No Heat Unless on Throttle, and its still weak

[CanuckQx4]

Hey guys, I got my Qx4 on the road today!

Got tires, e-test, insurance and plate sticker all in one day. Pretty productive. BUT.. ofcourse theres a but... There is no heat from the vents.

With the car idling, the car will only blow cold air, even when set to 85*, unless you start moving and are on the throttle then some warm air comes out, but still not as hot as I figure it should be.

I let the car cool down and popped the rad cap and it was full and clean, aswell as the overflow was within the lines. The radiator is also fairly new

What gives?? Please dont tell me the heater core is clogged, that cant be easy to access!

[Towncivilian]

There might be air in the system. Park the front end on a curb or something so the rad cap is the highest point in the system, remove the rear air relief valve cap, blast the heater and hope any air bubbles dislodge. Top off coolant as required. If that doesn't help, flushing the heater core and/or getting a full coolant flush is probably your next step.

[CanuckQx4]

I tried jacking the car up with the car running and the rad cap off and heat blasting, but no room to add coolant

I'll mess with the heater hoses tonight I suppose

[Chuck Tribolet]

What does the temperature gauge do?

If the gauge is normal, I see two possibilities: Some in the heater doors, or a clogged heater core. I'm guessing the former.

Chuck

[CanuckQx4]

Gauge works as normal as far as I can tell.

I was going to do a heater core flush/fill but after feeling my heter hoses coming off of the firewall I decided the upper hose was in poor condition and should be replaced while doing this job, so that will be instock at Inifiniti tomorrow so i will replace that and see what a garden hose in the heater core can do lol

[CanuckQx4]

Fixed it! I figure it was the heater core either clogged, or had an air pocket I lodged loose.

I couldnt resist but trying to fix it before getting the new hose, I first located the heater core hardlines coming out of the firewall ( ontop of eachother, passenger side ) pulled both rubber hoses off the ends (leaving the engine side of the hose connected)

Then I put an open ended garden hose pointing into the heatercore hardline and had a second set of hands turn the hose on about half max flow, the water came out the other hardline quick and I believe cleared some sort of internal blockage and started flowing better after a second or two. Then stuck the hose against the other opening, let it flow a minute. Attached the heater hoses, topped off the rad with near pure concentrated coolant since I figure I diulted it with the garden hose water.

Started the car, let it warm up, cranked the heat while idling and it was HOT

Thanks boys

[Chuck Tribolet]

I wonder if there's other gunk in the cooling system. I think a rad and block flush is in order.

Chuck