Hello all,

This is my first post on LOSTJEEPS.COM!

My sister-in-law had no heat (barely warm) with her '03 Jeep Liberty when she ask me to look at it.

I have replaced and diagnosed the following:

1. Replaced a leaking water pump
2. Checked the pressure in the coolant system as she had two leaking hoses so I fixed those.
3. Flushed the heater core with water and CLR, which has given some heat in the vents.
4. Checked the blend door and it is working.

I cut a hole to the blend door area and when running heat at operating temperatures without the cover on the temp. is 126F at the vents, but with little air coming out. If I cover the hole I get 110F with a lot more air coming from the vents.

I would expect 125-135F at full blast coming from the vents at operating temperature. Maybe there is still air in the lines? I haven't taken it for a drive since adding the coolant just revved the engine a few times to 3.5k RPMs.

What else can I check?


Thanks all for any information!

Sounds like major neglect of the cooling system so my bet is a plugged heater core.

The temps from the 2 center vents with engine at full operating temp(195-219 degrees) and on fan #2 setting should be well above 160 degrees.I've tested mine using a Flir infrared camera and it puts out 172 degrees from the center vents.

I dont know what the core is made out of, but I was under the impression CLR was not good for aluminum which is likely what the radiator and parts of the motor are made out of. It specifically says on the CLR site not to use it with aluminum.

Go get some of that Prestone Radiator flush from the autoparts store and run it in the coolant system with distilled water for a few days of regular driving and run the heater on full to make sure it circulates through it. I filled with two bottles since the CRD's coolant system is right at the capacity where they advise two.

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2006 CRD - GTB2056 turbo by Dieselguy86, Eco Trans Tune, Lift Pump, Week's, HDS Tstat, Racor Filter, ARP's, OME 790's+Top Plate, JBA 2.5", JBA UCA, Moab's+265/75R16, ARB Bull Bar, 4.10's, TrueTracs

mass-hole,

You are correct about CLR as it is corrosive and shouldn't be used on aluminum. I added two Prestone Radiator flush and plan to keep it in the system as directed for three days at normal use. Thanks for that information.

After running the Jeep for twenty minutes the temperature was 110F but suddenly went down to 70F at the vents again! I could only feel the right hose and it went from very hot to warm. I cycled the heater on and off but no change at all. I am wondering if it's plugged again or the thermostat. This is exactly how it was acting before with no heat. I will flush it again in a few days.

Thanks again all

Flushing can do more harm then good.If the coolant flushes have not been kept up on in a timely manner and using the wrong coolant can cause issues when you do flush the system.

I've been seeing model year 2012's already with plugged heater cores,stupid dexcool.

Have you checked your resistor? I had to swap mine recently....

04OHIOliberty, no I haven't. Are you talking about the blower motor resistor? All speeds work on the fan. Let me know if it's something else.

Thanks and Merry Christmas all

Merry Christmas too...My fan speeds worked too, just all blew cold air until I realized the resistor issues with these Libertys...rockauto.com had the part, simple fix and it saved my butt...very inexpensive and I did write up a very easy fix in case it happened again!

Recently had a similar problem in my 02 liberty with warm air on the passenger vents and cold air on the drivers side. Had to pull all the hoses to flush along with the heater core. Worked well and have heat on both sides just be careful to keep water off the coils, those things go crazy over one drop

Heater Core! Just did mine last week. same symptoms and i also did everything you did. now it is crazy hot! did you try a reverse flush??

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No Drugs, No Bottle, Just Balls and Throttle!!

I finally did the flush/reverse flush again but this time with two Preston Coolant Cleaner for three days. Also replaced the heater core resistor for giggles. I still only get 105-110F at the center vents. Thinking the heater core needs to be replaced if I want more heat.