Topic: Heater upgrades

[sharpxmen]

stock heat is fine, like i said only thing with YJs is there's no dash vent, only defrost or floor.

[Jeffy]

What if you were to take your Jeep on a wheeling trip in alaska-soft top- would you still use the stock heat or suppliment?

Well, you would have a block heater to pre-heat the engine.  Then you would probably block the radiator and take the fan off the engine to limit heat loss.  If it's still cold, you would insulate your top and not use a soft-top as the windows would probably shatter with the wind and cold.  I think the next option would be to bypass the OE heater and run a larger AUX unit like this http://www.princessauto.com/pal/product/4240005/Auxillary-Heaters/18%2C500-BTU-12V-Auxiliary-Heater  You could also use the OE unit and then run an aux electric heater.

[grumpygy]

Know that the heater I listed has been around for a long time.

[grumpygy]

Or you could get a Heater from an RV. They have some that are smaller and have Electric fan and tie into the cooling system.

[stan98tj]

the mojave looks like a viable option to supliment the stocker if headed for colder regions

[Tr00b]

The heat on my TJ has bit the big one for years. If you don't let it idle to at least heat the cab up till the steering wheel is warm to the touch, it will never keep up wherever you are going if the temp is below say 20 degrees.

There are supposedly several things that cause the heat to be terrible in TJ's. The heater core plugging with sludge  is a big one. Next is the intake getting plugged up with junk, which in turn plugs the heater core fins. There is some sort of a seal that goes bad under the hood and allows debris to get into HVAC. My heater regularly sprays me with pine needles, bugs, leaves, and associated crap.

The remedy is to pull the cowl, and epoxy some thick plastic to plug most of the cowl vents, and epoxy some pet proof window screen over whats left  to keep large particulate matter and squirrels out of the cowl (you glue it to the back so it looks clean).  Pull the air intake clean everything out, reseal with silicone. Pull the dashboard. Pull the heater core. Flush. Clean fins. Reinstall. A clean heater core goes a long way to getting heat into the cab of a TJ.

I haven't done this stuff yet, I just don't drive it in the winter unless its a snow storm or I'm cutting wood, and those times I'm wearing full gear as it is, so the heat doesn't matter much.

[sharpxmen]

today i replaced the heater core in my... Camaro :) - not related but some things are still the same
this thing was literally same temp as outside

so what were the conclusions:
 - althought the core was heating up some but not much there was no heat (I ran it with the covers off and was warm to the touch)
 - it wasn't flowing freely, there was some crap inside that was restricting the flow
 - another thing probably more important than the coolant flow was the sponge/foam seals around the heater had literally dissapeared, the air was just free flowing around the core.
 - the cover was crooked so the same thing, the cold air was just blowing off around the cover and not thru the core, sealed that with silicone.
 - readjusted the doors so they close off the vent air, there was some cold air coming that way as well.

i have heat now :)

i have to say that replacing the core in this vehicle is completely stupid, you'd think they would engineer these things so you can service them more easily, took me over 3 hours to get it done, wasted 1/2 an hour if not more trying to take the hoses off without cutting them, i managed but man i wish i would have ordered new ones.

[jfrabat]

today i replaced the heater core in my... Camaro :) - not related but some things are still the same
this thing was literally same temp as outside

so what were the conclusions:
 - althought the core was heating up some but not much there was no heat (I ran it with the covers off and was warm to the touch)
 - it wasn't flowing freely, there was some crap inside that was restricting the flow
 - another thing probably more important than the coolant flow was the sponge/foam seals around the heater had literally dissapeared, the air was just free flowing around the core.
 - the cover was crooked so the same thing, the cold air was just blowing off around the cover and not thru the core, sealed that with silicone.
 - readjusted the doors so they close off the vent air, there was some cold air coming that way as well.

i have heat now :)

i have to say that replacing the core in this vehicle is completely stupid, you'd think they would engineer these things so you can service them more easily, took me over 3 hours to get it done, wasted 1/2 an hour if not more trying to take the hoses off without cutting them, i managed but man i wish i would have ordered new ones.

I should do the same to my jeep, but for the opposite reasons...  My heat is ALWAYS on.  I suspect it is something similar to your sponge/foam issue, as air is getting to the core even with the vent closed.  Some friends told me to just bypass the heater (not really much need for it in Panama, where it is ALWAYS HOT), but I want to have the option of more radiator cooling fr when I clogged up my radiator with mud.  But I also do not want to have to tear apart half the jeep (I have AC) to get to the core, so I want the lazy way and ordered myself one of these.  Now the flow will be off 99% of the time, but when I need some extra cooling, I can open it and turn the fan on.

[sharpxmen]

I should do the same to my jeep, but for the opposite reasons...  My heat is ALWAYS on.  I suspect it is something similar to your sponge/foam issue, as air is getting to the core even with the vent closed.  Some friends told me to just bypass the heater (not really much need for it in Panama, where it is ALWAYS HOT), but I want to have the option of more radiator cooling fr when I clogged up my radiator with mud.  But I also do not want to have to tear apart half the jeep (I have AC) to get to the core, so I want the lazy way and ordered myself one of these.  Now the flow will be off 99% of the time, but when I need some extra cooling, I can open it and turn the fan on.

well, an update to my Camaro heater project: my heat is always on now too - so no big deal this time of year but it is for sure once it starts warming up outside

the non A/C '86 Camaro lacks a feature that the A/C ones had which is the heater core bypass valve, it was meant to close off the hot water circuit thru the core and redirect it back into the block. It is vacuum operated but the non-A/C models are cable operated. I bought a "Four Seasons" generic bypass valve with 2 inputs and 2 outputs and will modify it to be cable operated rather than vacuum (the vacuum is just on-off but i want to have control of how much flow goes thru it so i can adjust the temp). All this because of all the foam seals on the doors are broken down and basically all the hot air is still making its way around those and into the cabin vents. I will probably do the same for the Jeep if this one is successful.
I got this one for the Camaro since it has the proper thickness on the hoses (1 is thicker than the other) http://www.amazon.com/Four-Seasons-74781-Heater-Valve/dp/B000C2SV3O/ref=sr_1_14?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1358799763&sr=1-14&keywords=four+seasons+heater+valve

for the Jeep this one is probably the one i'd be using since both hoses are the same size if i remember correctly
http://www.amazon.com/Four-Seasons-74809-Heater-Valve/dp/B000C2QSVQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1358799763&sr=1-2&keywords=four+seasons+heater+valve

the ideal one would be this one since it looks like it is already provisioned for cable operation but the price is 3 times as high so i think i'll just make my own bracket and remove the vac actuator (2 screws and it comes off)
http://www.amazon.com/Four-Seasons-74643-Heater-Valve/dp/B000C2UVK0/ref=sr_1_10?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1358799763&sr=1-10&keywords=four+seasons+heater+valve

there are a bunch on amazon that are non-bypass and looks like can be easily adapted or already meant for cable operation - problem is that closing off the water circuit and with the thermostat closed this would basically act as a brake for the water pump burning gas and killing some HP for no reason, so that's why i planned to go with a bypass type.

[jfrabat]

problem is that closing off the water circuit and with the thermostat closed this would basically act as a brake for the water pump burning gas and killing some HP for no reason, so that's why i planned to go with a bypass type.

 

I thought about that, but considering the average day in Panama (at 6:30AM, which is when I leave for work) is over 20* C already (on a hot afternoon, it's over 42* C!), I doubt this will be TOO much of an issue.

[sharpxmen]

 

I thought about that, but considering the average day in Panama (at 6:30AM, which is when I leave for work) is over 20* C already (on a hot afternoon, it's over 42* C!), I doubt this will be TOO much of an issue.

yeah, your thermostat will open pretty quick, here will be closed most of the winter (or go between open/closed on a regular basis).

[grumpygy]

Just found my other heater link.  We used to put some like these in RV's.

http://www.aquahot.com/Products/UTV-RTV-Auto-Applications.aspx

[Jeffy]

I should do the same to my jeep, but for the opposite reasons...  My heat is ALWAYS on.  I suspect it is something similar to your sponge/foam issue, as air is getting to the core even with the vent closed.  Some friends told me to just bypass the heater (not really much need for it in Panama, where it is ALWAYS HOT), but I want to have the option of more radiator cooling fr when I clogged up my radiator with mud.  But I also do not want to have to tear apart half the jeep (I have AC) to get to the core, so I want the lazy way and ordered myself one of these.  Now the flow will be off 99% of the time, but when I need some extra cooling, I can open it and turn the fan on.

There is a door in-front of the heater core.  It's probably not closing all the way.

[jfrabat]

There is a door in-front of the heater core.  It's probably not closing all the way.

That was my thought, and I was going to take the heater apart to check, but to get to it, I have to take the AC down (or something like that; dont remember exactly what was in the way, but it was something big).  I just got too lazy and went the other way...