I am getting no heat in the interior of my 1998 4-cylinder Ranger. I am not sure what the problem, but I would like to fix it myself. Money's tight.Theengine temperature guage reads cold all of the time. I am no car expert, but I usually can fix thing with the proper instruction. Please help

 

Might check to see if your thrermostat is stuck open, easiest and cheapest route to go.

 

I took my truck in and they said the thermostat was fine. If I park it in my heated garage overnight. The heat works fine in the morning, but when I leave work at night, not much heat comes out. (I'm in Michigan) The repair shop said it might be the temp sensor. Does anyone know where its located??

Thanks.

 

I have heard rumor that some model year will have this type of problem when the water pump starts to fail. Basiclly it is not following enough coolant but the temp gauge does not register high temp due to its location. If memoery serves it is particularly the 3.0.

 

The fact that the guage does not register any heat does not necessarily mean the thermostat is bad. The gauge itself may be bad. If you live in cold country and the thermostat is stuck open (normal when they go bad)you need to replace it before going on. Very cheap. Maybe 3 or 4 bucks at discount store. Now we know we're circulating hot water. If that doesn't fix the problem there is a plastic valve located 1 foot in front of the firewall with both heater hoses hooked to it. It may be defective or the vacumn connections to it are shot or nonexistent. If both of those two are working and not the problem contact me and I will direct you to anotheritem it took me 2 years to find out about. It involves a servo unit that will have to be replaced.
All of the above assumes that you have heater hoses properly hooked up to a functioning heater core to begin with.

 

Replace:
Thermostat
Heater Control Valve
Coolant Temp. Sensor

Flushed the radiator and the heater core seperatly
Fluid levels are fine, and I have no leaks.

Still the gage reads cold, and I'm getting very, very little heat in the passanger compartment. It's getting very cold in Michigan and I need help fast! Thanks for the help!

 

Run the engine (drive the truck somewhere if you don't want to just sit and idle) long enough to where the engine SHOULD be up to operating temperature. Open the hood and feel the upper radiator hose. That engine should run at about 195 degrees, and that hose will be VERY warm to the touch if the engine is indeed running at the correct temp.

(If you do this sort of thing long enough, you will develop a "feel" for how hot it should feel to you...but as a basic rule, if you grab the hose and can hold it comfortably, the engine is probably NOT at 180 or more degrees.)

Next, feel both heater hoses. Grab one first and get a "feel" for how hot it is, then grab the other and do the same thing. They should BOTH be hot, and close to the same temperature, although it is normal for the return side to be a little cooler than the inlet.

If one heater hose is much cooler than the other, then that usually means there is either a restriction in the core, or a heater control valve somewhere keeping coolant flow from running through your heater core.

If the hoses are all hot and you're still getting no heat inside the cab, check for air leaks. If the heater box is damaged and enough cold air can get in, then the heater won't be able to keep up with the drop in temperature. In such a case, you may notice that the heater blows fairly warm when the truck is standing still, but blows colder the faster you drive. While working at the Ford dealer, an F150 came in with this condition and the firewall was mangled from a previous accident, letting cold air enter just below the heater box. The truck needed some firewall repairs and the heater box re-installed, and it worked fine.

In another case, with a V8 E150, the impeller on the water pump was loose on the shaft, so the water pump appeared to be turning, but no coolant was circulating! This, of course caused an overheating condition that the owner couldn't figure out, but a new water pump solved the problem!

These are just a few quick ideas off the top of my head for ya...there could always be more to it, but you want to start troubleshooting the problem rather than just "throwing parts at" the problem...to insure you get it fixed right.

 

Have you checked the temperature of the hoses going into and out of the heater core? If they are hot, then you have a problem with the temp blend door inside the vehicle. If the hoses are not both hot at the heater core, but hotter closer to the motor, then you may have a plugged heater core. If they just don't feel hot at all, then either the thermostat or water pump is at fault.

 

Many ford ranger heater problems can be traced to broken blend doors. The HeaterTreater kit does a complete repair on the blend door malfunction that is common to 96-2004 Ford Rangers. Every Ranger in this range either has, or will have, this common failure. The kit is easy to install and does not require dash removal. The kit can be found on ebay by searching "heatertreater" (one word).