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Thread: HVAC heat blows warm/hot on drivers side, cool/cold passenger side (warranty issue)

  1. #21
    Administrator Daox's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eggman View Post
    If you do flush your heater core, perhaps you could route the discharge into a bucket to see what comes out.
    That is the plan. I already picked up the stuff necessary for the flush. I should be able to get to it this weekend.


    Also, if it blew heat on the test drive as Spork says, why would that change now? Do you think the antifreeze mix if somehow off? Were both driver and passenger sides checked?
    It does blow warmish on the passenger side as long as you don't blast the heat. More indications that it is a plugged core IMO.

    It'll be interesting to drain and flush the core. Perhaps the previous owner had the coolant replaced with the incorrect type? I'm not sure what I'll find. The overflow tank has blue coolant in it, but that doesn't mean there isn't something else in the block. I'll be draining the whole thing and probably flushing the radiator, block, and heater core depending on what I all find.


    Custom Mirage products: Cruise control kit, Glove box light, MAF sensor housing, Rear sway bar, Upper grill block

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  2. #22
    Administrator Daox's Avatar
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    I also went ahead and picked up some CLR.

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    Before going ahead and dumping it into my heater core, I figured I would give it a test run. I recently cut up some 6061 aluminum sheet. This is probably the most common aluminum alloy and likely what the heater core is made out of. So, I grabbed some scrap strips of aluminum from the project that I was working on, and setup a test.

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    I poured some CLR into the glass bottle this morning before work and stuck the aluminum strips in it. This is full strength CLR, not watered down at all.

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    Here is how the aluminum looked when I first put it into the CLR.

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    I had to leave for work about 15 minutes later. But, this is how it looked then.

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    From those pictures, I can't see any etching like the CLR FAQ page claims. So, I am going to assume that at the very least, using it for 15 minutes is perfectly safe. I plan to do this test again, but with something rusty to see how fast it eats away at the rust, and if 15 minutes will dissolve it to the point that it will wash off easily with running water (not scrubbing) to simulate the water flushing it out.
    Custom Mirage products: Cruise control kit, Glove box light, MAF sensor housing, Rear sway bar, Upper grill block

    Current project: DIY Nitrous oxide setup for ~$100

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 47.2 mpg (US) ... 20.1 km/L ... 5.0 L/100 km ... 56.7 mpg (Imp)


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  4. #23
    Senior Member Wallythacker's Avatar
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    I've used CLR on things that I shouldn't. Don't ask. But it's never damaged anything. And various aluminum alloys were mostly in the mix.

    I had a thought. What if your car previously had a cooling leak, real or imagined, and the prior owner decided on a DIY fix with whatever goop he could pour into the rad to seal the leak? Maybe he used 2 or 3x as much guck as required?

    If you're successful dissolving whatever crap is plugging up your heater core you may uncover a leak, or several, to deal with.

    It wouldn't be the first time a flush and fill turned into a legit heater core replacement. I hope not.
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  5. #24
    Senior Member Top_Fuel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Daox View Post
    ...I also went ahead and picked up some CLR...
    ...I am going to assume that at the very least, using it for 15 minutes is perfectly safe.
    Awesome experiment! Thanks for taking the time to do it. I don't think I'd have any reservations about using it for a limited time period like that...especially if you flush it all out completely. My experience is that products like "Prestone Super-Flush" are just way too mild for serious corrosion problems.

    There are some good Youtube videos showing how guys did this. HERE is one where it doesn't look like the guy's heater core was that bad...but just flushing with water made a significant improvement.


    Quote Originally Posted by Wallythacker View Post
    ...What if your car previously had a cooling leak, real or imagined, and the prior owner decided on a DIY fix with whatever goop he could pour into the rad to seal the leak?
    Hopefully if the heater core is full of something like "Bar's Leak" it will all flush out! Wouldn't be the first time that's happened. Have you ever looked inside a can of that stuff?!? Lol...
    Last edited by Top_Fuel; 12-15-2017 at 02:09 PM.

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  7. #25
    Administrator Daox's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wallythacker View Post
    I had a thought. What if your car previously had a cooling leak, real or imagined, and the prior owner decided on a DIY fix with whatever goop he could pour into the rad to seal the leak? Maybe he used 2 or 3x as much guck as required?
    If flushing doesn't fix the problem, I'll have to remove the core to figure out what is going on.



    If you're successful dissolving whatever crap is plugging up your heater core you may uncover a leak, or several, to deal with.

    It wouldn't be the first time a flush and fill turned into a legit heater core replacement. I hope not.

    Yep, that is definitely a possibility. In the event that happens, I'll just have to patch it or replace it.
    Custom Mirage products: Cruise control kit, Glove box light, MAF sensor housing, Rear sway bar, Upper grill block

    Current project: DIY Nitrous oxide setup for ~$100

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 47.2 mpg (US) ... 20.1 km/L ... 5.0 L/100 km ... 56.7 mpg (Imp)


  8. #26
    Administrator Daox's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Top_Fuel View Post
    Awesome experiment! Thanks for taking the time to do it. I don't think I'd have any reservations about using it for a limited time period like that...especially if you flush it all out completely. My experience is that products like "Prestone Super-Flush" are just way too mild for serious corrosion problems.
    I thought it was an interesting idea just to see how badly it actually will attack the aluminum. Chances are, overnight will barely do anything to it. It will probably dull a polished surface though, and that is why they have the warning in their FAQ.

    There are some good Youtube videos showing how guys did this. HERE is one where it doesn't look like the guy's heater core was that bad...but just flushing with water made a significant improvement.
    Yeah, thats what I've done in the past. It has worked quite well.
    Custom Mirage products: Cruise control kit, Glove box light, MAF sensor housing, Rear sway bar, Upper grill block

    Current project: DIY Nitrous oxide setup for ~$100

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 47.2 mpg (US) ... 20.1 km/L ... 5.0 L/100 km ... 56.7 mpg (Imp)


  9. #27
    Administrator Daox's Avatar
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    Well, I got home and checked out my test. It had been about 12 hours since I put the aluminum piece in the CLR.

    Here are the pics:

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    So, as you can plainly see, there is absolutely no visible etching or dissolving or erosion or anything going on here. I'd say this stuff is not going to hurt your heater core at all (in 12 hours time).
    Custom Mirage products: Cruise control kit, Glove box light, MAF sensor housing, Rear sway bar, Upper grill block

    Current project: DIY Nitrous oxide setup for ~$100

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 47.2 mpg (US) ... 20.1 km/L ... 5.0 L/100 km ... 56.7 mpg (Imp)


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  11. #28
    Senior Member 01-7700's Avatar
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    subscribed. My HVAC is more AC than H this winter. I get hottish air out the far right vent, cool air through the center vents.
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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage 1.2 manual: 38.0 mpg (US) ... 16.1 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.6 mpg (Imp)


  12. #29
    Administrator Daox's Avatar
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    Alright, I started the process earlier today. Started with a nice cleanish engine bay.

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    First, I removed the airbox so it wasn't in the way. This gave me a lot more room to work and made things a lot easier.

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    I then drained the coolant out of the radiator using the small white plastic thumb screw on the driver's side bottom of the radiator. All of the coolant that came out looked very clear and not like it had any corrosion in it. However, it was a bit hard to tell since it is on the dark side.

    Next, I removed the clamps from the heater core lines and pulled the hoses off. Careful if you use pliers to break the seal on the rubber hoses. The heater core lines are aluminum and are easy to deform.

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    I then used air to blow out the existing coolant from the heater core. I blew it into a bucket, but it was very hard to tell if there was anything in it as it was super foamy with the air blowing out.

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    Next up, water flush! I grabbed my garden hose and went to work. I have this adapter thing I purchased ages ago to adapt the garden hose to heater line hose.

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    Here is an example of what came out of the heater core. There are definitely flakes of corrosion in there. It didn't seem horrible though.

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    I flushed it back and forth a few times with copious amounts of water. I then filled the system up with tap water and fired up the car. Once it was at a reasonable temperature, I blasted the heat. There was a definite improvement. The center two vents now feel nearly the same temperature where before there was a noticeable difference. However, the right side vent was definitely cooler still. For kicks I grabbed my IR temp gun and measured things. The far driver's side vent measured about 20°F higher than the far passenger side vent. Still though, it was an improvement from how it was before.



    So, I grabbed air and blew the water out of the core and grabbed the CLR. I filled up the heater core, and let it do its magic.

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    Last, but certainly not least, I drained the water out of the block and the radiator in case they froze overnight. The block's drain port is on the back side toward the passenger side. It is the one with a little bit of green and pink paint under it.

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    So, its tucked in overnight with the CLR hopefully doing its job! I'll continue this tomorrow.
    Custom Mirage products: Cruise control kit, Glove box light, MAF sensor housing, Rear sway bar, Upper grill block

    Current project: DIY Nitrous oxide setup for ~$100

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 47.2 mpg (US) ... 20.1 km/L ... 5.0 L/100 km ... 56.7 mpg (Imp)


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  14. #30
    Moderator inuvik's Avatar
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    Make sure you don’t use regular glycol anti-freeze when you refill the system. I wouldn’t use tap water either for the 50/50 mix due to minerals. Distilled water only. Pentosin makes OEM certified premixed.

    http://www.pentosin.net/specsheets/Pentofrost_A3.pdf


    Last edited by inuvik; 12-17-2017 at 12:06 AM.

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