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Hi everyone.
I have a ’92 Renault 19 1.9 dti, 174K miles, manual, that, despite my best efforts, can’t get good heat off of the vents. It blows hot for about 3 seconds then cools down. Here’s everything I’ve tried so far:
-Replaced thermostat
-Replaced coolant
-Full system flush with cleaner
-Heater core flush… twice in both directions and the flow is good. Also, no leaks anywhere.
I have two theories: one, because my car does not have an air filter, maybe the heater core is so full of debris that air can’t flow through it but rather around it. It would explain why i get a few seconds of heat followed by a drop in temp. Or two, there’s some issue with the flaps inside the dash. the outter vents, next to the doors, do feel slightly warmer, but not much.
As for the steering issue, it’s as follows: when driving on a straight road, the steering wheel is rarely straight, say if the top of the wheel is 12 hours, it deviates between 10 and 2. Also, it seems to always pull slightly to the right. Here’s what I’ve done so far:
-Alignment
-Both ball joints
-Anti-roll bar bushings (Don’t think it’s related, but just in case)
-Wheel rotation, front to back
-Pressures
-Brake service (just in case a caliper was sticking)
-Lifted the car and shook the wheels 12 and 6 and 9 and 3
-Control arms seem OK
-No play in the steering wheel
Again two theories: P.S. pump (if I’m lucky) or rack.
I’m out of ideas. Hope you guys can help out.
Big thanks from Portugal. 🙂
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Air comes out of the vents? If so cold or not the heater core would not be matted up.
Sounds like air in your cooling system.http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-hvac-problems
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/suspention-and-steering/1473-do-you-need-an-alignment
Thanks for the reply.
I’ve bled the cooling system several times, but tomorow, I’ll do the procedure again just to rule that out completely.
Also, my car already had an alignment done. If the shop that did the alignment failed to do it correctly, it would explain these symptoms. Guess I’ll have it done again. Hope it’s not a waste of money…Air in the cooling system is the first thing that comes to mind, especially since you just did all that work. I know you said you bleed the system, but this might help. BTW, don’t worry that you don’t have a bleeder, those are just there to make filling the system easier. Do everything else in the video though.
As for the handling, the first suspect is tires. Also check the tire pressure. Outside of that, if all the suspension components are tight, I’d take it back to where you got the alignment to see if there’s an issue there.
Here’s more info on the HVAC issue.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-hvac-problems
Please keep us updated on your progress.
Hey Eric!
Unlike the car in the video, my car has an expansion tank, but apart from that, I did everything like the tutorial. Also, there’s no HVAC valve, so there’s always coolant circulating through the core. Given the fact that I’ve been driving it ever since i last opened the circuit, I doubt air is the problem. But hey… I’m a computer nerd, not a butch mechanic. I’ll do the bleeding again, possibly tomorow and report back.
As far as the steering, like i said before, it’s irregular, sometimes the wheel is tilted to the left, sometimes to the right. And sometimes, all is well. I did rotate the tires front to back and noticed no change. I’m a bit tight on money right now, so i want to avoid buying new tires without a definitive diagnosis.
I’m out of ideas at this point. Any clues are greatly appreciated.It would seem to me that if you are pretty certain that the coolant issue is handled, I would look towards the vents in the dash for sure. I don’t know anything about Renault’s – but on a Lincoln, the mixing doors fail all the time. Usually a bad motor – or a vacuum leak to the motor control. Can you get heat from another configuration – like defrost? Is there a difference at all when you move between full hot and full cold on the settings?
Hi everyone.
I apologize for the absence but due to time and weather constraints, I haven’t been able to work on my car all that much. What time I did get to spend on it, was spent trying to figure out what component was causing all my grief.
For the time being, since summer is approaching, the ‘no heat’ issue is on the back burner (no pun intended) and I’m mainly focusing on the steering issue. Now, after a lot of research from the internet and other people, it seems the power steering rack is the number one suspect. From what I was told, what must be happening is internal leaks causing the steering to move from left to right. Here’s the thing: I did a small test to check for this and I did this with the wheels both on the ground and up. My test was simple: take my hands off the wheel and floor it! On both tests the steering wheel didn’t move. And why would it? It’s a rack and pinion setup. Any play would be felt on the steering wheel, right? I have none.
I also checked the inner tie rods, outer and control arms. Both wheels are tight as a rock. I also disconnected the rack from both wheels and moved it by hand trying to feel any play. Nothing. I’m out of ideas and I really don’t want to throw this at a wall hoping for it to stick.
Other thins I did:
-Checked the rear axle (maybe it was broken or bent. Nothing.)
-Checked the engine sub-frame. All seemed good.
-Measured the distance from the center rear wheel to the front on both sides. To the millimeter.
The only thing I know are bad are the strut bearings (don’t know how they would cause my symptom) and a bad rear shock (again, don’t think it’s related to the problem, but I’ll replace it before I replace any other parts).
Now, I know you guys don’t do this for money but I’ll throw in a small gift.That gift is a small story about tires (are you reading this Eric? I know you like these). It’s your’s if you help me pinpoint the problem.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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