Your car’s heater is what keeps you warm and comfortable in the cold winter months, at least it’s supposed to. Discovering your heater isn’t working when it’s windy and frosty outside is something no one wants to go through. If your heater is working fine now then great but it would help to take the initiative and check up on your heater so you know it will work all winter long.
So you’ve come to the decision that your car’s heater isn’t working. This could be caused by a number of different things but before you drop it off at the auto shop you can do some troubleshooting to see if you can locate the problem.
Tip: Before you start digging around under the hood, the first thing you should always check is your fluid levels. In this case, you’re going to check the coolant in the radiator.
If that’s not the case then turn on your car and set your heater to its highest setting. Open the hood and feel out the upper radiator hose. As the vehicle continues to run the hose should become warmer until it’s unbearable.
Next, check the hose running from the radiator to the heater coil. This should already be warm it could be very hot. However, if it’s not then coolant isn’t making it to the heater core which means there could be a blockage in the heater hose.
The entire cooling system may need to be flushed by a professional mechanic if it’s too severe.
If you notice the heater hose is hot but you’re still not feeling any warm circulation inside the cabin then the heater core is fried and needs to be replaced.
Following these steps can help you narrow down the problem with your vehicle’s heater unit and potentially a solution. However, you can always bring your car into 2J’s Automotive if you’re having problems identifying certain components or are experiencing different problems.