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I have the same problems with a 97 Ford Taurus 3.0 V6 OHV. When the heat stopped working this fall, I changed the anti freeze and flushed the cooling system with a a garden hose. Lots of rust came out and there was even rust buildup in the coolant reservoir. Then I flushed the heater core for and backwards. This can easily be done by removing the inlet (left of the engine) and outlet (right of the engine) hoses near the firewall. Lots of rust and debris came out. After a while the water was flowing freely and clear in both directions. The heat worked fine after the flush except when the engine was idling or in low rpm. I suspected the water pump and/or the thermostat. The problem was temporarily solved by clamping the bypass hose. The heat was working great but now I had temperature fluctuations in the coolant after driving at higher speeds for a while. The fan kicked in and took care of it. This weekend I replaced the water pump and the thermostat. Replacing the thermostat was easy - replacing the waterpump is a pain in the rump. It took me over 4h to remove the old gasket. Overall, the whole process took more than 7h. Some of the bolts are not easily accessible. Surprisingly, the water pump impellers on the old pump were in perfect condition. The thermostat, however was in pretty bad shape. Now with everything replaced and flushed - guess what: No heat - again! I am going to flush the cooling system and the heater core one more time. If this does not solve the problem then I really don't know what to do. The blending door is working fine. You can hear it operating when you turn the heat/cold air knob. This system has major design flaws. I assume the pressure head and flow provided by the standard water pump is too low to overcome even the slightest obstructions in the heater core. |
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