Nice tidbit for those with barely any heat

[bravekozak]

That does it! I can't sleep. I will find my spare dual stage thermostat and sacrifice it for the sake of science (just like my A/C drier). I will first do the boiling water test on it with a thermometer and then cool it down to see exactly what temperature it opens and closes, total distance opened for both sub and main valves and how fast. I will then cut the "wax pots" open to see what's inside. I am going to measure how thick the chamber wall is to prevent leakage failure and report back. Don't hold your breath. (Now you know why I worked in an R&D lab)

[bravekozak]

I bought a roll of one sided adhesive foam tape the other day. It is 3/16" thick X 1/2" wide. It is just perfect for replacing all of the old deteriorated 20 year old foam on the blower motor baffle covers as well as the main damper. Everyone who plans on keeping their Festiva for another 20 years should do this exercise (take off the dash, remove the blower assembly, inspect and clean out the heater core fins) on a nice spring day.

[wirebrain]

I need to do this when it warms up...Had to tape over my vent ducts to help keep the cold air from bypassing the heater core. Thanks for the foam tape dimensions.

[standard235]

I did the Cascade flush and holy crap, I have Ford-like heat now. Sill rust gumming up the works!

[200KGPGTP]

Good to hear! Gonna do mine too. Rad needs flushed pretty bad

[pickster1107]

I tried this and it works great! much more heat then with just the regular old thermo that came stock.

[neanderpaul]

The stock one is 2 stage. What you replaced is probably a 1 stage replacement. So you probably got it back to factory heat.

[pickster1107]

No, I ordered the two stage thermostat, using the numbers provided, Had a hard time finding one at a reasonable price' but did finally find one for around $30.00 last year.

[neanderpaul]

What I'm saying is that the one that came stock is a two stage, that the one you removed was probably a single stage that someone else installed, and that when you put the two stage in you got it back to factory specs.

[drddan]

Another tidbit i'd like to add...

My old rad blew up this past winter, so I got a new rad...

....guess what...I got LOTS of heat now! The new rad is working much better, so the Cascade flush will do close to the same thing.

These are old cars and have a lot of crud build up in the cooling system.

Instead of messing with the T-stat, check the system and flush...with Cascade (thats the stuff for cleaning dishes in a dishwasher)

I too, changed my T-stat (it had a 2 stage in it) put a new one in, didnt help much....but the rad did!

[iriegnome]

What a great thread. I will be buying a 2 stage T-stat tonight. Autozone here in the old Mid-west has them for $10 USD. I am also going to install a radiator flush kit ($3.50) from Walmart and flush out the radiator and heater core. I have my fingers crossed and hope this will make the difference. Which in all honesty, will make my father-in-law very happy since he owns 6 of these little cars and my sister-in-law also drives one. We could all have heat this winter!! YEA!!

[sc72]

iriegnome, did you read the whole post if not check page 12 post #117 follow the instructions and you should have good heat.

[jimdigs]

So I go onto ebay and type in the part # for the mazda stat. Find a couple but both state that these thermostats are not compatible with a ford festiva of any year!! Whats up with that? Part number I used is..... 8AK1-15-171-9U.

[iriegnome]

I bought 2 of the two stage thermostats. 1 for myself and 1 for my Father-In-Law. He set out to change his yesterday. When I brought him the t-stat, I warned him about the fragile house. Sure enough, he cracked his.. Fortunately, he has a welder and put his back together. I just went with my daughter and got anti-freeze today, so I am into this tomorrow. Since I work 60+ hours a week, I don't always move to quickly getting to the repairs, but we will get it done tomorrow..I hope.

[jason_]

Aspire 1.3

Freshly rebuilt, crowding 10.5-11:1
93 octane,

Bought a cheapo $5 160* stat, and also went from manual to auto radiator (wider)

Tstst has a small bypass hole, plus the obvious temp spring

Heater core spits out 130* air, even when 30* out.... , computer pulls idle down once gauge rises for warmup from cold start.

I can make 140* out the vents if I hog 5000rpm long enough fighting long Hills in overdrive . Probably warmer if it wasn't clogged with dust. When flipped to cool is blows 3x the air.


I'm not sure where you guys are having cold issues cardboard tricks/whatever. .... I'm keeping mine border line cold for ECU.... And make plenty of heat. I run defrost on high all the time with Windows cracked just to circulate air in the cabin.

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