99 Expedition Eddie Bauer SLOW to warm up HELP!!

[tazfire]

Good Morning,

ANY idea what would make my Expedition take forever to warm up during colder mornings? Heat in both front and rear is warm, not hot. The kicker is when the outside temp. gets warmer (40 or above) the heat seems much warmer in the truck. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[jrjr]

Sounds to me like you need a thorough flush of the cooling system.

 

[tazfire]

I have flushed the system several times. The heat would work so so for a bit then go back to luke warm. Also I have noticed the milky gray reisdue on the oil cap. Would this affect internal pressure in the engine and affect the heating? Other than that the truck runs perfect. No rough idling problems or antifreeze around the plugs. They were replaced about a month ago and looked in good shape. The only thing I have not done agressively is dissconect the heater lines and run a decent amount of water through them.

 

[Sclass-hole]

Thermostat?

I had that problem with a Trailblazer and after replacing the thermostat, the heat was unbearable.

 

[tazfire]

I replaced the thermostat last year. Would it be a good idea to give that another shot? The part is cheap enough.

 

[Sclass-hole]

I replaced the thermostat last year. Would it be a good idea to give that another shot? The part is cheap enough.

What were the symptoms when you replaced it last year? Was it not heating up? I've seen them be bad right out of the box so for one to fail in a year wouldn't be impossible. Make sure you aren't getting an Autozone or Pep Boy model. I've heard of more than one of those being mismarked, non functioning or not fitting the intended application.

Make sure you get all the air out of the system too. It takes a little longer to do it slow and right but it sure beats having to redo it.

 

[tazfire]

The truck seems to take forever for the thermostat to open. What puzzles me is why the heat seems to be much warmer given the outside air temp. As far as bleeding the air out of the system what do you reccomend?

 

[Sclass-hole]

The truck seems to take forever for the thermostat to open. What puzzles me is why the heat seems to be much warmer given the outside air temp. As far as bleeding the air out of the system what do you reccomend?

Normally, driving around will "burp" the system. In extreme cases, you can put the front wheels on ramps or park facing up a steep incline. Opinions vary but I would remove the resevoir cap, start the truck and run it up to operating temperature then turn the heat up to HOT. Give it a little gas and let it run at 1500-1800 RPMS for 5-10 minutes. Mark the resevoir before you start and if you get the air out, you'll notice the fluid level has dropped.

I started looking around at some other message boards I visit and there's a theme that water pump failure due to rusting fins can cause similar issues. I hope your case is different.

If it were mine, I'd start with a new thermostat, test it before you put it in, make sure you put it in the right way then make sure you get all the air out.