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its cold inside my truck!

1K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Stump3r 
#1 ·
Hey guys,
I did some searching and I have a general idea but I wanted to talk to you all about things first. The last 2 days while driving into work I have had little to no heat. Today it was about 20 degrees out while I was driving to work, and I ran the truck for about an hour between sitting in traffic and taking my little one to daycare. When i got into my parking lot I checked my fluid level in my radiator overflow box and it was no more than .25 lower than the fill line. What was really weird was that just for kicks i touched my radiator cap(I know your not supposed to do that, idk what possessed me to do it) and it was cold. Not like freeze your tongue to a flag pole type cold but it wasnt hot like I was expecting it to be for having just run my truck for an hour. I havent checked the doors that control the heat/cold input in the truck (forgot what they are called). Also I plugged in my OBD2 scanner and check it for what my coolant temp was at and it was reading at 200 degrees, IDK how accurate that actually is but that is where Im starting at. So basically I know i need to check the doors, but should I change my thermostat and flush the system? Sorry for the long post I am just puzzled about what to do and its dang cold outside!
 
#3 ·
update: I pulled out the old thermostat and replaced it with a 195 degree thermostat and I have heat again. I do have a question however, I just pulled out the thermostat and flushed the system I didnt pull the plugs out of the block like the haynes manual said to do because I lost sunlight too quickly and when I went to refill the system I wasnt able to put in the whole 4 gallon ammount that I was told it should take to refill the system. Did I do something wrong? There is a little bit too much fluid in the reservoir but not a ton. I also plugged in my scanner again and watched the coolant temp again and within a few minutes it was upto 203 degrees? Is that too hot, did I do the dumb again and mess something up? thanks for the help again
 
#4 · (Edited)
Temp should be okay. You'll want to idle your truck with the rad cap off until the thermostat opens, this will get all the air that maybe trapped in the system out. You will most likely have to add more antifreeze to the system once the thermostat opens up. Once the thermostat opens you will literally be able to see the coolant start to circulate in the tank of the rad. Top off your antifreeze throw the cap on and your good to go.
 
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