no heat blowing at idle
- Thread starter Morphyne
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BigNuge
New member
BTW, 30 minutes is way longer than necessary to warm up a gas engine...not doing your cats any favors.
I am embarrassed to say, I have no idea what my coolant level is. I can tell you everything else about my engine except that. You are right. most likely that. I will check with a flush and fill and report back.
Blowing cold air. Just not hot. Most likely low coolant level as I have put 60k on this thing and can't say I have ever considered my coolant. which is ridiculous considering the amount of pampering everything else on the truck has gotten.
As far as the 30 minutes go, I basically just forgot about it.
Blowing cold air. Just not hot. Most likely low coolant level as I have put 60k on this thing and can't say I have ever considered my coolant. which is ridiculous considering the amount of pampering everything else on the truck has gotten.
As far as the 30 minutes go, I basically just forgot about it.
BlackWorksInc
New member
My guess would be thermostat and/or low-ish coolant.
On a modern gasoline engine it should be warmed up within about 5 minutes, maybe 10 if its closer to snow weather.
On a modern gasoline engine it should be warmed up within about 5 minutes, maybe 10 if its closer to snow weather.
BlackWorksInc
New member
Now to find out where its all leaking from.
BigNuge
New member
You are very lucky, the result could be a lot worse....
I ended up putting half a jug of 50/50 in it. As far as where it was going, I bought this thing used 2 years ago and never checked the coolant level when I bought it or ever since. So no telling where it went but over the course of 2 years and 60,000 miles it could have gone anywhere.
I'll keep an eye on it and one weekend soon I will give it a proper flush and fill.
bigskyeric
New member
same thing happened to me. I never used the heat all summer, but when it got cold I found i didn't have any heat unless i was driving up hill. 1/2 a jug of coolant later, it blows HOT. I have the v6, and from what I can tell, they take a bit of burping to get all the air out of the system.
MattFromPA
Junior Member
Hey guys, new to the forum, I'm having nearly this exact issue with my 2003 4runner SR5.
Just bought it and only noticed the issue this morning.
Air is warm when accelerating but cools down very quickly as the engine winds down. Almost cold air coming out when I'm idle.
I've read so many posts that say so many things(heading core flush, water pump, low coolant, aftermarket stereo), I just don't know where to start.
I've got coolant full in the reservoir, first thing I checked.
In one post I read something about the radiator hoses being different temps mattering. My in and out tubes in the radiator are not the same temp. One hot one not.
I am not a car genius, any help would be appreciated.
Just bought it and only noticed the issue this morning.
Air is warm when accelerating but cools down very quickly as the engine winds down. Almost cold air coming out when I'm idle.
I've read so many posts that say so many things(heading core flush, water pump, low coolant, aftermarket stereo), I just don't know where to start.
I've got coolant full in the reservoir, first thing I checked.
In one post I read something about the radiator hoses being different temps mattering. My in and out tubes in the radiator are not the same temp. One hot one not.
I am not a car genius, any help would be appreciated.
BigNuge
New member
Sorry about the late response…lol
With the engine cold, pop the radiator cap and check the radiator for coolant (add as needed). If it’s not low in the radiator and you have had a god level in the reservoir then you likely have a weak pump or partially plugged heater core.
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MattFromPA
Junior Member
Hey thanks for the response.
Since this post I flushed my heater core and that pretty much did the trick.
Been keeping an eye on the coolant levels at cold and hot engine temps because I'm worried about the head gasket issue on this particular engine. They've stayed very consistent thankfully.
I still get air coming through the vents even the fan is off so I'm thinking that I might have some blender door issues, but that sounds like more of a hassle than it's worth all things considered, so that will wait for now.
There is a good chance my water pump will be replaced soon when I do the main belt, and hopefully that will help things heat up more quickly, but I'm pretty sure things are going well as of right now, for now.
Since this post I flushed my heater core and that pretty much did the trick.
Been keeping an eye on the coolant levels at cold and hot engine temps because I'm worried about the head gasket issue on this particular engine. They've stayed very consistent thankfully.
I still get air coming through the vents even the fan is off so I'm thinking that I might have some blender door issues, but that sounds like more of a hassle than it's worth all things considered, so that will wait for now.
There is a good chance my water pump will be replaced soon when I do the main belt, and hopefully that will help things heat up more quickly, but I'm pretty sure things are going well as of right now, for now.
BlackWorksInc
New member
Do you mean the timing belt? Is this a V8? Because the V6's are timing chain driven and don't really need service. That being said it might not hurt to replace the thermostat next time you do a timing belt for peace of mind. I had a customer with an '07 Tundra that had an issue reaching operating temperature properly (set a code); ended up the thermostat was just bad (granted this vehicle had something like 300k on it, so wasn't super surprising).
Also as for air coming through the vents even when you have the blower set to the "Off" position, make sure that the HVAC system is set to "Recirculate" if you don't want that to happen. Most of the Toyotas like to default to "Fresh Air" mode when you turn them off, when the HVAC system is set to fresh air mode it leaves the recirculation air door open (the Blend Air Door is what blends hot and cold air together and controls temperature). When you're driving or if there's strong enough wind, air will ram itself through the HVAC system even with the fan off.
If your 4Runner is like mine, every now and then it might decide to switch Recirculation mode off randomly after starting up and I push the button (I think it was a sticking button and I fixed it... but I'm not convinced yet...)
MattFromPA
Junior Member
How do you check to see if the car is in recirculation mode?
I'm replacing a rusted header soon and I think the ECU needs to be reset because of the oxygen sensor so I want to make sure I can get that setting right each time.
I'm replacing a rusted header soon and I think the ECU needs to be reset because of the oxygen sensor so I want to make sure I can get that setting right each time.
BlackWorksInc
New member
If the light is on, then the vehicle is recirculating air inside of the cabin, if it's off you're in fresh air mode. That's assuming the recirculation air door is working properly though.
