I remember a few years back reading that the heater should be run at least once a month to prevent the coolant in the heater core from going bad. I was reading a repair manual for a '90 Tbird and it mentioned that the engine coolant is always flowing through the heater core, and when you turn on the heat, a door opens exposing the heater core to the passenger compartment. I live in Hawaii and never have any need for the heater but should I be running it once a month, or is it a similar design to the Tbird?

Thanks.


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'00 5.4L AUTO 4X4 Lariat (Black/Silver)
'02 F-350 PSD CC DRW 6SPD 4X4 Lariat (order this year)
www.hawthorn-engineering.com

 

not on every vehicle. It's a good idea to turn on the heat once a week in summer for 30 seconds just to be sure.

 

Frank,
thanks for your response. I need to find out for sure. Neal has put an engine coolant temp sender in the line going to the heater core. That leads me to believe that coolant is always flowing through the core otherwise he wouldn't be getting accurate readings. Neal seems to be very knowledgeable about our trucks so I doubt that he made a mistake on this.

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'00 5.4L AUTO 4X4 Lariat (Black/Silver)
'02 F-350 PSD CC DRW 6SPD 4X4 Lariat (order this year)
www.hawthorn-engineering.com

 

Thanks Black F150 Offroad. That's what I wanted to hear. Now I don't have to run my heater once a month. Also, I can copy Neal's idea of installing a temp sender in the heater line. I run my a/c everyday so I'm not worried about any moldy smells.

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'00 5.4L AUTO 4X4 Lariat (Black/Silver)
'02 F-350 PSD CC DRW 6SPD 4X4 Lariat (order this year)
www.hawthorn-engineering.com

 

coolant is flowing through the heater core constantly on these trucks. The temp door just controls the amount of air flow through the heater core. A good reason why you may want turn the heater to hot is to remove moisure in the system from the ac to prevent that mold smell, gennerally not a problem if ac is used all the time but can present a problem in climate where the temeratures change drastically from one season to the next.