My car heater is not working why?

Good morning.

The first thing I would check is the hoses. Make sure you have hot hoses at the heater core.

A common issue for this is the water pump. The fins in the back rot out over time and produce very little circulation.

Roy

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-heater-not-working

Hi,

Are the heater hoses under the hood getting hot? If you start the engine, turn the heater on high and allow the engine to reach operating temperature, do both heater core hoses get hot? If they do, then heat is getting into the vehicle but not distributed.

That goes back to the blend air door actuator. What I suggest is this. Remove the actuator and confirm it is properly attached and operating. Here is a link that shows in general how one is replaced:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-blend-door-motor

Here are the directions specific to your vehicle. The attached pics correlate with the directions.

_________________________________

2002 Ford Taurus V6-3.0L DOHC VIN S
Temperature Blend Door Actuator
Vehicle Heating and Air Conditioning Air Door Actuator / Motor Service and Repair Procedures Temperature Blend Door Actuator
TEMPERATURE BLEND DOOR ACTUATOR
REMOVAL
1. Remove the integrated control panel.

pic 1

2. Remove the right-side lower instrument panel insulator and glove box.

VEHICLES WITH EATC

3. Remove the 2 remote climate control module screws and position the module aside.

pic 2

4. Remove the temperature blend door linkage shield.

pic 3

5. Remove the temperature blend door actuator.
1 Disconnect the electrical connector.
2 Remove the screws.
3 Remove the temperature blend door actuator.

INSTALLATION
1. To install, reverse the removal procedure.

_______________________

Let us know what you find or if you have other questions.

Take care,
Joe

I would probe the connector for the blend door actuator and make sure that it gets power to it when you turn the temperature up and down. No power means either a problem in the wiring or more likely the control unit itself is bad. That is just my $0.02

This guide can help us fix it

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-heater-not-working

Also, you might as well check the temperature of the heater core hoses after the engine is fully warmed up and the heat is switched on. One of those hoses might be clogged. It is a little bit of a long shot.

Hmm, could be that the door itself is broken. You would have to pull the HVAC box out and inspect it.

I'm betting that is the sound of the blend door slipping instead of moving. Either a chewed up gear or busted door itself would cause this, and it would definitely cause a no heat or no air situation (depending on where it was stuck). I'm not familiar with the HVAC box of an 02 Taurus, but I'd bet there's a way to open it up and look at the door. But it'll be a pain to physically do it. So I'd go ahead and gather up replacement parts, then do whatever needed to be done to check the door, and then replace as necessary. Return or resell whatever parts you don't use.

Welcome to 2CarPros.

As far as the heater not working properly, confirm the engine coolant is clean and full first. If it is, I need you to check something for me. Because of the mileage on the vehicle, the heater core may be plugging. To check, allow the engine to warm up to operating temp with the heater on high. Then, feel both of the heater core hoses. Both should be hot. One will be hotter than the other because one is the supply and the other is the return. If both hoses are hot, then the core is allowing coolant to flow. That leads me to the next possibility, the blend air door actuator.

The blend air door actuator is what determines the air temp entering the vehicle. If the heater core is good, this would be my next suspect. It is located under the dash on the HVAC system. Here are the directions for replacement. What I would do is access the actuator and see if it is functioning.

Before the directions, take a look through these links and see if they help in any way.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-heater-not-working

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-blend-door-motor

Here are the directions. The attached pics correlate with these directions.

______________________

2002 Ford Taurus V6-3.0L VIN U
Temperature Blend Door Actuator
Vehicle Heating and Air Conditioning Air Door Actuator / Motor Service and Repair Procedures Temperature Blend Door Actuator
TEMPERATURE BLEND DOOR ACTUATOR
REMOVAL
1. Remove the integrated control panel.

pic 1

2. Remove the right-side lower instrument panel insulator and glove box.

VEHICLES WITH EATC

3. Remove the 2 remote climate control module screws and position the module aside.

pic 2

4. Remove the temperature blend door linkage shield.

pic 3

5. Remove the temperature blend door actuator.
1 Disconnect the electrical connector.
2 Remove the screws.
3 Remove the temperature blend door actuator.

INSTALLATION
1. To install, reverse the removal procedure.

_____________________________________________________________

Let me know if any of this helps or if you have questions.

Take care,
Joe

It sounds like the blend door actuator is not working but to be sure check out this guide.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-heater-not-working

Please run down this guide and report back.

Disconnect the hoses and put a short piece of hose on each end. Flush it back and forth until it cleans out. Something tells me that the hose are put on the wrong connection. The intake hose for the heater core should be on the bottom. That way the antifreeze will fill the heater core until it is full before returning to the engine. If hooked up the other way the antifreeze will just go through the heater core and not give out any heat.. .

Hello Dave and others that have this problem,

What happens is the heater core gets filled with air or exhaust gases from slightly a blown headgasket.

Here to two guides that will fix the problem for you.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-heater-not-working

and

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

Though it sounds like Shadowrose has has a blend door actuator that is unplugged therefor the temperature door will not swing to the heat side.

Here is a guide to help you with that.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/replace-blend-door-motor

Please let us know happens so it will help others.

Best, Ken