hotter thermostat

[Justaguy]

I have a 97 tacoma with a 4 cyl. Summertime is great, but we are heading into winter, and that means cold, I mean really cold.

Here is my problem. When my heater is on recirc, it will mildly warm the interior of my truck. Problem is that the windows are ALL fogged and iced over then. So I turn it over to Fresh air intake and now I cant breath cuz its so cold in the cab

Just looking for ideas, if anyone has any that they would like to share..

Thanks,

Dan

 

[LukeZero]

It sounds like to me you don't want a hotter-opening thermostat. You just want one that works properly. Swap it out for a new one and I'm guessing it'll be better than that.

 

[raydouble]

I agree with Luke. You might want to make sure the coolant level is full and the heater valve on the firewall is working........

How many miles and how cold are we talking here?

 

[Justaguy]

The truck has around 110k miles. as far as how cold, it'll vary from 10 above to -50. It doesnt take long to ice up the windows in the truck. The coolant levels are fine and the thermostat gets changed twice a year, cooler temp for summer running and the warmer for winter driving.

I like the idea of checking the heater valve, I will go check that out.

 

[Duane]

a couple thoughts in no particular order

1- putting your heater on recirc in the cold will certainly fog up your windows. Humidity thing I think. That is the way they all work not just your vehicle.
2- if your heater isn't blowing enough hot air a few things...
-is the air volume enough if not then maybe you have a fan/blower problem or a plugged cab filter if they had one??

- is your engine operating at a normal temperature coolant wise..yup controlled by your thermostat whatever it is 190 degF maybe? If you have a temperature gun or some thermomoter to check on your intake manifold for skin temperature ought to do

- if your engine is operating at the correct temperature then perhaps your slide controls to switch from hot or cold may not be making the proper adjustments
-- or yes your coolant level could be low not circulating hot coolant through the heater core
-- next perhaps your heater core is plugging up or corroded to a point where you are not getting proper heat transfer to warm up the fresh air blowing by it into your cab. You can maybe touch your inlet and outlet lines to your heater core and see if they are as hot as the operating temp of the engine as in not losing any heat or both cool as in no circulation through it...
let us know what you find.... oh ya and I am Canadian so I understand cold -40's but not any -50 stuff

 

[Justaguy]

Thanks for the input, I will go check these out. any tricks to get this thing warmer are appreciated.

 

[Duane]

I was also just thinking maybe it is air locked if you are swapping thermostats twice a year. May have to try filling while bleeding air out.

 

[raydouble]

I was also just thinking maybe it is air locked if you are swapping thermostats twice a year. May have to try filling while bleeding air out.

As long as he has coolant in the overflow reservoir, it will pull coolant into the radiator if there is an air bubble in the system......and his radiator cap is working.