Hi Guys,

I'm hoping you can help me figure this out. I'm sure I'm missing something simple...

My heat hasn't been working in my 72' with a 302. So, I pull the heater box, resealed it with the kit from Toms, new heater core, new motor, new 195 degree thermostat, and valve. Still no heat. Today the gauge on my dash only got to 130 on the drive to a from work. I've tired burping the system but I don't think the engine is getting warm enough to open the thermostat and I see no signs of air in the system. When I grab the hoses they're all warm. No leaks anywhere. The blender in the box appears to be hooked up correctly and I feel an air difference when moving the switch on the dash.

What am I missing? I have the hose (which is also new) with the valve on the leftmost side. Is that correct? Also, I put the thermostat in the way the old one was with the spring into the intake manifold. Is the spring suppose to go into the water hose inlet instead? I was thinking maybe it was just backwards.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Danny

Sounds like the thermostat is stuck open. They can get pinched between the intake manifold and waterneck if you aren't careful putting them in. There is a shallow pocket in the waterneck that the stat is supposed to float in. If it gets pinched on one side it can cause it to bind and stop working. A good trick to hold it in place when installing is to loop a wire or string through the hose hole in the waterneck and through the stat.

Thanks. I'll pull it out and double check it.

Looking forward to having heat in the mornings....

Thanks,
Danny

Maybe also try to block the radiator on cold mornings a little. This can be risky, but my bronco won't get up to temp in the winters either, so I push a little cardboard down on the radiator to block 70% of it.

You say the hoses are warm, I assume you mean the hoses leading to the heater core?