my cold van

In article <7ee68ec45ffef@uwe>, "fbksdodge" <u41008@uwe> wrote:

> i have a 88dodge grand caravan that isn't putting out any heat!! there is
> snow and ice INSIDE my van it's that cold. I'm thinking it's my thermostat
> what do you say??

I say the Grand Caravan didn't come out until 1990.

Could be the thermostat
Could be a plugged heater core
Could be a seized blend door in the heater case
Could be low on coolant
Could be a plugged heater bypass valve
Could be all of the above
 >> Stay informed about: my cold van 

On Jan 28, 6:47 pm, aarcuda69062 <nonel... DeleteThis @sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> In article <7ee68ec45ffef@uwe>, "fbksdodge" <u41008@uwe> wrote:
> > i have a 88dodge grand caravan that isn't putting out any heat!! there is
> > snow and ice INSIDE my van it's that cold. I'm thinking it's my thermostat
> > what do you say??
>
> I say the Grand Caravan didn't come out until 1990.
>
> Could be the thermostat
> Could be a plugged heater core
> Could be a seized blend door in the heater case
> Could be low on coolant
> Could be a plugged heater bypass valve
> Could be all of the above


It could also be a leaking head gasket. This was the problem with our
1994 Grand Caravan "no heat" symptom prior to replacing the head
gaskets.
 >> Stay informed about: my cold van 

In article
<0a8314b1-cb54-4858-8b28-e994f92f2024 RemoveThis @i3g2000hsf.googlegroups.com
>,
Don <w9cw RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote:

> On Jan 28, 6:47 pm, aarcuda69062 <nonel... RemoveThis @sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> > In article <7ee68ec45ffef@uwe>, "fbksdodge" <u41008@uwe> wrote:
> > > i have a 88dodge grand caravan that isn't putting out any heat!! there is
> > > snow and ice INSIDE my van it's that cold. I'm thinking it's my thermostat
> > > what do you say??
> >
> > I say the Grand Caravan didn't come out until 1990.
> >
> > Could be the thermostat
> > Could be a plugged heater core
> > Could be a seized blend door in the heater case
> > Could be low on coolant
> > Could be a plugged heater bypass valve
> > Could be all of the above
>
>
> It could also be a leaking head gasket. This was the problem with our
> 1994 Grand Caravan "no heat" symptom prior to replacing the head
> gaskets.

Good call!
 >> Stay informed about: my cold van 

"fbksdodge" <u41008@uwe> wrote in message news:7ee68ec45ffef@uwe...
>i have a 88dodge grand caravan that isn't putting out any heat!! there is
> snow and ice INSIDE my van it's that cold. I'm thinking it's my thermostat
> what do you say??
>
If there's a problem with the thermostat, either the engine would overheat
or would take an awfully long time to warm up. (Do you know the history of
the vehicle? It's possible that it might not have any thermostat at all, if
a previous owner went cheap -- and stupid -- on fixing an overheating
problem...)
With an old vehicle, look under the hood to see if it's got a valve
controlling coolant flow to the heater. (Some vehicles have the heater on a
"full flow" system with no valve in the line and water constantly flowing
through the heater core, and some have a valve that opens the flow to the
heater core only when you select "heat" from the dash controls.) If it's got
that valve in (or at one end) of one of the heater hoses, it very well could
be rusted shut. Simplest solution is to remove the valve and re-connect the
heater hoses as a "full flow" system. (I've done it -- it works.) If you
remove the valve, just remember to block off the vacuum line that activated
it...
If it's a "full flow" system, you could have accumulated corrosion blocking
flow to or through the heater core. Since a corroded cooling system could
very well screw up the thermostat as well, you could try a cooling system
flush (a good one, with the nasty corrosive chemicals & neutralizer, not the
cheap stuff you find in Wal-Mart) along with a new thermostat... (If the
system is that far gone, you might want to install new heater hoses as well.
It's possible for them to start disintegrating internally, tossing off bits
& pieces that block flow, even if they aren't leaking internally yet.)
 >> Stay informed about: my cold van 

"Ron Seiden" <subronseiden.DeleteThis@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:Kdxnj.5284$z_6.2740@trnddc06...
| "fbksdodge" <u41008@uwe> wrote in message news:7ee68ec45ffef@uwe...
| >i have a 88dodge grand caravan that isn't putting out any heat!! there is
| > snow and ice INSIDE my van it's that cold. I'm thinking it's my
thermostat
| > what do you say??
| >
| If there's a problem with the thermostat, either the engine would overheat
| or would take an awfully long time to warm up. (Do you know the history of
| the vehicle? It's possible that it might not have any thermostat at all,
if
| a previous owner went cheap -- and stupid -- on fixing an overheating
| problem...)
|

It might be worth looking to see if the heater core is even hooked up... it
might be bypassed... As an associate found back in the 70s it solves the
leaking heater core problem cheaply. ;~)

John
 >> Stay informed about: my cold van