Nice tidbit for those with barely any heat

[provencal183]

Have a situation here. My little festy appears to heat up (the temp gauge moves to about halfway up) but all I get out of the vents are cold air. Yes I have it set to the hottest setting. I am thinking maybe the water pump is gone, not circulating the coolant. Or is it possible the tstat is stuck open. Anyone know of a quick way to check before I switch out the water pump. PS. I'm in Canada, its a little cold up here so I need heat.

[Wldfire]

Im in the same situation with my little beast. My heater goes half way or so up, maybe some more depending on what im doing. I went though the summer with not overheating or anything, so was thinking my cooling system must have been working reasonably well, but when i turn on the heater and put the vents to defrost, i get the weakest heat.

I was thinking maybe about getting a new T-Stat and doing a coolant flush. Any other ideas??? Maybe a plugged Heater core?

Hope we both can get ours fixed. Winter in Canada sucks!

[TominMO]

Possible plugged heater core. I'd try the radiator flush stuff first. Make sure you have the heat on while driving around so the flush stuff circulates thru the heater core. Made a huge diff on my 323.

[Pu241]

Have a situation here. My little festy appears to heat up (the temp gauge moves to about halfway up) but all I get out of the vents are cold air. Yes I have it set to the hottest setting.

I'm with Tom on this, mainly because if the gage didn't move to it normal setting then the engine itself would be below temp.
Check the temp of the upper radiator hose, it should be warm/hot after the gage is at its midpoint.
If so, the heater core is likely the cause.
One thing you might check is if the lever that controls temp, the blue/red background, is actually opening the valve to let hot coolant into the heater core.

[provencal183]

Cold Festiva

Possible plugged heater core. I'd try the radiator flush stuff first. Make sure you have the heat on while driving around so the flush stuff circulates thru the heater core. Made a huge diff on my 323.

Thanks for help guys. I'm gonna try the flush and fill. I take it I leave the flush solution in for a bit drive around a bit and then drain it and refill with coolant/antifreeze.

[batstiva]

Have a situation here. My little festy appears to heat up (the temp gauge moves to about halfway up) but all I get out of the vents are cold air. Yes I have it set to the hottest setting. I am thinking maybe the water pump is gone, not circulating the coolant. Or is it possible the tstat is stuck open. Anyone know of a quick way to check before I switch out the water pump. PS. I'm in Canada, its a little cold up here so I need heat.

Okay, not assuming you are dumb here, just asking the question. Are you talking about the dash vents, or the defroster vents? Cause you'll never get good heat out of the dash vents,(They're not supposed to blow heat) but I'm assuming you know that. I second, or third, the notion of a blocked heater core. My needle only goes up about 1/4 of the way, and I have good, warm heat.

[91blufestiva]

Mazda t-stat (Miata,323,etc) for 1.6 engines. Just got off the phone with a Mazda dealer here in st. louis. Said part # for this t-stat is:
#8AK1-15-171-9U. I've seen the Ford part number here, but not the Mazda #
The Ford dealers still have the t-stat. I'm on my way to pick it up now.
Ford $22.......Mazda $25

So to make sure I got this right, I should go into the Mazda dealer and ask them for that part #? Or could I just go into a napa or something and ask for that part #?

Or, what could I say when I go into napa, like for example, I need an 88 mazda 323 1.6L thermostat? would that work?

[91blufestiva]

could someone text me the answer? cuz im leavin to town now, and would like to pick one up while im there, my number is 1-320-309-8845

thanks a lot!!

[Mike McKown]

So to make sure I got this right, I should go into the Mazda dealer and ask them for that part #? Or could I just go into a napa or something and ask for that part #?

Or, what could I say when I go into napa, like for example, I need an 88 mazda 323 1.6L thermostat? would that work?

NAPA does not carry the correct thermostat. O'Reilley Auto Parts is a MotorCraft distributor and can get a MotorCraft thermostat for you.

I just bought one. $25. Ford dealer was $41 and Mazda wanted about $33.

Your prices may vary.

[brickdog2000]

I'm thinking about checking mine due the fact that it takes it awhile for the windshield to defrost. All though the car never overheats, unless my battery shifts and hits the wire harness. Which is probably cause the battery is bigger than what the car needs, but its what came with the car.

[CABGx3]

If a car runs too cool the oxygen sensor won't work right and will cause all kinds of other problems.

Good info, but what might the "other problems" be..........?

CABGx3

[CABGx3]

I had no heat and thought it was my thermostat and had my Mechanic change it, to no avail......problem was that the Heater Core was plugged......he blew it out and now life is good, (and warm).
CABGx3

[1988redfordfestiva]

well if its that bad use a piece of card board to cover the bottom half of the radiator and some duck tape and do that so it can warm up did it on my truck a couple of times just to have heat when it was cold outside

[Futurefesty90]

is the mazda part # what i should ask for at the ford counter?

[1988redfordfestiva]

i bet if u dont have heat its the vacuum to the door if u have one or the wire running to the door to let the heat in i just replace some odds and ends in the car today removed heater core and using a jumper outside the car made out of 1/2 copper pipe welded in a u untill i get this thing replaced no leaks which is kool right now