Carina Heating Problems

[MACARTA]

Hi

My Toyota Carina E has heater in the car will not warm up, any suggestions as it just getting cold now, sod's law!!

Macarta

[bobbins]

Hi

My Toyota Carina E has heater in the car will not warm up, any suggestions as it just getting cold now, sod's law!!

Macarta

The Haynes manual states.....

If the engine seems to be taking a long time to warm up (based on heater output or temperature gauge operation), the thermostat is probably stuck open. Renew the thermostat.

It could be the above (if you're lucky) or there could be many other reasons for the lack of heat.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

[Parts-King]

Carina's are famous for the thermostat to stick open, get it changed and you should be OK

Kingo

[Neuroner]

I had the same problem on my 93 carina 1,6 e xli.

Turned out, there was hot air in there, it just didnt come out due to an airduct having fallen off.

The local workshop charged me about £500 without being able to fix it, the incompetent sods.

In the end, a mechanic friend of the missus fixed it all somehow with tape and experience in germany

Still works like a charm

[paulbaker]

Hi

I am interested in this thread because my Carina E Estate is suffering from heating problems.

The fan works perfectly; plenty of air being blown about. So I don't think it is Neuroner's problem of an air duct falling off. However there is very little heat coming from the vents even when I have been driving for 20 minutes or so and the engine is fully warmed up. Even on its hottest setting, the temperature of the air coming out is only slightly warm. When I adjust the temperature control knob down to "cold", it gets very cold, so there is nothing wrong with the temperature knob itself.

The car does not overheat in the summer.

I had a Talbot Alpine many years ago with this problem and we solved it by back-flushing (cleaning) the water system.

Parts-King do you think it's the thermostat in my case? What sort of ball-park price are you looking at for a new one? And is it something that someone with modest mechanical engineering skills can change?

Thanks B)

Paul, in a very cold Maidenhead

[trev3635]

Hi

I am interested in this thread because my Carina E Estate is suffering from heating problems.

The fan works perfectly; plenty of air being blown about. So I don't think it is Neuroner's problem of an air duct falling off. However there is very little heat coming from the vents even when I have been driving for 20 minutes or so and the engine is fully warmed up. Even on its hottest setting, the temperature of the air coming out is only slightly warm. When I adjust the temperature control knob down to "cold", it gets very cold, so there is nothing wrong with the temperature knob itself.

The car does not overheat in the summer.

I had a Talbot Alpine many years ago with this problem and we solved it by back-flushing (cleaning) the water system.

Parts-King do you think it's the thermostat in my case? What sort of ball-park price are you looking at for a new one? And is it something that someone with modest mechanical engineering skills can change?

Thanks B)

Paul, in a very cold Maidenhead

dead easy to change, i had my 14yr old daughter do mine (1.8 4afe) under my instruction of course, the price for mine with rubber seal was less than a fiver.

[Graeme Walker]

If you take the old thermostat out, try soaking it in boiling water and giving it a clean.

They sometimes simply lock open or shut because of scale build-up

[BarneyTT]

I have recently bought a Carina E 2.0 Exec (genuine 37k!) as my runabout and I seem to have the same heater symptoms as Paul B. Temp guage seems to dip and rise (never above half way) and the car has never overheated. Now the winter has arrived I'm less than happy with the amount of heat from the heater, it certainly isn't that hot despite being set to full.

Regarding the thermostat change, did anyone try this and did it solve the problem?

Am I correct in saying the thermostat is located here ? (click attachment pic)

[BALIKBAYAN]

Yes, that is the thermostat. Don't forget to drain the coolant before you open the thermostat.

The temp gauge should be around half on the meter. Have you felt if the waterpipes from the engine to the heater are warm. If they are not you don't have enough circulation to get warm water to the heater and the result is it is cold inside the car. It could be an airtrap in the heater causing this problem.

[BarneyTT]

Thanks Balikbayan, I'm going to change the thermostat as a matter of course and check the pipes at the same time and try to rid the system of any air, hopefully this will cure the problem.

[eddieinvader]

Hi I have owned 2 carina e's in the past and thinking back I had an issue with the heating on one of them and changing the thermostat did the job, it might be worth giving it a go but there are never any guarantees.

I would not recomend re - using the old one after soaking in whatever, once you've had a problem it can go again, not worth the hassle for the sake of a few quid if you might have to take it all apart again.

[colinf1]

Hi

My Toyota Carina E has heater in the car will not warm up, any suggestions as it just getting cold now, sod's law!!

Macarta

Hi

Try flushing out the system with Radflush form Halfords or the like or fitting a new Thermostat. The other thing could be a blocked Matrix any maybe pulling off the top heater hose and putting water from a gardn hose or pressure wash hose may be enough to clear it-the only problem wih the heater hose is that if it is an older car the hoses may be well stuck and you could end up busting them if unlucky-good luck.

[Nilly71]

I think my thermostat has just gone too!

Car always used to heat up nicely with the needle bang in the middle of the gauge, and would never vary. In this latest cold snap, it heats up to half way if left stationary, but driving around (town driving) it drops right down to about a quarter.

I wasn't sure to start with if this was just the car running cooler because of the cold, it never dropped below a quarter, but that amount of variation makes me think the thermostat may be stuck open.

Could the cold actually cause the thermostat to break?

Any tips on draining & refilling the coolant to avoid airlocks?

Is there a gasket where you unbolt that stub pipe to access the 'stat?

Cheers

Mark

‘94 Carina E 2.0 GLi Estate

[BarneyTT]

Update: I have now changed the thermostat for a new one (just under £9.00) and it has improved things no end, the heater gauge now rises to half way and stays there (before it fluctuated between cold and a quarter and the heater seemed to improve the more the temp gauge rose) and the heater is now much better, not quite a hot as I'd like but in fairness I like a cars heater to be very warm and I'm sure for most it would be fine.

So my thoughts are, the thermostat was indeed faulty and the heater, whilst perhaps not brilliant, was/is ok.

A pretty cheap try-out if anyone is suffering from similar symptoms.

Thanks for everyones input and advice.

Nilly: To avoid air locks raise the front of the car and run the engine with the rad cap off, this should get rid of any air in the system. As for the gasket I can't help you as I had the garage change the thermostat whilst in for for a few other jobs.

[BALIKBAYAN]

Mostly when you buy a new thermostat you will get a rubber gasket with the thermostat.

[jimfin]

If the heating Guage is working properly. ie just going up the middle and staying there. Would that indicate that my heating problem is in the heater and not to do with the thermostat???

[BarneyTT]

If the heating Guage is working properly. ie just going up the middle and staying there. Would that indicate that my heating problem is in the heater and not to do with the thermostat???

It would imply that the thermostat is working correctly, does the guage fluctuate at all? It might be worth checking the hoses in and out of your heater matrix to see if the hoses are getting warm.

[BALIKBAYAN]

What idling rpm do you have when the car is supposed to be hot? If you have too high revs, then the ECU believe that the car is still cold and use a higher rev than it should just to try to get the car warm.

High idling rpm bad temp in the heater and on the temp guage are all signs for a faulty thermostat. I had about 1000rpm when my thermostat was faulty in December. Now I have about 700rpm.

[jimfin]

If the heating Guage is working properly. ie just going up the middle and staying there. Would that indicate that my heating problem is in the heater and not to do with the thermostat???

It would imply that the thermostat is working correctly, does the guage fluctuate at all? It might be worth checking the hoses in and out of your heater matrix to see if the hoses are getting warm.

How do I take off the front radio / heating panel to check out a few things?

[BALIKBAYAN]

You put a screwdriver in the joint and carefully take out the console around the radio. You start in the lower part of it.