2013 JK No Heat issues / Coolant Issues

matt87951

matt87951

New member
I've done a lot of research, and I suppose at this point, am looking for confirmation on what I've found. Onto my post...

Problem: Yesterday, as far as I know, out of the blue I no longer have heat. To be fair, I really can't remember the last time I used heat. It's been a while, at least 2-3 months. However, the last time I needed heat, it worked fine. Currently, the Jeep just blows cold air. Not warm or hot, just cold air.

Troubleshooting: I started with quite a bit of research, and feel like the most logical reason is the drivers side blend door, but we'll see what the troubleshooting thus far will uncover.

  • Checked Coolant Level
  • Checked Oil Level and condition
  • Jeep warms up properly, and stays at the correct temperature while driving / sitting in traffic
  • Passenger side blend actuator works fine - Cold air blows floor, vent, defrost, etc. depending on how I set the controls
  • Drivers side blend door actuator does not seem to do anything - It 'stays' in the middle no matter where I put the temp on HVAC - note: My Jeep does have automatic temperature control, but I have made sure in my tests that neither the blower nor the blend was set to automatic
  • I pulled the coolant reservoir and found 'stuff' at the bottom - Photo below
  • Drained coolant reservoir and tried my best to separate the good coolant and whatever crap was at the bottom - Photo below
  • Cleaned out the coolant reservoir. Have not put back together - waiting on getting some distilled water

Photo of the coolant reservoir:
Coolant_Res_zpsnlfeytoq.jpg

Picture of what was in the reservoir (Jar on the left is a mix of some coolant plus whatever 'crap' was at the bottom, one of the right is doing my best to only get coolant, but some of the crap fell in there as well):
Coolant_zpsmboz37f8.jpg

Another picture, right after pouring them into jars:
Coolant_2_zpstjx4svwj.jpg

Background on Jeep: My 2013 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 10th Anniversary is a one-owner, it has every option expect it has a manual transmission - so no remote start. It has only been serviced at Jeep dealerships due to getting a maintenance package on the Jeep free with purchase. I've never added coolant or anything to the system. If it was ever low (not to my knowledge), it would have been the dealer adding coolant and/or water. My Jeep has 21k miles on it, and is out of the 3-year / 36k mile warranty due to time of course.

I have never had issues with heat in the past. It's always worked, and been boarder-line melt your skin off hot. I don't really remember any particular time when it's not gotten that hot if I wanted it that hot, except maybe when it was ridiculously cold (Minus 10-20 degrees, with windchill of -30 or more). I have not had any other issues with the Jeep, outside the oil pressure sensor, which failed earlier this year (Out of pocket repair).

Next Steps: I am kind of torn on what is going on. I feel the issue very well could be casting sand in the coolant, which plugged the heater core. Though I feel this would have happened sooner than 4-years into ownership if this was the case, and I don't think this problem 'normally' starts more or less overnight. It usually has symptoms of heat on only one side, or only Luke-warm heat. The other item that is odd to me, is the drivers side blend door, it doesn't move. My understanding this one should control hot/cold. It doesn't do anything, no matter what I do with the temperature switch (Currently its sitting right in the middle of the arm. The third item is that it could be the HVAC control itself.

So, questions to the experts, what is my issue:

  1. Casting Sand and/or clogged Heater Core
  2. Drivers-side Blend Actuator
  3. HVAC Controller
  4. Other?

Either way, whatever is wrong - my coolant needs help. If no one has a good idea whats in my coolant, I will likely send it out to Blackstone Labs, and see what they are able to determine is going on with my coolant. I can't imagine having an inch or two of thick 'stuff' at the bottom of the reservoir is normal, or healthy.

Thanks in advanced!
 
wayoflife said:
Haven't read your whole post yet but just looking at the pics, I think this thread might be helpful or at least, to help you understand what might have happened.

https://wayalife.com/showthread.php...eep-JK-Wrangler-Coolants-and-Save-Your-Engine!
Click to expand...

That post was my first stop, read it several times.

Where I agree it is totally possible that the dealer could have added the wrong coolant somewhere along the way - I have no way to know. The 'stuff' at the bottom of the tank was / is a dark brown color. The coolant I pulled out, before it mixed with the brown stuff at the bottom of the reservoir was a nice purple color. The pictures don't really accurately show the color unfortunately, especially the ones after I dumped the reservoir into the jars.
 
Looks like my coolant reservoir:
IMG_7550.jpg
There was something like a piece of shit:
IMG_7553.jpg
Of course it was casting sand in my case.
 
Sounds like an actuator door issue with it possibly being stuck or not getting a signal from the temp control, also check the cabin temperature sensor on the drivers side under the steering wheel to see that the little fan is turning and not blocked. Given what you found in your overflow i would reverse flush your heater core just to be sure there isnt anything in there, i had loss of heat on the drivers side and flushed out the same looking crud out of my heater core on the same year JK as yours and my heat is like new again for the time being. Good luck, dont take it to Chrysler they will want to replace your rad, heater core and oil cooler for over $2k.

Sent from my VS987 using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
Were you taking pictures under my jeep too? IMG_5113.jpgmy reservoir tank[emoji115]IMG_5111.jpghere's some of the "shit" that's in it. [emoji115]
I still have heat, it's weak, but it's there, and I have done all of my own maintenance. Up until I found the "shit" in the reservoir , it's never had coolant added. The "shit" is gritty so I'm assuming it's casting sand. When my heat stops, I'll take it in and get it fixed under my lifetime warranty. Mines a '15 too BTW.


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If you remove the glove box, you can see the aluminum tubes going into the heater core. Check to see if the tubes get hot. If not, the core is probably plugged.

The goo you found in the reservoir looks like a type of stop leak.
 
Alexander said:
Looks like my coolant reservoir:
View attachment 257291
There was something like a piece of shit:
View attachment 257292
Of course it was casting sand in my case.
Click to expand...

Yep, that's exactly what mine looks like. The shit just happened to fall into the jar while I was trying to separate everything.

Clark Griswold said:
Sounds like an actuator door issue with it possibly being stuck or not getting a signal from the temp control, also check the cabin temperature sensor on the drivers side under the steering wheel to see that the little fan is turning and not blocked. Given what you found in your overflow i would reverse flush your heater core just to be sure there isnt anything in there, i had loss of heat on the drivers side and flushed out the same looking crud out of my heater core on the same year JK as yours and my heat is like new again for the time being. Good luck, dont take it to Chrysler they will want to replace your rad, heater core and oil cooler for over $2k.

Sent from my VS987 using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

The actuator door did fix the no heat at all issue. However, now after spending all day flushing the cooling system, I now have intermittent warm / hot heat on the drivers side. The passenger side blow scorching hot all the time (same as the driver side, before I started the flush and fill process).

I think I have to take a step back before I waste another $60 of coolant, and figure out how to reverse flush the heater core. I haven't found anything on YouTube yet, but I will keep looking. I assume I need to unhook the two cooling lines going into the cabin, and flush water through there, just not sure how to do so. Just stuff on the hose on one of the lines, and leave the other loose going into a bucket?

JeepJeep75 said:
Were you taking pictures under my jeep too? View attachment 257297my reservoir tank[emoji115]View attachment 257298here's some of the "shit" that's in it. [emoji115]
I still have heat, it's weak, but it's there, and I have done all of my own maintenance. Up until I found the "shit" in the reservoir , it's never had coolant added. The "shit" is gritty so I'm assuming it's casting sand. When my heat stops, I'll take it in and get it fixed under my lifetime warranty. Mines a '15 too BTW.


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

Yep, it definitely seems like casting sand.

JeepFan said:
If you remove the glove box, you can see the aluminum tubes going into the heater core. Check to see if the tubes get hot. If not, the core is probably plugged.

The goo you found in the reservoir looks like a type of stop leak.
Click to expand...

Both pipes on the heater core are always burning hot. The core is definitely not completely clogged, but it's getting there it seems since I now am having issues with intermittent hot heat on the drivers side.
 
Andy5160 said:
Have you mixed coolant at some point?
Y
Click to expand...

Almost certain my Jeep has never had coolant mixed, but anything is possible. The sludge in my case is matching up with what others have that ended up being sasting sand. Since I'm out of warranty, and I don't believe this type of work is covered under power train, I need to fix it myself. Does anyone know which line on the heater core in the inlet and which is the outlet? I understand the plan is to back-flush that, so I can't really guess. With my luck, I will guess the wrong one for sure.
 
matt87951 said:
Almost certain my Jeep has never had coolant mixed, but anything is possible. The sludge in my case is matching up with what others have that ended up being sasting sand. Since I'm out of warranty, and I don't believe this type of work is covered under power train, I need to fix it myself. Does anyone know which line on the heater core in the inlet and which is the outlet? I understand the plan is to back-flush that, so I can't really guess. With my luck, I will guess the wrong one for sure.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure there is a recall or warranty extensions for the casting sand.


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This is my experience- took my 2013 10A in to the dealership to replace the oil filter cooler housing assembly, and they had to top off the coolant when finished, they called me and said that they couldn't do warranty work on it since it didn't have purple coolant[emoji848] it had orange in it and it would be red flagged. I bought the jeep new and never had to add any coolant at any time and I do all my maintained myself. So I know that was the original fluid from the factory! Before I could get back to them, they topped it off with orange HOAT fluid antifreeze. 3 back flushes and 3 different visits to there shop at their cost, we got it the appropriate antifreeze like you have bought. The problem is this, at some point in manufacturing the 2013, they changed the color from orange to purple same OAT blend, the dealership was not aware of this and topped it off with HOAT orange blend. Hope this is not your case-- IMG_0220.jpg. Hope this help some[emoji106]


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Andy5160 said:
Have you mixed coolant at some point?
Y
Click to expand...

No. Never mixed.
My story is:
Once I checked the antifreeze. I saw an empty tank and a strange substance on the bottom. Then I washed the cooling system several times. The mistake, I think, was that it was necessary to exclude heater core during washing. Heater core became clogged a little. Air from the side of the driver was cold.
Now I notice a sediment in the tank from time to time, but not so much.
 
I think you have to be within the 3 year 36k warranty for them to cover it, its ridiculous yes but thats their stance. To reverse flush the heater core remove the rubber hoses that go to the heater core and flush in both directions as you described and hopefully that fixes it up for you like it did for me.

Sent from my VS987 using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
So after some research I found that a certain number of jeep made in 2013 have a different coolant than the others. They changed it from OAT to HOAT coolant and when mixed it looks like popcorn and can clog your entire cooling system. Most likely your heater core is clogged. If you have free maintenance I'd take it to the dealer and have it flushed. There is a way to completely flush the entire system from the radiator and then from the heater core. Just make sure you verify what coolant you require. If you plan on doing maintenance yourself or troubleshooting alldata is a great resource. Alldatadiy.com is the site. You pay for a year subscription and it gives you loads of info. It came in handy when I blew my 2013 motor and I bought a 2015 3.6L and installed it myself.


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Just wanted to send out a quick update, that my Jeep has been at the dealer since Wednesday, and is being repaired for free outside of warranty for the casting sand issue. They are replacing the water pump and heater core. They have not mentioned the radiator, but I guess it will depend on how the rest of the process goes on whether or not they replace that also. I guess this is where it matters to have a good dealer on your side! My Jeep is over a year out of warranty, but well under miles (less than 21k miles). Let's hope this is the last issue I have with the Jeep.
 
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