BJ74 heater help please (1 Viewer)

[OILERSrule]

Winter is trying to come back in Alberta. Driving to work this morning it wasn't that cold only -2C but it took longer than usual to get warm air. Once I got to the highway part of my drive it was warm as usual. As I slowed down however the air turned cold again. Need to sort this out soon as winter here gets much colder. Any thought/suggestions are much appreciated.

Thanks and Happy Cruising!!!
J

 

[PhrogsPhorever]

Subscribed.

Same problem with the BJ70, and winter's coming. Granted the winters in North Carolina aren't nearly as bad as up there I haven't cracked the FSM yet, but I'll pass along what I figure out when I tear apart the dash later this week.

 

[prado t]

Do you have enough coolant? Do your windows fog with the heat on? More info please.

 

[OILERSrule]

The coolant level is good, it is a few years old though. The windows haven't given me problems fogging up but were not fogged when i left either. The cool air only seems to blow for a little while then back to warm. Its almost like you move the temp guage to cold and then back after a couple minutes.
thx

 

[Kroll]

Do you know what temperature your thermostat is ?
I experienced great results just by switching from an 82oC to a 88oC thermostat.
Worth a opening up the thermostat housing and examining it.

 

[lowenbrau]

The coolant level is good, it is a few years old though. The windows haven't given me problems fogging up but were not fogged when i left either. The cool air only seems to blow for a little while then back to warm. Its almost like you move the temp guage to cold and then back after a couple minutes.
thx

70s suck to bleed the air out of the coolant. My money is on low coolant.

 

[bj74redrider]

I had the same issue with my BJ74. I pulled out the radiator and back flushed it and got a bunch of green swamp goo out of it. Then I filled it with CLR and let it sit for a few hours and flushed another bunch of swamp water. I then pulled the drain on the block, put a hose with one of those brass nozzles in the heater hose and blasted away, more green crap came out of the block. I flushed threw different hoses in a variety of directions for 20 mins or so, put everything back together and I haven't had an issue for almost a year now.

When you fill it back up with coolant, park it on a hill or jack up the front end so all your air bubbles rise to the top. Let it run for a while with the cap off and heat on full blast too. Chances are you have air or crap in your cooling system slowing down the flow.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

While I realize there are few similarities between a diesel Land Cruiser and a V8 Land Rover, I did experience the same issues with the heater. At road speed the heater was fairly adequate and at low speeds it was pitiful. At least in my case a radiator quilt made a huge difference. Blocking some of the air flow through the radiator during the Winter months made a noticable difference in performance.
........1978HJ45

 

[beislebub]

x2 on the coolent level, been there (cracked head)

Also check to see if the valve which controls the flow of coolant is fully opening/closing. Last fall the the clip that holds the outer sheith of the cable was slipping, and I wasn't getting full throw of the valve= never completely off or on.

Joel.

 

[PhrogsPhorever]

Check the linkage for the coolant valve in the engine compartment. The cable had popped off mine, and the valve was partially open, so I had quasi warm air when throttled up, none at slow speeds.

 

[Kroll]

Also check to see if the valve which controls the flow of coolant is fully opening/closing. Last fall the the clip that holds the outer sheith of the cable was slipping, and I wasn't getting full throw of the valve= never completely off or on.

Also check inside! I've replaced a real worn cable in a BJ70 with an issue at the control panel.

 

[OILERSrule]

Thanks for all the info and suggestions all!