not sure if temp is supposed to be where it is at?

ok, i went out and bought a venture 2 weeks ago. it is a 2001. 107km on it. works real good. no coolant loss yet. have some sludge under the rad cap and some under the oil fill. my gauge reads 184 after warmed up. my heat does not come out as hot as i think it should. i tried to bleed the system with no air comming out, just lots of coolant. any ideas.. and if it is the thermostat how hard is it to change?

scott

Hi Scott,

I have the same van with about the same mileage and get the same temperature on my gauge too.

Have you actually MEASURED the temperature coming out of your heater vents? I have done just that and can get temps of 120 degrees F or more from the center dash vent.

Before you get too concerned, make sure that your cabin air filters (in glove box) are clean & replace if needed. Also, I have noticed that I get more air FLOW (therefore more heat) from the vents if I turn the temperature control all the way to HOT and then back just a bit - maybe 2-3 clicks on the control.

As for the sludge at the radiator cap, it might be a good idea to have the cooling system flushed, especially since you probably do NOT know when it was last done (if ever) on the van. That might also flush out any minor blockage that may be in the heater core, which would keep the temp down at the core.

One other trick, since you are in a "cold area" of the world - Turn on the Recirculate button and use one of the LEFT two settings of the mode switch. That will keep that cold outside air from coming in and should heat the inside of the van more quickly.

Oops - almost forgot to mention the thermostat.

I TRIED to have my son change mine in his "Auto Tech" class, but they only have 2 hours each day to actual "work" on the cars. They didn't have the actual "procedure" for doing it so they wasted a lot of time trying to get a wrench on the housing bolts.

The "hard part" is getting to the thermostat. You have to remove the Exhaust Crossover Pipe, and one other piece I believe, before you can get to the thermostat housing & the bolts that hold it on. And one of the bolts that holds the crossover pipe is pretty far towards the back of the engine compartment, which takes thin arms and a couple of extensions to get to. So I am still waiting to make another attempt at changing the thermostat.

Maybe someone here has a better way to get to this stuff.:banghead:

Take Care,

well i shall try that, my way of measuring was to stick my hand onthe vent. on all of my cars i have worked on in my day, if it didnt burn your hand in 1 minute it wasnt hot enough.....i just switched to this van from an astro van....so i had lots of heat. i will try to flush it out tommorow and post my reply
scott

hi i replaced my t-stat several times tring to fix my overheating problem.

take off the air filter assm. them remove the cables for the throttle and criuse control (remember where all the bolts and cables go).then remove the intake it only has 2 bolts also remove the 2 brackets that hold the small hoses on the intake. then you should be able to get to the t-stat housing.get a short closed end 1/2 in. wrench.(i know that the bolts r metric)the metric wrench fits loose on those bolts it did on mine.email me if any ? elizar22@hotmail.com

hope this helps,elizar22

have some sludge under the rad cap and some under the oil fill. ...my heat does not come out as hot as i think it should.
Check what I don't like to say in "sharkmonkey's" thread nearby