Thing I've noticed about the no heat issue in my car
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Apr 2021
Posts: 10
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2003 E320 Base
Thing I've noticed about the no heat issue in my car
2003 E320
118k miles
Pittsburgh PA USA.
Something I've noticed and trying to narrow down.
A month or so ago we had a few really cold days and one day,boom,no heat. Tried cycling through defrost,off,heater no change.
Checked coolant level,fine.
Figured I'm going to change the heater valve in the spring or summer since this isn't my main vehicle.
So a few days later we had a relatively warm day. Turned on the Defroster and same thing,not hot but lukewarm from ambient air temp.The coolant temp was reading a bit warmer than in the cold weather but not drastically so.
Left on the Defroster and turned car off,went into the store,came out,started car and after it warmed up the heat coming out was hot enough to peel paint.
Instead of just leaving it alone and seeing if it still worked the next cold day I turned off the heat the next time I used the car since it was another relatively warm day.
Today the same. Another warm day.
And after a few times of turning it off and on when coolant temp was at operating temp,it started working again.
I'm wondering if when the coolant temp gets higher it "loosens up" any kind of build up that is interfering with the valve function since it's thicker.
just strange imo.
As I said I'm planning on changing the valve and we're getting a little more cold weather here so I'll see if the valve continues to stay working through the cold weather without turning it off this time but I found it interesting,this behavior,since I haven't read anything like this before in all the "No Heat" threads here.
118k miles
Pittsburgh PA USA.
Something I've noticed and trying to narrow down.
A month or so ago we had a few really cold days and one day,boom,no heat. Tried cycling through defrost,off,heater no change.
Checked coolant level,fine.
Figured I'm going to change the heater valve in the spring or summer since this isn't my main vehicle.
So a few days later we had a relatively warm day. Turned on the Defroster and same thing,not hot but lukewarm from ambient air temp.The coolant temp was reading a bit warmer than in the cold weather but not drastically so.
Left on the Defroster and turned car off,went into the store,came out,started car and after it warmed up the heat coming out was hot enough to peel paint.
Instead of just leaving it alone and seeing if it still worked the next cold day I turned off the heat the next time I used the car since it was another relatively warm day.
Today the same. Another warm day.
And after a few times of turning it off and on when coolant temp was at operating temp,it started working again.
I'm wondering if when the coolant temp gets higher it "loosens up" any kind of build up that is interfering with the valve function since it's thicker.
just strange imo.
As I said I'm planning on changing the valve and we're getting a little more cold weather here so I'll see if the valve continues to stay working through the cold weather without turning it off this time but I found it interesting,this behavior,since I haven't read anything like this before in all the "No Heat" threads here.
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Apr 2021
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
2003 E320 Base
2003 E320
118k miles
Pittsburgh PA USA.
Something I've noticed and trying to narrow down.
A month or so ago we had a few really cold days and one day,boom,no heat. Tried cycling through defrost,off,heater no change.
Checked coolant level,fine.
Figured I'm going to change the heater valve in the spring or summer since this isn't my main vehicle.
So a few days later we had a relatively warm day. Turned on the Defroster and same thing,not hot but lukewarm from ambient air temp.The coolant temp was reading a bit warmer than in the cold weather but not drastically so.
Left on the Defroster and turned car off,went into the store,came out,started car and after it warmed up the heat coming out was hot enough to peel paint.
Instead of just leaving it alone and seeing if it still worked the next cold day I turned off the heat the next time I used the car since it was another relatively warm day.
Today the same. Another warm day.
And after a few times of turning it off and on when coolant temp was at operating temp,it started working again.
I'm wondering if when the coolant temp gets higher it "loosens up" any kind of build up that is interfering with the valve function since it's thicker.
just strange imo.
As I said I'm planning on changing the valve and we're getting a little more cold weather here so I'll see if the valve continues to stay working through the cold weather without turning it off this time but I found it interesting,this behavior,since I haven't read anything like this before in all the "No Heat" threads here.
118k miles
Pittsburgh PA USA.
Something I've noticed and trying to narrow down.
A month or so ago we had a few really cold days and one day,boom,no heat. Tried cycling through defrost,off,heater no change.
Checked coolant level,fine.
Figured I'm going to change the heater valve in the spring or summer since this isn't my main vehicle.
So a few days later we had a relatively warm day. Turned on the Defroster and same thing,not hot but lukewarm from ambient air temp.The coolant temp was reading a bit warmer than in the cold weather but not drastically so.
Left on the Defroster and turned car off,went into the store,came out,started car and after it warmed up the heat coming out was hot enough to peel paint.
Instead of just leaving it alone and seeing if it still worked the next cold day I turned off the heat the next time I used the car since it was another relatively warm day.
Today the same. Another warm day.
And after a few times of turning it off and on when coolant temp was at operating temp,it started working again.
I'm wondering if when the coolant temp gets higher it "loosens up" any kind of build up that is interfering with the valve function since it's thicker.
just strange imo.
As I said I'm planning on changing the valve and we're getting a little more cold weather here so I'll see if the valve continues to stay working through the cold weather without turning it off this time but I found it interesting,this behavior,since I haven't read anything like this before in all the "No Heat" threads here.
