Novice Avensis Owner With A Heater Suddenly Blowing Cold.

[moodymoody]

Hello,

I bought a 2003 TS-3 2.0 D-4D in September and now after researching on-line I am really worried . In the last week the car has stopped being so warm, in fact it's just cold when I have turned the heating on so I have been putting the power heater on so I can drive the car without my fingers falling off!. I have read it takes a long time for diesels to warm up, but it is noticeably different. Do I need to think it is something drastic like the head gasket? Am I covered under the extended warranty scheme? The car is on 99,500 miles and has at least seven official toyota services. I am 7 months pregnant with my next child and this is the last thing we can afford...! Any help/ guidance/ experience is really needed and welcome. Kate

[Exvec]

Hello Kate,sounds very much like a thermostat problem which is stuck in the open position which usually happens anyway,failing that it could an air lock...so no need to panic to any great extent...?do you know a man that can fix it for ya. About £8 from Euro Car Parts.

[moodymoody]

Thank you for your reply, I will have the car checked out, but what can I look for?. The temp gauge seems to rise to half way as normal whilst driving, do I need to start with topping up the coolant/water, then the airlock first? Just as an aside the car went into the garage last week with the dreaded clutch squeak (starting to feel less positive about my purchase!)there isn't anyway something could have been knocked whilst the clutch was being greased? Or is nothing heating related in that area?....and the greasing didn't work so an eventual new clutch to save up for!! (Oh lord, I sound like I bought a right lemon don't I?!?) Thank you in advance.

[Aidan-]

Moody have you checked the water levels what are they like.

[moodymoody]

It seems as it should, it is where it was last week when I checked.

[Awebb180]

Clutch squeek could also be from the master cylinder or the pedal itself. Your car is out side the extended good will from Toyota as that is 7y/111k, your car is 10 years old

ALex

[Aidan-]

Moodydo you know anybody that know's a bit about car engine's like neighbours or some one at work if so ask them would they mind taking a look at it, it might be something as simple as Exvec has stated.

[moodymoody]

I do - my cousin, he is ex-AA and has 25 years experience- but he lives in Yorkshire, guess it can't hurt to ring him for direction. We do also have a pretty good garage who don't take the mickey so may as well see as we have a fairly long journey in three weeks. I will start from the basics and hope it's just something simple

With regard to the clutch it was checked last week, the mechanic (also ex-AA) said we are at the very beginnings of a decline and to start saving for it.

Thank you all for your help.

[Heidfirst]

Hello,

I bought a 2003 TS-3 2.0 D-4D in September and now after researching on-line I am really worried . In the last week the car has stopped being so warm, in fact it's just cold when I have turned the heating on so I have been putting the power heater on so I can drive the car without my fingers falling off!. I have read it takes a long time for diesels to warm up, but it is noticeably different. Do I need to think it is something drastic like the head gasket?

Your car predates the series potentially with the higher risk of hg problem by about 2 years so you should be fine.

[alan333]

I notice you say the temp guage goes to half way when driving - is the heater hot at this point?

If the car (and therefore also the heater) is taking ages to warm up (but it DOES eventually warm) then it could be a stuck thermostat.

If the car heats up but the heater doesn't then it could be a faulty heater component, I'm fairly certain it has electrically operated control valves.

If the heater fluctuates hot/cold/hot/cold it could be an air lock or something more sinister.

My money's on an electric heater valve.

[moodymoody]

Thanks Alan333, No the heater isn't hot at the point of the gauge reading halfway. I am going to take it out for a longer run tomorrow to see what happens and see if anything is different, but thank you for your comprehensive advice...I don't like not knowing what is wrong so will need to get it sorted asap.

[moodymoody]

Right, after getting to drive the car over a longer period ( trip to the hospital as my daughter swallowed a penny!) here is what it ran like on the journey home...

It takes 10 mins or so to warm up to hot, this is without using the heating switch so I could get a better picture. As I drove the heating was too hot to hold my hand in front; however on stopping at traffic lights the heat diminishes quickly to very mild. As Alan333 has stated this could be something more sinister I am going to attempt to address the airlock tomorrow myself before going to a garage. Is the sinister thing a head gasket?

Thank you for your help, again....

[Druid Boy]

Is your fan/interior blower running? From your last post it sounds like you have hot air when moving but not when stationary. If the fan isn't running that would explain it.

[moodymoody]

I think so..? If I put the heater on and turn it 'up' it blows more....is that right?

[alan333]

Ok, so the heater gets hot when the car's moving. This should mean it's not the electric control valves.

How the heater works...there's a circuit of water (coolant) flowing around the engine, and a pump pushes it around. The friction of the moving internals of the engine heats the water up, and the hot water then goes to the radiator where it gets cooled by the air coming in the front grill when you're driving, or assisted by the cooling fan when you're stationary. The heater is another small radiator-type thing (a matrix) which the hot water runs thru when you've set your heater to hot. The hot air is sort of collected here and sent inside the car.

So there's a few things that could be wrong here...

There could be an airlock somewhere so the pump is pushing some water and some air bubbles around, instead of just water.

The pump might be a bit worn and isn't pushing the water around strongly enough to flow thru the heater matrix, when the engine is ticking over.

There could be a blockage somewhere.

Try checking for an airlock first, I'm afriad anything else probably needs a mechanic. First thing to check is the water level in the radiator (not the plastic expansion tank). Remove some of the plastic trim at the front to access the radiator cap and make sure it's full. Don't do it with a warm engine cos you can easily get burnt. In fact don't do anything if you're not confident with it...better to pay a few quid than wreck your engine of get hurt.

Hope this helps :)

[Druid Boy]

Something strange going on here. It sounds like your blower is working fine because as you say you turn it up and it blows more. It sounds like you have coolant flowing through your heater matrix because you are getting hot air. Your coolant level hasn't changed in the last week. All seems normal except that the heat fades when you slow down.

As you have a long trip to make in a few weeks I would pop it in to your local mechanic you mentioned earlier and ask him to have a quick look. He will probably have a quick look for free. Failing that a mate with some mechanical knowledge or ring the chap you mentioned earlier (brother?) and ask his advice.

Good luck.

[moodymoody]

Thank you both- booked in wednesday so will update when I know, kind regards

Kate