help with my heater!!!

[Chris]

Do you have a schematic for the HVAC air flow?

Is the recirculation door closed? If it's left open, it would allow cold air to be pulled in and possibly not be forced to travel through the heater core because of that hole. But this is all guesswork unless someone is intimately familiar with E30 (Chan) or if you could provide the schematic.

The easiest way to check the heater core is to feel both inlet and outlet hoses after the engine is warmed up. If both hoses are hot, then the core is good. If the inlet is signifcantly warmer than the outlet, you've got a clogged core. If neither hoses are cool or not hot after the engine is hot, and you've opened the heater control valve, then you've got a bad valve.

Are E30 valves cable actuated or do they use a solenoid?

you may have answered one part of the problem... the inlet was hot and the outlet wasn't, so the core is probably clogged. I"ll try replacing that but there is still the issue of the air flow.

RJ, the heater core sits in the box directly in front of that a/c hole. I'll try plugging the a/c hole, good idea.



here is some info from e30 tech, no schematics of air flow, but some of the parts involved:

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