/

That guy must be a member of the Ford family or something, I don't think there's any info he does not have access to.

 

[Big Country]

That guy must be a member of the Ford family or something, I don't think there's any info he does not have access to.

yeah sometimes that guy ****** me off :lol:

 

[BLADE262US]

Sometimes you can get away with swapping the hoses around this might keep you warm while you decide what to do . /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 

[Stubby1971]

one line is alot hotter than the other- should I just use water or can I punch some air through it backwards? and if so- how much air pressure can I shoot through the line? I don't want whatever is plugging it to end up in my radiator and it's too cold to stand outside with a hose rite now, but I can just imagine a water fall coming out from under the dash

 

[Yardape]

I had the same problem when I still had my '90 Bronc. I didnt bother with tests I priced out a heater core, it was $50.00 Canadian. Had it installed in a couple hours. The heat felt like it would burn the hair off your legs and I am in Northern Alberta, I dont know if you've heard but it gets rather nippy here. So save yourself the headaches and get a new one.

 

[Stubby1971]

I have heard that it might get a touch nippy that far north, but I've also heard the hunting is awesome- someday I'll have to check it out- I'll check on a price tomorrow- I think I have another day off this week to throw one in

 

[Yardape]

if you've ever played the board game twister you will know what your in for under that dash.

 

[Redneckn]

I have a bonus question for this thread since it's related...

In my '86, I'm having multiple heat related problems. #1 is that the heater doesnt get nearly as hot as it should in a Ford, I'm going to flush the system and replace the heater core. #2 (this is the question part): My heat guage does not work. EVER. But the water does get hot and all that good stuff. I want to replace the OEM guage (crap) with one of these cutesie little things that that goes on the A pillar. Said cutesie little thing is a mechanical guage. Can I just ***** in the "business" end of that where the current apparatus ***** in (intake manifold)?

 

[Yardape]

Tell the at your local parts store, bring the stock guage and the aftermarket one. They should be able to get you an adapter. If you bought the guage brand new then it should have the adapters with it. Dont use teflon tape, the threads are where the sensor gets its ground.

 

[Stubby1971]

most aftermarket gauges I've bought come with a fitting- then it's a trip to the hardware store to find the rite adapter-

 

[Stubby1971]

heater core $25.00

tools to install- paid for years ago

bandades- $.75

trying to get my arm back into the rite position- priceless

 

[Redneckn]

I figure changing out the core cant be too ******* the Bronco. A buddy I used to have came over one day with a new core for his 81 F-150. Says: "Hey, wanna help me change out this core?" Stupid me says: "Sure. How hard can it possibly be?" I get my Haynes manual for his truck out (yes, I have haynes manuals for vehicles I don't and/or never will own) and look in it. The pictures and description made it look pretty hard. But I figure they just did that to scare 2 good ole boys from bothering with it or something. NOPE. Turns out I had to send him home about 6 hours later in the "loaner". We did have a few beers before we started. Several more after we started. But still. When we got it back together I told him not to bring his truck over to my house anymore. It turned out to be almost as bad as when I asked him to replace the upper intake manifold gaskets on my '96 G /\/\C. I had to be out of town and couldnt be there for all of that one. But I do know that my roomate (at the time) and Bo (the ole boy) somehow managed to remove the entire upper half of the 305 in that truck. Bo somehow ended up shooting a 9mm slug thru the side of his truck bed. There was a small oil fire and 1 cat went missing. Who knows.

But my point is that the Haynes manual doesnt show the Bronco core to be nearly as hard as the F-150 core. On the F-150 we ended up having to remove most of the dash panel. And by most, I mean, basically all.

We'll see how it goes this weekend. I may even have my wifey take some photos so I can share them with y'all. Or I may not want to do that. haha

 

[Roadkill]

) ) ) That story was great! It's good to know I'm not the only one to ever take something apart and quietly mutter "ah sh*t" ) ) )

 

[Redneckn]

) ) ) That story was great! It's good to know I'm not the only one to ever take something apart and quietly mutter "ah sh*t" ) ) )

Nope. It's not just you. haha.. I do that kind of thing all the time. I completely (and I do mean completely) disassembled a little Crosman air pistol in here the other nite. I keep looking at it thinking about putting it back together. But I know what's going to happen when I try.

Yes, I do that kind of stuff at my desk in my office (home). Back here in the Honeycomb Hideout (my office), we do things a little differently. If we can get it thru the door without my wife seeing, it'll be much more fun in here. I've hatched chickens in here a few times. This is the MANZONE back here. No girls allowed and all that stuff. It's great. There's bars on the windows, a safe, a safe closet, a rather large room upstairs from the main office area, and last but not least: You have to know the code to punch in to get in.

Really though, I do a lot of work back here. The main part of the room is about 8X12 and then there is a room up stairs (our attic is divided in 2 with this room in the middle) and that room is about 20X30. That's where all the serious stuff goes on. Like drinking beer and playing darts.

So this will be considered "on topic" haha.. Uh. I went today and got myself a heater core and some guages. I went out to the farm and was looking for that little A pillar guage set up I had. Couldnt locate it. I may have swapped it for something and forgot (that happens here and there). So I just got another little set up when I got the core. The core was about 22bux w/lifetime warranty.