elemgee

Now that its getting cold here in the Northeast, I've been using the heater on my newly purchased 98 SC300. It seems to take an inordinate amount of time for the interior to get warm and I noticed that the air it puts out, while not cold or cool, is maybe lukewarm. I've read the posts from those who had a heater putting our cool air, and so I've tried to bypass the vacuum switch valve by placing the hose directly to the actuator as those posts suggest. But the air is still lukewarm. My Subaru used to get toasty warm in about 5 minutes. Is the lukewarm heater normal, or is there something I can do to see if something is faulty? Thanks.

Frozen in MD

Gspec

You could have a blend door problem in the dash, or maybe (this is the cheapest thing to swap) a stuck open thermostate...

StiCk3

iTrader: (5)

could also be a faulty water valve all together, pretty common from what i've seen on here.

MarcusMIA

People actually use the car's heater? That's preposterous...

FuMoFFuTT

iTrader: (2)

my soareris toasty and extremely comfortable when it gets warm

phoenix300

You know what I love about our cars vac diagram... I cant find the heater VSV on it anywhere.... at all... lol I got mind solved but seriously, is it in there?

LEX_MAN

iTrader: (2)

Do both of the heater hoses get hot ?

elemgee

So I checked the plunger at the back of the actuator and it does move in when the heats turned on. The coolant level is also at the top of the radiator fill. The thermostat must be OK since the engine gets up to operating temp within 10 minutes or so. I did the vacuum switch bypass I read on other posts. But none of this made a difference, I still get lukewarm air. I should also mention that I use the floor vent setting only, and even at the highest speed the air doesn't seem to come out with any great force, more like a trickle. Any other thoughts? Its getting pretty cold here in MD and I'm concerned about walking into work with my hands frozen to the steering wheel. Thanks.

Larry

TunerLexx

Sounds like (if the upper vents blow fine) your vent is clogged...the blower might have sucked in leaves or pine needles or something...if that's the case you gotta get to your air ducts which involves taking the dash apart to some extent.

Gspec

Blend door actuator stripped out perhaps...

elemgee

I wanted to close the loop on this in the event anyone does a search on it. It turns out that I had a plugged radiator. The dealer wanted $1,300 to replace the radiator, but I bought an aftermarket one on ebay for $160 which fit perfectly and fixed the problem - I now have heat.